Customer Reviews

The Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes

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I was dismayed to find that no one has yet reviewed this excellent book. I shall set the omission straight immediately.

I have read the Sherlock Holmes canon several times, and have read at least a dozen pastiches based on Sherlock Holmes. This has to be one of the very best.

Ms. Thomson has a gift for capturing the flavor and feel of the originals. Her writing style is sophisticated and highly literate. She uses a diction which matches the original, with numerous British usages and expressions. The description is vivid, and a remarkable balance between sensory images and maintaining the pace of the story.

Her Dr. Watson is -- of course -- the narrator, as is always the case, but she really has a flair for keeping him alive for the reader. He occasionally bumbles and misspeaks, and frequently misunderstands Holmes, as is his wont. Some of this has a touch of real comedy.

Holmes comes across beautifully, his somber and somewhat stoic character occasionally relieved by touches of real emotion -- hastily but not entirely concealed. He seems very real.

The plots are just marvelous. They are quite ingenious. The clients who visit Holmes to present their cases are a mix of the humble and the aristocratic -- never boring, always fresh.

Many modern day writers have attempted to recreate Sherlock Holmes in various imitations. Some have had at least some measure of success -- at least, their efforts are entertaining. However, Ms. Thomson goes beyond that.

Ms. Thomson has proven a real master of the Sherlock Holmes pastiche. Except for the element of originality, which has to go to the man who actually created Sherlock Holmes -- Arthur Conan Doyle -- Ms. Thomson's stories can actually rival Doyle's.

The Thomson pastiches are very good, with cleaver plots.Get this one, youll have a very good time