Customer Reviews

The Disappearance of Sherlock Holmes

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

 

 

This novel is the fifth one by Larry Millett, a retired Minneapolis journalist. All of Millett's novels are Sherlock Holmes pastiches. In other words, Millett purports to continue the Holmes saga, keeping the style and characters of the original stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. The DISAPPEARANCE takes place in the year 1900. Parts of this novel take place in London, New York, and Chicago. (All Millett's Sherlock Holmes stories take place in the United States, presumably on "visits" by Holmes and Watson.)

All of Millett's Holmes stories have a very strong sense of place. Millett is something of an amateur historian and fills his chapters with elaborate descriptions of the streets, buildings, parks, and surroundings the characters encounter.

Footnotes appear often, usually explaining details of architecture or other historical details. For a certain sort of leisurely reader, the footnotes are fine, but for others they can become a distraction. For instance, if Holmes meets Watson at an old church in Chicago, a footnote appears that tells us the year the church was built, the kind of glass used in the windows, and the year the church was finally torn down. There's a lot of this. Halfway through the novel, I just disregarded the footnotes entirely, and from there on, I think my "read" went better.

Millett is a very good prose stylist. He crafts excellent sentences and paragraphs. His descriptions are razor sharp, and his characters come to life rather well. Of all Mr. Millett's Sherlock Holmes books, DISAPPEARANCE best brings Sherlock Holmes forward as a real, living human being. And besides Holmes, some of the other characters are also well drawn and three-dimensional.

There is plenty of action in DISAPPEARANCE, and even some tawdry sex. Parts of the story take place in the bordellos of several cities, and some of the villains are madams, purveyors, or prostitutes. There's also plenty of gunplay -- in fact, more "Hollywood" shoot-em-up action than in any of Millett's earlier four novels.

Melodrama is very much in evidence. On at least half a dozen occasions, Holmes teeters at the edge of death. But almost miraculously, he always prevails. There's a separate cliffhanger finish for each of the three major acts-- the action in London, next New York, and finally, in Chicago. Sometimes this is a bit "too much."

I liked the book, although I can see some shortcomings along with the strengths. The larger structure of the book could use more unity -- it is highly episodic, with too many cliffhanger scenes to be altogether credible. But as I say, the paragraphs are very well written, several of the characters come forward as interesting and believable, and the strong "sense of place" created by Mr. Millett underpins and steadies some of the almost frenetic action of the book.

While it was not Millett's primary intention to give a sense of life in America's largest cities at the turn of the century, somehow this comes forward to enrich the story. One smells, tastes, and touches the America of an historical era. This is a kind of bonus that enriches the "read" for me.

DISAPPEARANCE's shortcomings notwithstanding, I felt this novel was worth the money.

Patrick Callahan

When Sherlock Holmes's beautiful love interest vanishes, Holmes and Watson are quick to investigate. What they find, however, is that they have been targeted by a ruthless plot to make them appear to be the kidnappers--and murderers. In a chase that takes them from London to New York and on to Chicago, Holmes and Watson battle to find the edge that will let them pull ahead of the plotters and rescue Elsie Cubitt before she suffers the 'fate worse than death.'

Author Larry Millett has done his historical research and documents it in richly strewn footnotes. His accounts of city geography, turn of the (19/20th) century urban politics, and train travel all ring true. While the historical details ring true, the adventure itself has a bit of a hollow feel. It is difficult to imagine any criminal organization going to the troubles that Holmes's enemies go here. Surely it would have been easier to kill Holmes and Cubitt, if that was the goal, and then ruin their reputation later. Instead, they spend incredible amounts of money and energy for a pointless revenge.

Fans of the Holmes oeuvre may not recognize the Sherlock presented by Millett. Instead of cerebral, this Holmes is physical and impulsive. Watson, in contrast, was presented sympathetically with, I think, a properly balanced sense of loyalty and dogged determination. Doyle's Watson was never stupid--just an everyman like all of us who could not hope to do more than bask in Holmes's brilliance. So too, Millett's Watson is a man of action and integrity with solid if unexceptional intelligence.

In 1900 London the great Sherlock Holmes receives a message written in code that leads the detective to deduce that murdering mobster Abe Slaney survived his harrowing escape from prison rather than drowned as reported. Having barely stopped Abe before, Holmes knows the rematch will prove even more difficult and he also thinks someone else is playing him and his sidekick Watson like puppets on a strings.

Elsie Cubitt has vanished after withdrawing 5,000 pounds from her bank and Slaney is the most likely culprit. Holmes starts his quest by visiting a spiritualist, a confidant of Elsie. However, soon after Holmes leaves, the spiritualist vanishes too. The trail turns murky when a Holmes impersonator seems to be just in front of the London duo, leaving behind fallacious clues to throw Sherlock off and crime victims wanting retribution. The dynamic duo journeys to New York City where Homes also vanishes, leaving Watson and bartender buddy Shadwell Rafferty in Chicago in search of the great sleuth and Elsie.

Though a solid homage to Doyle and Holmes, THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES never quite grips the audience as one would expect with Holmes missing and apparently a prisoner of a devious enemy. Instead, the reader sees an insightful look at the late Victorian era on both sides of the Atlantic and the ho hum of another case as related by Watson. Though the candid insight by Elsie, Holmes, and others adds depth, this tribute is more for the Baker Street crowd revering along with Larry Millet one of the notables.

Harriet Klausner

I enjoyed the earlier books in this series and this one was especially good. Same day I received it, I read far into the night and finished it the following morning. I like these books because I'm a lifelong Sherlock Holmes fan and this one featured Holmes from the beginning in an absorbing story in which he was impersonated, traveled from England, to NYC and and then to Chicago and even was involved in a bit of a romance. Rafferty and other characters from previous books made appearances in an auxillary capacity, which suits me fine.
Mr. Millett's ability to capture the voice of Watson (as created by Doyle) is the most appealing aspect of this tale.

I thoroughly enjoyed this fourth novel by Sherlock writer and Minnesota native, Larry Millett. I was disappointed that it wasn't set in Minnesota (I'm from Minnesota...ya sure you betcha!) and missed all the interesting facts about St.Paul, Minneapolis, and other Minnesota cities. However, I really liked the plot, which has Watson doing some detecting work (or trying to) in the absence of Holmes. I liked that there was a tangled web of deceit and that the reader was kept guessing who the true mastermind behind the crime was and why they had it in for Holmes. I hope that Millett keeps writing Holmes mysteries because I'd love to read one involving Professor Moriarty. Millett has done for me what I think he hoped his books would do, he has made me want to read the original series by Arthur Conan Doyle. Bravo!

I found this book to be a non stop action adventure outing that served the Great Detective just fine, thank you. Rather than stodgy and dull retelling of the 'locked room' mysteries that populate the shelves nowdays, Millett's latest effort moves effortlessly through a maze of troubles for Holmes and Watson, beginning in England and ending in America. True, there is not a lot of detecting in this one but I liked the reverse angle of the plot - namely, Holmes is the pursued 'criminial' through most of this. There are some controversial elements some won't like (Holmes having a girlfriend, for example) but Elsie Cubitt is a resourceful and brave woman on her own, qualities I think would win Holmes over. (And for the purists, Sherlock Holmes is as uncomfortable as one would expect him to be with a woman he truly cares for.) Shadwell Rafferty is back again, but this time he does not take over the book, thank goodness. As always, the characters of Holmes and Watson are handled well and faithfully by Millett. In short, I enjoyed that touch of 'Indiana Jones'(Holmes wears it well) in this book and I highly recommend it.

Authoring any Sherlock Holmes pastiche is a thankless job. Any originality would be critically assessed (more often than not plainly criticized) while truthful renderings in the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would be sneered upon as another 'fake'. There have been some efforts that have assumed stellar positions in not only Sherlockian literature, but also in other areas, e.g. Nicholas Meyer's "Seven Percent Solution" and Michel Dibdin's "The Last Sherlock Holmes Story". Larry Millett, in his Minnesota-n Holmesiana, had begun auspiciously, with the adventure concerning the Red Demon that was immensely readable despite some obvious displacements felt by all. But the quality of his works worsened rapidly, finally culminating in "The Disappearance of Sherlock Holmes".

This novel would stagger any follower of the canon not only in terms of its subject (pastiches thrive upon controversy), but also its style. Pedantically speaking, the following 'short-comings' may be noted:

1. Watson's narrative has been interrupted on too many occasions; in the process the charm of Victorian english has been severely compromised.

2. Over-enthusiasm for adventures was never the forte of Sherlock Holmes who detested jumping to any conclusion/situation without viewing and reviewing the facts time and again (all those noxious tobacco smoke!), but Millett's Holmes literally monkeys around everywhere.

3. Essential component of any Victorian literature has to be prudence and conservative attitude towards sex (no matter how hypocritic we may find it today), but this novel becomes pretty ribald at every opportunity. In the process Holmes falls in love headlong and indulges in unbelievable stupidity (how else can these incidents be explained)!

4. Mary Robinson, who had been portrayed as 'Irene Adler with a twist' in the 'Red Demon' story, has become rather Moriartisque in this novel, probably under the influence of the TV Series Law & Order: Criminal Intent where the super-villain Nicole Wallace is the nemesis of Robert Goren (modelled after Holmes). This makes the novel even more convoluted and far-fetched.

Overall, "abandon all hope, ye who enter here". Don't complain later.

"Disappearance" is a big improvement over "Secret Alliance". Despite the title, Holmes is present for much of the book. Even better, Rafferty appears very little, and Minnesota is barely mentioned. Unfortunately, Holmes and Watson are apart for much of the story. The villain's conspiracy against Holmes is far-fetched at times, but overall the book is a pretty good story, which could have been better had the author cut down on excessive details and footnotes that do nothing to move the story along.

My reaction to this book was interesting. I have a tendancy to drop a book after the first couple of chapters if I don't find myself drawn in. If I am drawn in, I'll finish the book in a couple days. I read The Disappearance of Sherlock Holmes over several weeks. I didn't feel the urge to read it all at once, but I didn't feel like tossing it all together. Millett's description are near perfection in my opinion, although as another reviewer commented, the footnotes were bothersome. His character development showed me another, believable side of Sherlock Holmes. I kept reading, and enjoyed the end in Chicago the most.

Probably the best of Larry Millet's stories (and the others have been good!) I really loved it when Mary finally got hers! That female Moriarty really deserved what she got! However, I suspect that Millet will resurect her in his next novel. Ah, well, she'll join a long list of villans that have returned from the dead including Moriarty himself, Fu Manchu, The Joker, etc. Four resounding Sherlock stars! Larry Millet, you go, bro! Quoth the Raven...