Sherlock Holmes and the Tomb of Terror [Paperback]

Val Andrews (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Breese Books Ltd (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0947533729
• ISBN-13: 978-0947533724
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,726,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Holmes in the Sahara..., November 28, 2000

By 

Rory Coker (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sherlock Holmes and the Tomb of Terror (Paperback)

British journalist and magician Val Andrews has written too many Holmes pastiches for me to easily count, during the past decade and a half. Most have been published lately by British magic publisher Martin Breese, who says this particular novel is his favorite. It is told in a somewhat more leisurely manner, with more attention to period detail and style, than the usual Andrews offering.

Holmes and Watson are basically blackmailed into a dangerous expedition to a little-known Saharan kingdom, where they wind up being buried alive in the tomb of a recently dead king! Despite the carefully wrought motif of Victorian adventure throughout (H. Rider Haggard is explicitly referred to), Holmes is treated according to the Conan Doyle Canon pretty much, although at novel's end Mycroft is seen doing something utterly preposterous--- at least for Mycroft. The payoff regarding a "mysterious mineral" in the lost kingdom is also pretty thin stuff.

In general I enjoyed it, and if you like other novels by Andrews, you're certain to like this one. By the way, magician Andrews has Holmes use a couple of sideshow magic stunts in the course of the novel; watch for them.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars African adventure for the great detective, October 8, 2007

By 

F. J. Harvey "Cricket ,country music and a go... (Birmingham England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sherlock Holmes and the Tomb of Terror (Paperback)

While its title bears the name of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's great creation this book owes more to Sir Henry Rider Haggard than it does to Doyle ,being a tale of adventure in Africa and involving the search for a lost civilization -both characteristically Haggardian themes .Indeed ,the text explicitly references Haggard -and indeed Jules Verne the science fiction luminary of the era

It opens in Baker Street on New Year's Eve 1899 when Holmes and Watson are visted by Abdul ,the Cambridge educated heir to the Sheikhdom of Marrafaze in Africa .He fears that his brother Mustapha ,and his father's right hand man ,The Wazir of Marrafaze are plotting to kill him as they fear his modernising tendencies .Holmes and Watson at the instigation of Holmes brother Mycroft emabark on a mission to discover the whereabouts of the country and bring back a signed agreement giving the British mining rights over a key mineral that is reported to exist in large quntaties in Marrafaze and which may be useful in any future war with Germany

The trek over the Sahara is long and arduous involving a perilous descent down mist shrouded cliffs and thier welcome at Marrafaze cools with the death of the Sheiokh and the ascent to power of Mustapha and the Wazir who entomb them alive in a subterranean cavern -the eponymous tomb .How they resolve their problem forms the last part of the book

It is more adventure yarn than detective story and indeed the detective element -the resolution of a jewel theft in Tangier-is merely extraneous padding to make the book a more saleable length .The result is lively and readble enough but not really the material of a genuine slice of Holmesiana

It is brisk and readable and will divert adequately well for an few hours but its not a major work by any means

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Can you say "boring"?, September 8, 2000

By 

Darkendale "Raven" (VA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Sherlock Holmes and the Tomb of Terror (Paperback)

A total waste of my book money. This author doesn't catch the Holmes/Waton/Mycroft characters at all. A collector's item, maybe, just for the Holmes name on the book, but the storyline is weak and ho-hum. I don't recommend this book at all. Or any others written by this author. Quoth the Raven...