Book 31 - David Stuart Davies - Sherlock Holmes and the Tangled Skein

Sherlock Holmes meets Dracula...how could I resist especially with a foreword by one of my favourite actors, Peter Cushing? Indeed in an interview he gave to the author shortly before his death he mused over the notion of which part he would play if the novel became a movie - as he had played both Holmes and Van Helsing, Dracula’s famous nemesis, as both are central to the story.

An interesting and terrifying vignette that works both as a sequel to The Hound of the Baskervilles and as a stand-alone story where Holmes and Watson face off against the King of the Vampires.

Very much like Abrams Stoker’s original novel, Dracula doesn’t put in an appearance until the last third of the book and then he looms over the remaining chapters. A brilliant piece of work told once again by Watson but it certainly reads like a novel Conan Doyle could have penned himself.

Brutal in its horror but uplifting its denouement, it is a fitting follow up to perhaps the greatest Sherlock Holmes story ever told. Brilliant. ( )

The two greatest literary creations of the late 19th century meet in this pastiche where Sherlock Holmes confronts Dracula, and which is also a sequel to Hound of the Baskervilles. As such it carries a lot of literary weight and stories can sometimes sag under such weight. This one works for the most part, though, with a good sense of mystery and horror and an authentic Holmesian feeling. Unlike Hound of the Baskervilles and also Conan Doyle's much less well known Adventure of the Sussex Vampire, the plot explanations here were genuinely supernatural, not cases where villains were exploiting the supernatural to hide their crimes. A good read, though I'm not generally a fan of literary creations meeting each other. ( )

I loved this book even though Dracula was in it. I love anything Holmes and Watson, I recommend this book to all that love Sherlock Holmes.

****I received this book in exchange for an honest review**** ( )

When a device arrives at 221B Baker Street that was meant to kill him, Sherlock Holmes sets out to investigate. He is captured by an old adversary from an earlier case whom he had long thought dead. At the same time, a woman arrives at Baker Street and tells Watson that Holmes is walking into a trap. Fortunately, Inspector Lestrade shows up right after she leaves to ask for his aid in solving some very strange deaths and he and Watson are able to rescue Holmes.

Lestrade’s case involves some very unusual murders linked to a phantom woman who is only seen at night. What particularly interests Holmes is the proximity of the deaths to Baskerville Hall. As he and Watson investigate, they meet the famous vampire hunter, Abraham Van Helsing who tells them that Count Dracula has taken up residence somewhere in England and suggests this may have some bearing on their case. Holmes and Watson are, not surprisingly, somewhat skeptical of this claim but the more they investigate, the more they are convinced that he is right, especially after they encounter the woman. And the more they investigate, the more it seems that this new case is somehow linked to the old adversary.

I am not quite convinced that pitting Sherlock Holmes, that most rational of fictitious detectives with Dracula as author David Stuart Davies does in his novel, Sherlock Holmes and the Tangled Skein, works. Still, if it’s to be done, Davies has chosen the right setting and original Holmes story to serve as backdrop. The Hound of the Baskervilles is, to my mind at least, the most gothic of Conan Doyle’s tales with its dark brooding mansion on the forbidding moors - a setting just guaranteed to raise shivers and which allows for the presence of supernatural elements whether it’s a phantom dog who howls (or doesn’t) in the night to herald a death or vampires.

That aside, this is a well-written tale and an enjoyable read although it would probably appeal more to fans of vampire stories or the paranormal than fans of the original Sherlock Holmes books.

Thanks to Netgalley and Endeavour press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review ( )

Another great re imagining of Sherlock Holmes stories.
A mix of murder and vampires with the presence of Van Helsing.
Very highly recommended.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Endeavour via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review which I am happy to do. ( )

A pastiche of course, but for me a good one. If you can stomach the basic Holmes vs Dracula premise then there is no reason not to enjoy this tale. This is a sequel of sorts to Hound of the Baskervilles with the inevitable return to Dartmoor and added 'undead'. Stuart Davies has an impeccable pedigree as a 'Sherlockian' (or 'Holmesian' if you prefer) and his knowledge of and passion for the the world's greatest detective shines through. Apart from one badly misjudged scene with a possessed owl (yes, really) the plot races along at a cracking pace, mixing adventure and detective in just the right proportions to bring to mind ACD's own canon.

More a short story then a novel, a couple of hours will see this finished and, in my opinion, that's 120 minutes well spent. ( )