★★★
Fans of Sherlock Holmes, fans of mystery, fans of adventure and suspense – this might be your next favorite book! Now, I have never read a Sherlock Holmes book before, so I can’t compare this book to the original books from Arthur Conan Doyle. But, what I will do for you is tell you all I thought about this book!
The story begins when during the funeral of Queen Victoria, a group of Irish separatists steal the Coronation Stone, on which every royal has been crowned. To retrieve this important object, the royals will hire Sherlock Holmes to solve the mystery. Holmes and his friend Watson travel to Ireland and try to infiltrate the Irish Republican Brotherhood, a group they think is responsible for all that happened.
Even though this is a Sherlock Holmes book, we actually unravel the story through a Watson-first-person point of view. He, to me, is a very interesting character, even though he follows Holmes like a puppy and doesn’t seem to have a personal opinion.
As for Sherlock Holmes, even though I really like the mysterious aura about him, and how smart he can be – I also see him as one of the rude aristocrats that refuse to speak to other people that seem to be lower in the hierarchy to them. This is of course, not presented in the book in any way – but I simply had that impression.
I loved the beginning, and I loved the mystery and suspense throughout the whole book. I was never ahead of the book, and my assumptions were never correct. I loved how the author kept us in the dark right until the end.
The small things I didn’t like though, were the slow pace – I have to admit, the pace was really slow for me, and I couldn’t wait until a chapter is finished to see if there would be more action. Then, even the action scenes weren’t as thrilling as I would expect them to be. And finally, there were no big plot twists, which I think we might have used in the book.
But – we did have a lovely mystery solving story, and we had a lot of history information floating around. We also had another book with Sherlock Holmes, that for you – lovers of the Sherlock Holmes books will of course be something you enjoy.
I greatly recommend it to you if you love the good old Sherlock Holmes adventures!
Many thanks to the author, Richard T. Ryan, for sending me an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Fantastic review. I do agree with your statement of, “As for Sherlock Holmes, even though I really like the mysterious aura about him, and how smart he can be – I also see him as one of the rude aristocrats that refuse to speak to other people that seem to be lower in the hierarchy to them.” I’ve always had a love-hate with him. He’s so smart but does seem to look down on anyone who can’t keep up with him, which I find obnoxious. I don’t mind it in a book as much but if I met someone like that I’d want to smack them with the largest book I could find (maybe a hardcover of War and Peace 😀 ).
Also as for the slow nature, I do find that with older books. So many books now are so fast paced to give the ‘instant gratification’ for the reader. But way back when, they wrote to just write, to create something. Not necessarily to have a page turner. It can make reading older classics a little bit of a drag, but you always feel so accomplished!
Lovely post!
Thank you so much! I agree with every point of what you said. I love classics, and even though they are not page turners, they do have something special about them, and as you said, it’s a great pleasure when you finish them. I didn’t really felt it as much with this book though.. Maybe it was just me 🙂
I totally agree with these points. Sherlock was an ass – a genius, but still a pompous ass.
Great review! I love mystery and suspense. I have read two to three Sherlock Holmes stories and currently own one. Watson is an interesting character and as you mentioned he doesn’t seem to have a personal opinion. (Even in the original books from Arthur Conan Doyle). I would see if I can find this book.
Thank you Shanza!
Great review. I like Watson in the traditional Sherlock Holmes stories. I only really appreciated Sherlock in the modern TV show. Having said that, I used to watch the movies when I was young so maybe I should give the books a go as an adult.
Great review! I’ve never read a Sherlock book before, mostly because I don’t have the attention span for mystery. But I did enjoy watching Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock on TV!
I’ve never read a Sherlock Holmes book before, but they’re on my massive TBR list. Wonderful review!
I’ve read sherlock holmes when I was younger, like grade school younger. I’m sure I would see it from a different point of view if I were to reread it.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this one!
I’ve never read Sherlock, but loved the movies! 🙈😉
I love Sherlock Holmes books and I’ve read quite a few books by other authors that mimic his work, most has been done wonderful. Might have to try this book.