Mrs
Hudson and the Spirits' Curse
By
Martin Davies
Everybody
knows that Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson had a housekeeper called
Mrs Hudson, but what did she get up to when her employers were detecting?
Martin Davies' answer is that she was also detecting - but in this
slightly tongue-in-cheek debut she also beats the professionals
at their own game. When Nathaniel Moran arrives in an overly dramatic
manner the whole household is agog to hear his fearsome tales of
life in Sumatra, horrible deaths and curses that have followed him
home to England. But where does the sinister Fogarty fit in to all
this, and what part can orphan Flotsam play to sort out truth from
lies and solve the mystery?
Anything to do with Holmes is almost
always great fun, and this is no exception. Told in the first person
by Mrs Hudson's assistant Flotsam, this lifts the lid on one version
on what was really going on before Watson decided to award the laurels
to Holmes in his Strand stories. Foggy streets, master criminals,
witch doctors' curses, orphans separated in infancy, and inexplicable
murders all combine to make this a page turner with plenty of surprises
- even Raffles puts in an appearance. To balance this out this is
an overtly cozy tale that probably needs to be read on a stormy
night in a warm room, so it is true to the Conan Doyle tradition
too. I liked the way elements from the Holmes stories had been sewn
together like a patchwork quilt, with the allusion to the "giant
rat of Sumatra" as a focal point. There are parts of the book
where the story treads water somewhat, and everybody will groan
when Flottie falls for the villain's traps over and over again but
perhaps this is all part of the fun. There is a great feeling of
the first book in a possibly long series, and as I read it all sorts
of future plots and themes presented themselves.
Let's
hope that I am right
|
The
Book |
Berkley
Prime Crime (Penguin Group) |
November
2004 |
Paperback |
0425198456 |
Historical
Crime [1880s, London] |
More
at Amazon.com |
Excerpt
|
NOTE:
|
The
Reviewer |
Rachel A Hyde |
Reviewed
2005 |
NOTE:
|
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