Customer Reviews

Sherlock Holmes and the Red Demon: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure in North America

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that this "lost" Watsonian manuscript may well be authentic.

Don't misunderstand me here; I'm not making this claim for _all_ of Larry Millett's Holmes adventures. I'm prepared to accept the possibility that Holmes got to Minnesota once -- even twice, since the first trip was supposedly at the behest of James J. Hill and it makes sense that Hill might summon him again. But four or five times, with a lost MS every time, is stretching it a bit.

Nevertheless the most obvious objections don't tell against this particular tale, even if we want to be suspicious of its increasing number of sequels. So the setting "happens to be" Millett's own home turf? Well, Millett is a well-respected historian of the Twin Cities; if Holmes had been involved in a case or two in Minnesota, who would you _expect_ to come into possession of a lost MS telling the tale?

The tale itself is well-told and in the Watsonian style. Oh, the characterization doesn't always quite ring true (and indeed there is at least one scene that looks suspiciously as though it has been colored by Millett's own idea of comic relief). Nor is that characterization terribly deep; Sherlockians/Holmesians looking for Holmes-Watson interaction of the "old vintage" may be somewhat disappointed.

But let's remember that Watson was (allegedly) not writing this tale for publication; some of his usual touches may therefore be absent for entirely legitimate reasons. We may even entertain suspicions that Millett himself has fluffed up the writing a bit here and there and still accept that the MS itself may be authentic.

And there are enough nice touches to support the claim of authenticity. I can't tell you most of them without spoiling the story for you (they involve specific clues and false starts and such), but here's one: as Holmes and Watson investigate a series of possible arsons, they adopt the names "Baker" and "Smith" -- two trades that use fire in their practice and so are eminently suitable for a pair of investigators out to tame the red demon of the title. Millett includes plenty of erudite footnotes, but neither these nor the main text mention this little Holmesian touch; it therefore tells heavily in favor of authenticity.

Authentic or not, the story itself is pretty engaging. And it's told against a very realistic background, with a clear sense of the deep moral ambiguities of the nineteenth-century railroad industry. (The railroads were neither an unmixed blessing nor an unmitigated evil. They were good in some obvious respects, but the damage they did was real too -- and unfortunately the difficulty, herein described, of getting satisfaction from the courts was all too historical.) The author -- whether Watson or Millett -- keeps all this stuff in the mix without taking sides or allowing it to color the mystery itself.

Nicely done, then, and worth reading. And if it's a genuine Watson manuscript, so much the better.

I am a Sherlock Holmes fan. Not a rabid fan, but a fan nonetheless. I cannot possibly successfully debate the finer points of Holmes trivia with anyone, but I do enjoy the stories by Doyle and others, and the many radio plays, movies and TV series involving the characters.

In the Raymond Benson James Bond series, I discuss why I have problems rating books a '1' or a '5'. I will not repeat it here. Suffice to say that, except for some minor issues I have with Millet's writing, I could push this book towards a '5'. A '4', though, will have to do.

Millet, I feel, creates a scenario with Holmes and Watson that I find believable. I can accept the characters in their situation, I can accept their dialog, and I can accept how they approach a given situation and work its solution. That is vital to any set of characters, but particularly so where the protagonists have already been created and discussed at length. In my mind there is a clear picture of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, and they mesh well with Millet's creation. He has found the character's souls, and he uses them well.

What struck me most with Millet's writing is a scene where Holmes is pacing a room, deep in thought, and Watson describes Holmes as "frustrated with having to wait for real events to catch up with the swift workings of his mind." A beautiful description of Holmes and his personality, and one that sticks with me. This behavior of Holmes is present not just in Sir Doyle's work, but in his followers as well. It is the quintessential Holmes.

Millet also writes a thrilling conclusion. The race to save townspeople from the raging inferno as Bill Best holds the train far later than is safe was a page turner of the highest level. I could not have put the book down and stopped reading even if that inferno was bearing down on my chair. And as it described on a real-life event (there really was a Bill Best, and he really did hold a train for fleeing residents as the town burned around him), it was all the more chilling. I could visualize every detail as I read, picture the people fleeing the walls of fire, and hear the cries of terror and the tension of their panic. Now THAT was a climax.

Given that, why not a '5'? Sorry to say, but Millet enjoys far too much in the Holmes quirk of describing everything about a person when they first meet. This is heavily overused, and greatly interrupts the story flow as I mentally shout, "What, again?!?" I just couldn't give this story a '5'.

Overall, though, a highly entertaining book, and one that I will reread again. I recommend that you check it out as well.

I liked this book. Millett isn't Conan Doyle, and his Holmes is a little ruder, coarser, and not quite as brilliant. But, then, nobody will ever be Conan Doyle. The book is good historically; I enjoyed that aspect of it immensely. And it is full of action, it is a very exciting book, I thought. I guess the best compliment I can give it is that, being the first of Millett's Holmes novels that I read, it made me want to read the others, and I am currently reading "The Ice Palace Murders" and enjoying it very much as well. But, again, caveat emptor: this is NOT an exact replica of Conan Doyle's Holmes, but I do think it's a ripping good story.

The first of Millett's Sherlock Holmes in Minnesota series, I read this after "Ice Palace Murders," but the order of reading isn't crucial. If you like one, you'll like the other. This one has more adventure and is probably a little truer to the Doyle stories, though I must admit I was constantly picturing Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as I was reading the book, and, since I love those movies, that is meant to be a compliment. As with the Ice Palace book, I found the footnotes to be bothersome, and again, the villian's identity is kept from us long after even Watson knows. The villian himself is a fairly minor character, so the ultimate unmasking, especially since it comes after a thrilling battle on a burning bridge, is anti-climactic. Still, quite enjoyable. I'll be looking forward to the next one in paperback.

Imagine! During the demolition of a 19th Century mansion a whole trove of unknown Sherlock Holmes adventures, manuscripts written in Dr. Watson's own hand, are uncovered! What a wonderful idea! Certainly there is plenty of time for such in Dr. Watson's time line. Larry Millett, unfortunately, is not the man to write those adventures. His style is dry and pedantic, and insists on making Holmes and Watson do things completely out of character. In fact, Mr Millett commits the most unpardonable of all mystery writer sins. He introduces a character in the last part of the book & "pins the rap" on him. Even if you had been carefully following the clues, you would have failed to "figger it out" because the writer cheated. All in all, very disappointing, especially for long time Sherlockians.

As a huge Holmes fan, and great admirer of Doyle, I am always looking for a pastiche that will transport me into the world of Holmes and Watson. While Millet has suceeded in conveying the right tone and pacing (both usually missed by Doyle imitators) he disappoints slightly in the lack of what one might call "character juice" - and simply puts the Holmes and Watson we know so well through their very familiar paces as Holmes tries to prevent an arsonist from destroying a railroad and many people in a remote Minnesota town. Besides adding nothing new to the character lore, Millet disappoints with his villain and secondary characters, and misses a real chance to play up cultural differences by placing a couple of London Victorian dandies in the Wild West. Despite these missed opportunities, plot, dialogue and details ultimately satisfy as a light Holmes read.

Oh,dear. Mr. Millet has, I'm afraid, quite missed the mark. Let's say it right off - 'Too Long'. Over 300 dreary pages, when the story could have been told in half that. I have read many Holmes stories by authors other than Conan Doyle. Few have come close to the originals, but that's okay. Those men and women were not Doyle, so one must take what they get. But this novel was so very tedious. I think it should be noted that in the four Holmes novels by Doyle, Holmes himself was only in about half the story. Now we know why. Too much of even Sherlock Holmes can be a trial. I completed 'The Red Demon' only with great effort. I cannot recommend it.

Larry Millett's "Sherlock Holmes and the Red Demon" takes the Great Detective from his usual London haunts into the pinelands of northern Minnesota. The results are variable.

The book is overshadowed by Holmes' failure to stop a massive fire that kills hundred of people. While this may seem to give away part of the story, it is plainly revealed in the blurb, broadly hinted at in the introduction, and the extent of the fire is shown on a map before the novel begins!

Instead, the reader gets to watch Holmes seeking to discover who is behind the impending disaster. So, while Millett's depiction of Holmes' deductive activity is fine. Most of the clues Holmes relies upon are in plain sight of the reader, which is not always the case in a Holmes' story, so perhaps some readers can enjoy matching withs with the Great Detective.

I found Millett's portrayl of Holmes a little off-key, and this is highlighted by Watson maiking references to Holmes' unusual behaviour. Not being from Minnesota (or even America!) I cannot comment of the depiction of the area and its people, but for a foreigner they seemed quite natural.

Millett has written two further Holmes novels - "Sherlock Holmes and the Ice Palace Murder (hinted at in the closing pages of this book) and "Sherlock Holmes and the Runestone Mystery" - both of which I believe are also set in Minnesota. Based on this book, I believe they are likely to be worth a read.

This is a must read for fans of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Holmes solves a satisfying mystery in the northwoods of Minnesota in one of the best Sherlock Holmes stories that I have ever read including the originals. The background setting is accurately painted by the first-time novelist, and the book is very well written. All of the elements that make Doyle's characters so popular can be found in the novel as well. There are a cast of interesting characters that can puzzle a reader as to who the red demon is. I guessed who the villian was......

The author tries desperately to impact his own sense of style onto Homes and Watson. Although in entertainment we all expect little from imitation, this book still falls short of the mark