Customer Reviews

An Opened Grave: Sherlock Holmes Investigates His Ultimate Case

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

James has captured the classical writing style of the great Sherlock Holmes mysteries, and An Opened Grave is certain to touch the hearts of his Christian audience in a very special way.

Die-hard mystery fans may be initially disappointed when the famous duo finds a time-machine which enables them to experience the time of Christ firsthand. However, James has used the unlikely scenario as an artful vehicle and unique platform on which to base the logical debates between Watson and Holmes as they experience beliefs and miracles in modern England and the ancient Middle East. James' ability to present both sides of each debate is admirable.

While An Opened Grave is entertaining, the book's debates are what will stay with his readers long after they have put the book down.

Reviewed by Marjorie Smith

Mr. James manages to take a religious question and make a very good Sherlock Holmes mystery from it, while retaining the original question, and leaving it up to the reader to decide whether or not Holmes has proved his case. Holmes is a driven man in this book, he must know if the story of Christ rising from the dead is true or false. With the help of The Time Traveler's time machine (from H.G. Wells), Holmes and Watson travel into the past. Beset by scheming Druids and ruthless Roman Soldiers, they find themselves in Jerusalem on the day of Christ's crucifixion. Holmes must get Watson free of prison, then examine the tomb from which Christ has already risen. They witness the angels tell the women that Christ has risen. They see the risen Jesus. Holmes is convinced, Watson less so. The argument for both sides is presented cleverly. Whatever you may believe, this book is a treasure not to be easily overlooked. Quoth the Raven...

This book was an entertaining lark that takes the great detective Sherlock Holmes and his worthy assistant Dr. Watson back in time to witness the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ. Sherlock wants to discover if the roots of Christianity are real or conjured up by the zealots of Christ's day. Of course, it will come as no surprise that the foundation of Christianity is found to stand the scrutiny of the world's greatest detective. In the process, we learn some good, basic apologetics about the veracity of Christianity's claims, very reminiscent of Josh McDowell's 'Evidence That Demands a Verdict'.

You need not worry that this is a heavy-handed book on theology, however. There is a story to tell of how Sherlock and Watson manage to get transported back in time, how they manage to survive once they get there (barely!), and how they get back without damaging the space-time continuum too much. I liked the interplay between Holms and Watson, the villians, and even the character of Jesus Himself. There was lots of mystery and humor to spice up the tale. It was, of course, written in the syle of Sir Author Conan Doyle.

It was a fun story and I felt a little better off for having read it.

As a Sherlockian I ordered this book not knowing what I would be in for. As a Christian I was delighted to find that "An Opened Grave: Sherlock Holmes Investigates His Ultimate Case", by L. Frank James, was a book in which the great detective investigates the reality of Jesus Christ and the salvation he offers to all of us.

It may seem like an unlikely plot for a story about Holmes, however the style leaves both Holmes and Watson as pure as any purist would want them to be. Holmes has an experience that causes him to feel duty bound to investigate whether there was a Jesus Christ who rose from the dead and is the Son of God. So Holmes takes an unwilling Watson to the past. The only weak part was the time machine bit, but this was a necessity for the great detective to be able to investigate the crucifiction and resurrection first hand. (The time machine seems similar to the one H.G. Wells designed for his time travel novel.)

What makes the story strong is the discourse between Holmes, who uses logic and his brilliant powers of deduction, and Watson, who uses every argument we have heard in the past by agnostics, atheists and new agers.
When you have Sherlock Holmes on the job you may be sure that no stone is left unturned to determine the truth about Christ.

For those who want pure action and adventure there is plenty of that with villains of every description and Holmes and Watson have to struggle many times for their own survival.

Now the problem is I may have to purchase a second book. I can't decide whether this belongs in my Sherlock Holmes or my Christian book collection. I do know I will encourage others to read it, especially those who might doubt the truth about our Lord.

I ran across a review for this book that I think says it all. It is penned by Roger Johnson, editor of the District Messenger, the news and reviews publication of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. In it he states, "An Opened Grave is unusually well done. Mr. James captures the Doyle-Watson style acceptably. More importantly he achieves the considerable feat of treating a serious subject -- the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ -- seriously within a story that's both thrilling and funny. There's excitement in plenty, and the reasoned arguments for and against the Christian faith are thoroughly stimulating. Like GK Chesterton and CS Lewis, Mr James is a fine storyteller and a notable Christian apologist."

We have given this book to several agnostic friends and family members who love to read fiction. The fictional device is excellently handled by Frank James in communicating the gospel. It deals honestly with the arguments against belief and delivers the redemptive message in an inviting way. I read another review on this book that stated that it is really two books in one---both fiction and non-fiction, because is investigates the resurrection of Jesus so well.

Congratulations, Mr. James, write some more books like this one.

I did not care for this book. One important test of any Holmes pastiche is the believability of the story. Believability of Holmes stories set in other time lines is a very difficult task. This one falls short, in my opinion. The "villain" is superfluous and hardly contributes to the story. I'm afraid the only feeling of reality I got from this story was the description of tedium during the 30 AD trip across Europe. Fortunately, I got this one from the library.

Bad writing, cliched, boring. Barely made it to the end. Doesn't even deserve one star.

I must disagree, first of all, with reviewers who state that the "canon" of the Holmesian genre has been disgraced by this book. The characters of Holmes and Watson have never been better in this endeavor. Let's face it, if you could send anyone back in time, real or fictitious, to either prove or disprove the account of the Resurrection of Christ, would not Sherlock Holmes be the very best candidate? Just this premise alone is fascinating enough to sell this book.

Now, being a Sherlockian myself, I read carefully for any deviation from the Holmesian technique; for any hamhanded dialogue between Holmes and Watson; constantly asking myself, would Holmes and Watson REALLY act this way in the given situation? My answer was YES! I was very pleased with the way the Great Detective was portrayed and how he pursued the Greatest Mystery of All Time with his infamous deductive reasoning and amazing attention to detail! The last chapter is worth the price of the book alone.

Now for the negatives. Although I am a Christian and I was pleased to see Christ honored in this work, I felt that the narrative had a tendency to drag at times. I also felt that it was, indeed, a bit overly preachy in the beginning. However, the brilliance of Sherlock Holmes and the laser accurate apologetics/philosophical debate between Holmes and Watson more than make up for the narrative problems.

Overall, this is a must read for Christians and "Sherlockians" alike. Quickly now, get a copy for "the game is afoot!"

This a not a true Sherlock Holmes mystery, It is a poor way of pushing right wing Christian beliefs,

When I picked up this book, I was prepared to be dissapointed. Sherlock Holmes meets salvation? What?! What kind of cheesmo blather would this bring? Being a Christian, I was worried that Christian commercialism would reduce the great detective to a shallow, watered-down flake.
But no! The game was quite afoot! I was pleasantly surprised by the book's creative and truthful combination. I was a bit skeptical about the time-traveling, but I forgave it as creative liscense. The adventure theme of the book was quite entertaining, and I was overjoyed when the Sherlock Holmes bowed his knee before Jesus. (Kind of gave me the shivers!)
Altogether, I was not disappointed. I did think that both Watson and Holmes callled each other "my dear fellow" a lot more than they did in the orignal Sherlock adventures, but...oh well. Just a little peeve. Not enough to make me lower the rating to 4 stars.