Sherlock Holmes & the Christmas Demon by James LovegroveMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Before even getting to the story, this dedication to Sherlock Holmes stories by James Lovegrove is such a beautifully presented book that just looks fabulous on a shelf, with a beautiful, bright red mistletoe adorned sleeve, I'm happy to have this in my collection.
The story is typical affair, a young woman espies Holmes and Watson in London where she has escaped to to flee the her stresses of her Yorkshire manor house. She is due to inherit a sum of money, as long as she is deemed of sound mind. Unfortunately, some strange goings on are forcing her to question her own sanity.
In the guise of a local myth, the Christmas Demon known as The Black Thurrick, bushels of birch twigs are being left around the house, a warning of the Black Thurrick's activities. Not only that, but Eve swears she saw the beast, with sack in hand, traipsing over the frozen lake from her bedroom window.
Not your typical mystery - no crime has yet been committed - Holmes can't help but be intrigued, as he and Watson agree to make the trip up north as long as they can be home for festivities on Christmas Day.
What I loved about this story, is how it feels like traditional holmes for a modern age. It's still period fiction, but despite the eclectic use of adjectives and language, feels somehow easier to digest.
All the characters are here; the stuffy lord of the manor and his kept for brother; his drunken misfit nephew and scared daughter (Eve, who is due for her inheritance). Then the staff with the abruptly rude butler, and the expert marmalade creating cook. They're all expertly written from Doctor John Watson's perspective as he makes every attempt to equal his partners investigative abilities.
Of course not all is as it seems, and Holmes uncovers more than meets the eye throughout the investigation, which he brings to a head in a typical announcement to a room of suspects, rather Agatha Christie esque.
I absolutely could not stop reading this book. Every time I finished a chapter (all of a perfectly digestible length) I just had to carry on to find out what on earth was going on. Holmes and Watson are just as loveable as ever in this depiction, and it really feels like they're good buddies as well as colleagues.
It's a sci-fi/fantasy/detective mash up like I was expecting, but with more of those turning up on the market now (Rivers of London, Warlock Holmes etc) that's no bad thing. Instead, this is a real love letter to the real thing. Sherlock for the modern age. That and it's Christmas setting was enough to entice me, and I subsequently inhaled this really excellent story. Recommended for all fans of good storytelling, detective fiction, Rivers of London, Warlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie etc. It would also make a fab Christmas gift.
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