Customer Reviews

Sherlock Holmes on the Wild Frontier

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

 

 

Holmes and Watson in a shootout on Front Street? In a stagecoach holdup? Rescuing captives from the Indians? Mowing down a murderous gang of outlaws? And much, much more? Yes, indeed. In this far-fetched outing, Holmes and Watson journey to the Wild West to try to track down the missing heir to a fortune. Modern writers often have a problem in spinning out a new Holmes adventure to novel length... Conan Doyle himself never mastered the trick. To keep Holmes baffled there usually must be one character who is so extraordinarily stupid that his actions and motives are unforeseeable even by Holmes. Here it's the missing heir himself, Cathcart Plymouth, who is depicted as so mindless that it seems impossible he can dress himself and tie his shoes.

There are a number of problems with this novel. First, the author has not been able to resist the temptation which so often presents itself to female Holmes authors: to invent a female character who would win Holmes' admiration, and even affection. Here the female, and Holmes' reaction to her, are consistently jarring. Even worse, Holmes himself seems to be replaced temporarily by a female impersonator at some point in every chapter. The impersonator is not detected by Watson, but is obvious to the long-suffering reader when "Holmes" suddenly gets the vapors, the hot flashes, the "not tonight" headaches, or blathers emotionally about "his" latest hunches, intuitions, "feelings" and premonitions.

Ms. Jozsa has given us plot out the bleeding wazoo, plot and action to spare, wild derring-do in nearly every chapter, with Holmes, Watson, the mindless Plymouth and his spunky wife in just as much continuous danger on an ocean liner or back home at the family castle as they were in the wild and untamed Old West. So you'll keep reading once you start, but you'll be pretty much starved for characterization, and for the presence of the good old high-strung, rude but brilliant Holmes we all know and love.

True Sherlockians'll know immediately upon beginning to read this book that this story has no place in the Canon. It would never have occurred. This Australian writer attempts to depict the American frontier but fails miserably. The dialect doesn't ring true. The characters are one dimensional. Several times Holmes makes Watson the butt of his jokes. He even sells him down the river, something Holmes would never do. The attempts at humor border farce and are tiresome and overdone. It's formulaic and predictable. It falls short of delivering what Holmes fans have come to expect from stories written about him and Watson.

Loved this book. The author stayed true to Conon Doyle, while at the same time infusing her own stamp on these characters, bringing more depth to both Holmes and Watson. Some parts were hilarious, some were touching.

The basic plot is that Holmes and Watson are hired by Sir Eustace Plymouth to go the Colorado USA to find his son, Cathcart. Cathcart has had a 6 month head start and is rather inept. Their journey takes them through San Francisco, Denver, mining towns and rugged mountain country. They encounter all manner of fronteir characters from saloon women to cowboys and indians, miners, gunslingers and the townfolk that make up the back bone of the west. There is an absolutely hilarious bit where Holmes is trying to retrieve his stolen wallet from a saloon woman. This was a rivetting and thoroughly enjoyable read. I recommend it to anyone.

When I first purchased Sherlock Holmes on the Wild Frontier I did not have much hope that author Magda Jozsa could pull it off. The Wild West is something we are all familiar with and Sherlock Holmes fans have been too often let down by stories about Holmes in America. This is an action packed page turner that begins on Baker Street and takes us into the great American West. Holmes and Watson are hired to locate Cathcart (what a name) Plymouth for his father. The boy is a complete nicompoop trying to prove himself. Holmes and Watson find that the trail to the young man leads them to small Western towns, shootouts, cattle drives, Indian raids, and more adventures than a Spaghetti Western. The story is written with a reverence for the old West, even The History Channel would be impressed, and each chapter is like a serial chapter of an adventure film. There is a female involved, Sarah Plymouth, who comes as close as any woman in fiction to being admired by Holmes. The feeling is mutual. Throughout the continual action Holmes is still the brilliant detective and Watson his faithful partner. I was pleased that the author didn't feel she needed to pepper the novel with famous names from the old West like Bill Cody and Annie Oakley as one past Holmes novelist did. The only mention of a famous name is Doc Holiday and that is because Dr. Watson appears to be considered a famous gun slinger and his title helps him. Sherlock Holmes, like James Bond, proves he can do it all. The only complaint I would make is with the cover. Holmes and Watson are supposed to be in their thirties and in the illustration they both look like they are in their fifties. Magda, fire your artist and keep giving us good books.

With the hokey cover to this book, I had expected to be disappointed. Instead, I was very pleasantly surprised! This book takes the reader on a rollicking adventure to the old west. This could have been very corny, but the author does a good job making the tale credible. I really enjoyed the humor interspersed throughout the story. Clearly, the author had fun writing this book. Having read a lot of Sherlock Holmes pastiches, I was pleased to find that the author kept true to the characters of both Holmes and Watson, while developing them both a bit more. Unlike one of the other reviews, I did not find the relationship between Holmes and Sarah to be jarring. Rather, I found it credible. Holmes still managed to be rude and superior. He wouldn't be Holmes if he weren't.

THIS BOOK WAS REALLY ENJOYABLE TO READ. THE WRITER HAS ALMOST CAUGHT THE ESSENCE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES AND DR. WATSON. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE

A beautifully enjoyable book from start to finish. Having never read any Holmes books before I was unsure of what to expect. The author presented the book very well.

I really couldn't put the book down once I had begun. Thank you Magda, for a great read. I look forward to enjoying future works of yours.

It was so much fun to read about Holmes and Watson crossing the US looking for a bit of a nincompoop: Cathcart. From being robbed to being captured by Indians to being thrown off a ship...it all adds up to a great and fun adventure for the two. Now about that loose end about Watson marrying that Indian girl...

Enjoy!

I've read Sherlock Holmes goes to america books before, but none like this. All I can say is it was a fun read, packed with humor, action and a hint of romance that stayed true to the characters natures.

There was humor throughout the book, yet it was never farsical.

The action never stopped and kept the book flowing along at a fast pace. My favorite bit was when they were prisoners in the indian camp.

The romance showed a softer side to Holmes. Showed that he could have human feelings, but of course, being Holmes, he would never act upon them. I was particularly pleased about that because I hate books where Holmes goes all mushy. It was totally believable that he could fall for an accomplished, intelligent and capable woman, and even more believable that despite that he wouldn't dream of acting upon those emotions. I thought it was well done.

All in all a really good read. I'm eagerly hoping this author will write more books.