From a manuscript believed to be the work of John H. Watson, MD The summer of 1897 brings visitors flocking to London for Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. With them comes a Russian nobleman, as well as an English lady from Canada. This lady calls on Holmes and Watson for their assistance in dealing with strangers who are following her. The mystery deepens when Holmes recognizes one of them as the head of Russian Intelligence in London. What dreadful deed occurred on the plains of Russia more than twenty years before? What has a charitable lady in Sussex, whose fianc? was murdered years ago, got to do with it all? Danger escalates as Holmes investigates, until he is forced to find an unusual refuge for his client.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Set in 1897 during Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, British author Roberts's eighth Sherlock Holmes pastiche captures the language and spirit of Doyle's originals while keeping the great detective and his legendary medical sidekick in character. Diana Fordeland, a well-known journalist who also served as governess to the children of the king of Mongkuria, calls on 221B Baker St. because she believes that mysterious men have been shadowing her and her granddaughter. With typical brilliance, the sleuth soon finds the roots of his new client's troubles in her past travels in Russia, which are of interest to various foreign factions, including the czar's secret police. While the relative slightness of the puzzle makes this effort a notch below Roberts's best work (e.g., Sherlock Holmes and the Harvest of Death), this highly enjoyable outing is far superior to 2004's Sherlock Holmes and the Rule of Nine. Second only to Denis O. Smith among current writers at evoking the Watsonian voice, Roberts needs only a more complex plot to truly shine.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Roberts' latest entry in his imaginative series featuring Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson is the best yet. It's Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, and London is filled with visitors from afar, including Mrs. Diana Fordeland, of Canada. But Mrs. Fordeland has a problem, one that she is sure Holmes can solve. She fears she is being followed, and she cannot find a credible reason to explain why. At first, Holmes thinks she is imagining things, but when he discovers that she is telling the truth and that one of the men following her is the diabolical Major Kyriloff, head of Russian intelligence in London, he becomes genuinely concerned. As Holmes concentrates his considerable powers on unraveling the case, he finds himself drawn into a decades-old tale of intrigue. The charismatically eccentric Holmes takes center stage, of course, but he's admirably supported by clever writing, an unusual plot, historical authenticity, and well-drawn characters. One of the most traditional--and traditionally satisfying--of the many series that update the Holmes canon. Emily Melton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good double story.,
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This review is from: Sherlock Holmes and the King's Governess (Library Binding)
Barrie Roberts, again using the theme that he has access to a lost manuscript written by Dr. James Watson, does a good job in Sherlock Holmes And The King's Governess. It is a double story as the reader will quickly see the parallel between Holmes's latest client Diana Fordeland and the real Anna Leonowens (of Anna and the King of Siam fame). Watson uses names to protect the people living at the time, however the novel uses real personalities during this period. Diana or Anna is in London for the Queen's Jubilee and to see her former student, now the visiting king or Mongkuria (Siam). She is stalked by Russian agents and the detective story quickly becomes one of international intrigue. Very well done and fast moving. As much as I enjoy new stories about Sherlock Holmes it makes you wonder if Watson wasn't the sloppiest man in England with the hundreds, maybe thousands, of unpublished manuscripts that are somehow being found by modern writers.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty good!,
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This review is from: Sherlock Holmes and the King's Governess (Library Binding)
In this latest Holmes and Watson adventure from British Holmes scholar, historian and writer Barrie Roberts, Holmes tackles a baffling mystery whose roots lie somewhere in Russia. A Canadian journalist, Mrs. Diana Fordeland, finds herself being followed around London by not one but two suspicious groups of men. It's the summer of 1897, the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, and London is packed with important visitors from nearly every nation on earth. Holmes' investigations disclose a tangled web of associations that somehow involve the murder of a British officer on leave in Paris years before, and a tour through Russia made by Mrs. Fordeland long ago. Roberts delights in revealing that "Fordeland" is a Watsonian pseudonym for Leonowens, but the reader will have guessed it long before, which is why I don't think it is a spoiler to reveal it here. Readers will also be able to guess the identity of the Asian monarch who comes to the assistance of Holmes, Watson and Mrs. Fordeland when they are trapped and surrounded by assassins.
As in other Barrie Roberts Holmes adventures that I have seen, what we have here is a nice blending of real history and pure imagination, a case for Holmes that allows him to display his talents to the full, and a novel that will not insult the intelligence and taste of the reader on every other page. Recommended.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Capable but not outstanding,
By F. J. Harvey "Cricket ,country music and a go... (Birmingham England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Sherlock Holmes and the King's Governess (Severn House Large Print) (Hardcover)
This is the ninth book in the Sherlock Holmes saga from the pen of Mr Roberts and is set in 1897 ,largely in London.It is the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee -the sixtieth anniversary of her accession to the throne -and London is packed to the rafters with celebrants .One such is a Canadian journalist and travel write and former Governess to the King Of Mongkuria ,one Anna Fordeland .She is being followed by two gropus of men and Holmes quickly establishes a Russian connection ,she having been a visitir to Tsarist Russia some years previously .One of the trackers is a dangerous man indeed -Major Kriloff of the Russian Embassy , a man keeping watch on the Russian emigre community (largely opponents of the Tsar-anarchists ,socialists etc)in the East End .The other is a man named Grigorieff ,who is employed by a well to do woman Miss Wortlet-Swann as a translator .
The key is an atrocity in Russia some years previously ,witnessed but not disclosed by Fordeland and Gregorieff .It was carried out by a thoroughly unpleasant man named Slovinski-Rimkoff ,a cousin of the Tsar now present in London ,and the Russians are persuaded she is about to go public and so discredit the regime ,They are prepared to stop at nothing to ensure her silence .Holmes is faced with two issues -saving his client and preventing the assassination of the vile Slovinski-Rimkoff by elements with deeply personal reasons to desire his death. The book is a bit lacking in action for my taste and while never dull does have its longeurs .The Author's notes in the back of the book reveal that Fordeland is based on the governess in The King And I and also gives some interesting background to the opposition to the Tsar in London exiles circles .These passages are more interesting than the actual book which is a solid read but not in the top echelon of Holmes revival tales
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