Night Watch: A Long-Lost Adventure in Which Sherlock Holmes Meets Father Brown [Hardcover]

Stephen Kendrick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 13, 2001

In this brilliantly crafted pastiche, Stephen Kendrick brings Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown together in an unprecedented collaboration on a singularly shocking murder case.

It is Christmas Day, 1902, and a priest’s mutilated body has been found in a London church that is hosting a secret interfaith meeting to discuss the possibility of a Parliament of World Religions. A summons from the Prime Minister plunges Holmes into a case with international, political, and ecclesiastical complications. Untrampled snow surrounding the church suggests that the murderer remains within and that he is, presumably, one of the leaders of the world’s great faiths.

Throughout the night, as more deaths are discovered, Holmes and Dr. Watson follow one false lead after another. But with his legendary astuteness, Holmes manages to wrap the case up in less than twenty-four hours—or so it seems. Two weeks later, Father Brown, the meek young priest-translator, pays a call at Baker Street to reveal “a few loose ends.”

The intersection of religion and politics, faith and sin, enmity and forgiveness—these themes are subtly interwoven into this fast-paced mystery that is filled with classic intrigue.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With an ingenuous dismissal of other Sherlock Holmes pastiches as, well, mere pastiches, Kendrick sets about a taut reworking of the venerable "locked room" mystery. His tale of murder in the cathedral, he insists, is genuine: a lost account from the one true chronicler, Dr. Watson. Kendrick also dusts off another of sleuthdom's icons, Father Brown. The mix works. Though the narrative voice little evokes that of the Good Doctor, Kendrick knows and respects his source materials. A cleric himself, he also knows church history. Not only does he use little remembered figures (such as the heretic Pelagius) and events (such as the World's Parliament of Religions in 1893), but he integrates them so well with the mystery that the reader pores over the historical minutiae for possible clues. Representatives from each of the world's major religions gather secretly in a London church to plan for an important ecumenical conference; then one of them murders his Anglican host in most unholy fashion. Holmes and Father Brown have but one night to solve the grizzly murder, aided by such stalwarts as Inspector Lestrade and Mycroft Holmes. In the light of the past century's history and, particularly, recent events, there is a profoundly tragic aspect to Kendrick's plotting and his roster of suspects Roman Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu and Islamic who join together in the hope of establishing common ground. A century later, such vision seems all but trampled under.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The influence of the Sherlock Holmes stories is so pervasive that each year sees more critical essays, parodies, pastiches, or other ways of continuing the Holmes canon. Two novels are the latest to surface, each with its own gimmick. In Night Watch, the great Holmes meets G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown. Kendrick (Holy Clues) stays safely on Holmes's home turf of London, and the tone of the book is closer to the original, with an appropriately sinister atmosphere. Holmes (and his brother Mycroft) and Watson are called to a convention of clerics of the world's major religions, where someone has murdered the host. Throughout the night, more deaths are discovered, but in the space of 24 hours, Holmes apparently solves the case. But then, two weeks later, Father Brown, in his quiet, self-effacing way, provides the real solution.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon; 1st edition (November 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375403671
• ISBN-13: 978-0375403675
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,085,477 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Holmes is where the art is!, December 19, 2001

By 

Billy J. Hobbs "Bill Hobbs" (Tyler, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Night Watch: A Long-Lost Adventure in Which Sherlock Holmes Meets Father Brown (Hardcover)

Any author who undertakes to "do" Arthur Conan Doyle takes a great risk.

Trying to emulate the great Mr. Doyle and his Sherlock Holmes stories can be dangerous,
indeed. But Stephen Kendrick in "Night Watch" has done a splendid job of presenting yet
another Sherlockian story. Naturally (and would we expect otherwise?), this one is a
long-lost Watson recollection, but no matter.

Kendrick's story is quickly afoot and the pace never slows down. Tis the season:
Christmas Day, 1902, in London. A group of international religious leaders are meeting
and, voila, a corpse in their midst! A priest is found murdered, a real grisly affair.
Immediate authorities are without a prayer, and Holmes is summoned. Kendrick presents
all the standard clue requirements (red-herrings, too!), baffling to everyone but our
Sherlock. In an interesting--and delightful--twist, Kendrick enlists the aid of the liturgical
side, too, in the form of young Father Brown!

Kendrick has done his homework well and the novel provides great insight into the
setting/situation, as well as presenting a great story line. Not being a totally committed
dyed in the wool Doyle fan (I can appreciate him, but he's not my favorite writer of the
genre!), I found Kendrick's "version" an exciting piece to read, one that certainly kept my
interest as his suspense is well-paced and captivating. A fun book to read! ([e-mail])

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delight for Holmes fans, December 5, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Night Watch: A Long-Lost Adventure in Which Sherlock Holmes Meets Father Brown (Hardcover)

This new addition to the Holmes canon will be very welcome reading, certainly to the Baker Street faithful and also to those who haven't had the pleasure of meeting Holmes and Watson before. "Night Watch" is cleverly plotted and written; Kendrick amplifies Conan Doyle's somewhat spare style without breaking the mood of the original stories. Many Doyle characters we know and love show up--even Mycroft drags his substantial butt out of the Diogenes Club--and also we have an interesting encounter with Father Brown in his early days, for good measure. The best test of a Holmes story is how you feel when you've finished it--and finishing this book, I felt the same way I did on finishing "Hound of the Baskervilles": sorry to see it end, and wanting more.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If they can't get THIS right..., December 6, 2007

By 

Donald Hawthorne "Ravenglass" (Fairfax Station, Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Night Watch: A Long Lost Adventure In Which Sherlock Holmes Meets Father Brown (Paperback)

From the publisher's blurb:
"Holmes and Father Brown have but one night to solve the grizzly murder..."
Well, how hard can it be to find a large North American Brown Bear in an Anglican Church?
Sigh...
"Grisly"... not "grizzly". "Grisly" is a kind of a murder. "Grizzly" is a kind of a bear.
This might be the best Holmes-homage yet, but when publishers themselves have no regard for the language that pays their bills, it is impossible to take anything they say - or print - seriously enough to want to buy it.
Throw out your spell-checkers, and READ.
Don Hawthorne