Customer Reviews

The Adventures of the Second Mrs. Watson

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Attention Sherlockians! The soul of Arthur Conan Doyle lives in the brain of author Michael Mallory. There are many takes on Sir Conan Doyle's characters, some more skilled and intriguing than others (such as The Seven-Per-Cent Solution or the Wilder/Diamond film The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes). The Mrs. Watson mysteries presented regularly in each issue of Murderous Intent Mystery Magazine rank at the very top of the Sherlock subgenre.

Reading the stories in a package like this is sheer, undiluted, hedonistic pleasure. Taken together in a bunch, the pieces form an episodic whole, much like those that comprise the original tales about the master-sleuth Holmes himself. Amelia's aventures are impressive. She is a woman very much of her Victorian time. She retains her femininity utterly, yet has a strong and well-formed individuality. These admirable traits enable her to pair with Holmes as well as her own dear Watson, showing the men a thing or two about ultra-intelligent forensic deduction. More tolerant and more compassionate than Holmes, Mrs. Watson is equally strong-minded and relentless in pursuing justice. Brava Amelia.

Even those faithful MIMM subscribers who have closely followed the dering-do of Dr. Watson's second wife will want to buy the current collection. The stories do bear reading a second time, and even a third, revealing more of their inner life and breadth on each go-round. This little volume is thoroughly pleasing and it's time Mrs. Watson's work was made known beyond the MIMM inner circle. Here's a holiday present that will last--Sherlockian short mysteries so authentic you'll breathe the very fog of London and startle to the baying of the Baskervillelike hound. By Jove, Mallory, you've done it now.--G. Miki Hayden

As much as I hate to bring down that 5-star rating, I simply couldn't ignore the apostrophe abuse that didn't get edited out of the first several stories. Even a major pet peeve like that, however, could not keep me from thoroughly enjoying Michael Mallory's tales of Amelia Watson's adventures. Each story can stand on its own merits quite well, but they are especially effective collected into one volume. Having read only a few recent MIMM publications, I was pleased to be able to go back and start from the beginning, and I look forward to Vol. 2 with a great deal of anticipation.

Well, Mr. Mallory, I finally managed to keep my promise and obtain my copy of your book. And I must say I really enjoyed it very much. (I can only hope you might have noticed my gallows-humor poem "He Escaped" sharing space with your story in MURDEROUS INTENT MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Dang, I'm shameless!) The stories are an intersting sidelight on the Holmes stories, one unexplored by other writers, and quite refreshing. But The Raven always has to drop at least one black feather. I'll have to ding you for killing off Irene Adler. Shame, shame. Bad form, sah! Cheers to you though, and keep 'em coming! Quoth the Raven...