The Charters Affair: Being a Reminiscence of Dr. John H. Watson [Paperback]

James R. Stefanie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 28, 2000

In 1537, the Abbot Jervais Guillaume de Forrestier disappeared along with the treasures of an abbey. Over 300 years later, explorers at a neolithic site discovered the body of their expedition leader. He was found in a trench, bound to a chair. That's when Inspector MacDonald called on Sherlock Holmes. Arriving in the pleasant village of Little Stoke, Holmes learns there is more at stake than the murder of an aging academic. Two powerful families continue an age old dispute over the lands their ancestors once held. They each request that Holmes assist them in order to discover the whereabouts of the long-lost charters that granted their lands. Holmes soon finds himself surrounded by unique village personalities, strange nursery rhymes, mysterious ancient barrows, and the ruins of a mediaeval Abbey church. As he delves into the case with Watson by his side, he learns that the murder which drew him to Little Stoke was the final act in a play that has been running for over three centuries.Suppressed for over 50 years, now the story can be toldof murder, deception, the lust for power and unimagined fortune. It is the story of The Charters Affair Winner1994 Eaton Literary AwardBook Category.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

J.R. Stefanie has been an avid Holmesian for over forty years. When not walking the fogs of a Victorian evening, he and his wife Bonnie huddle from the damp mists in a house in Amherst NY, surrounded by deer, rabbits, and chittering squirrels.

Product Details

• Paperback: 398 pages
• Publisher: Writers Club Press; 1st edition (July 28, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595099262
• ISBN-13: 978-0595099269
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,508,787 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Watson, I presume?, May 2, 2001

By 

Glenn J. Speller (East Amherst, New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Charters Affair: Being a Reminiscence of Dr. John H. Watson (Paperback)

Throughout the first hundred pages of "The Charters Affair" you might ask yourself why James Stefanie included so much detail and description. If you did and continued to read until the plot took over, the answer became self-evident: familiarity. You gain a such feel for the area and its inhabitants that you almost become one of the people sitting in the parlor as Holmes unveils the perpetrator at the end of the story.

For a first-time reader of the Holmes genre, like myself, the Charters Affair included just the right amount of background and reminiscence to answer some of my questions concerning the relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. It also allowed me to see the two men as separate and distinct personalities. Holmes with his systematic, unidirectional, unbending, and often Machiavellian drive contrasted starkly with Watson's thoughtful, sometimes muddling, optimistic and occasionally flustered, all too human view of life. Seeing Holmes through Watson's eyes, with a doctor's concern for the physical wellbeing of a friend, was illuminating, and added depth to the narrator.

And as the story is a reminiscence, the author's use of somewhat antiquated language worked well. My studies in England acquainted me with the style and verbiage employed by Mr. Stefanie in telling this story, and for me enhanced the experience markedly.

Without giving away the plot, the tale is a complex interwoven fabric of many eras, including a tribal burial in pre-Druid times, the monastic middle ages, the granting and misplacing of land charters, the pirate trade, and a Holmesian-era expedition to excavate the tor that brings Holmes and Watson to the area to solve a murder mystery. All in all, great intellectual fun with twists and turns, a complex plot, and very interesting characters.

I had the good fortune to tip a pint or two with James Stefanie shortly after his novel was published, and after our conversation wondered not whether Sherlock Holmes had actually lived, but whether Dr. Watson had ever actually died.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Conan Doyle Lives Again, April 3, 2001

By 

Stanislawa Majewska (Buffalo, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Charters Affair: Being a Reminiscence of Dr. John H. Watson (Paperback)

I have read and re-read the Sherlock Holmes mysteries over and over for the past 60+ years. Mr. Stefanie has captured the essence and being of both Holmes, and Watson - a feat yet to be accomplished by writers of Holmesian stories in this day and age.The description of places and people in this book are without equal. If you've never been to England, you will upon reading this book, immediately want to pack your bags and seek out these bucolic villages and quaint places. If you've already been to England, the nostalgia will be overwhelming. His vivid descriptions paint a picture of Holmes' Victorian England that will send the reader back in time. Here is a writer who may be an alter-ego of Sherlock Holmes, or a reincarnation of Conan Doyle. This book is a "keeper" - to be read, and re-read, each time with the expectation of once more meeting the great Sherlock Holmes and his side-kick the erstwhile Dr. Watson ala Conan Doyle.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Holmes Novel Doyle Never Wrote, March 17, 2001

By 

"earljgray" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Charters Affair: Being a Reminiscence of Dr. John H. Watson (Paperback)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's immortal creation, Sherlock Holmes, 'lives' in 56 short stories and four 'novella' length adventures. Doyle never wrote a novel-length adventure based on his creation; the total output of his genius was directed to audiences who read periodicals, such as 'The Strand'. Regardless of how intricate a plot could be, the resolution was accomplished in a modicum of words. Limited by the requirements of periodical publishing, and interested more in grand historical novels, Doyle never pursued a true Sherlock Holmes novel.

'The Charters Affair' remedies this situation. It is 'The Holmes Novel Doyle Never Wrote', an inspired blend of Doyle's creation with Doyle's passion for history. Although there have been numerous novel-length adventures of Sherlock Holmes, such as the series by Frank Thomas and the novels by Nicholas Myers, few have attempted to take on the task of writing a Victorian novel with Holmes as the centerpiece.

'The Charters Affair' is based on a Watsonian reference (in the Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez) to an untold Holmesian tale. The author starts from this one line and unfurls a tale stretching from the predawn of history to the murder of an scientist at an archeological dig. Set in the south of England, the story is both evocative in its descriptions of both place and person. The author has made every effort to maintain the Watsonian writing style and has generally succeeded in the attempt. (While it is usual to review any Holmes book with an eye to comparing it to Watson's writing style, most Sherlockian scholars would agree that even Watson wasn't consistent! There are even cases of `Americanisms' slipping into adventures from the `Casebook'),

While Holmes and Watson work their way through one, then another, mystery, it becomes clear that the author has also shifted focus from Holmes to Watson during the crucial periods of investigation. This change of focus does three important things - it represents Watson's intelligence and industry in a better light than most of the earlier Holmes adventure; it uncovers the necessary hard work and diligence Holmes applied to solving a case; and finally represents Holmes - not as a magician - but as an astute observer who has well-trained himself to think logically. Too often we conceive of Holmes stultifying an amazed, and slow-thinking, Watson with an act of mental legerdemain - solving baffling crimes by barely stretching from his easy chair. Although Watson does relate a few instances where Holmes solved a client's case with the merest expression of physical activity, Watson also often tells us with what effort Holmes expended in cases after case, often leaving their humble chambers at 221b Baker Street for days at a time.

The restrictions of short story writing forced Doyle into compressing all the neat `behind the scenes' activities Holmes undertook in his pursuit of the truth and book ending them with the classic Holmes/Watson openings and the magical resolution at the end. `The Charters Affair' provides us with both the expected `bookends', but also takes us `behind the scenes' to witness the arduous path Holmes walked to come to a resolution. Watson, too, fares better in `The Charters Affair'. His contributions to the case are critical and, in one situation, pivotal. Our good Doctor is not the dullard we have come to expect; he is a vibrant, intelligent individual who plays an important part in both Holmes' adventure and Holmes' life.

`The Charters Affair' follows all the rules for a Holmes pastiche making it a `comfortable' read for inveterate Holmes' followers and an exciting introduction for those new to the Holmesian universe. `The Charters Affair' is a welcome, complex, and compelling novel. I highly recommend it to you.