Son of Holmes

Rating:
Summary: Extra Credit for Brevity
Review: "Dead Irish" and "The Vig" were O.K. But why must all of the "Dismal" Hardy novels be 400 pages+? And, if a knucklehead like me can figure out "whodunit" by page 10 -- imagine the torture for semi-literate readers!

Thankfully, "Son of Holmes" is only half the length of a Dismal Hardy novel. Not that Mr. Lescroart has figured out how to put "mystery" in his mystery novel: the "whodunit" is still loudly and obviously broadcast early on. But at least we're given a couple hours of our lives back.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite mystery book
Review: "Son of Holmes" is based in a small French town just after WWI broke out. Auguste Lupa is the supposed son of Sherlock Holmes (its always hinted at, but never confirmed). Lupa must discover, with the help of a French agent, the murderer of a crime. The murderer turns out to want to disrupt France's war effort.

With brillant plot, brillant characters, and a wonderfully done setting, this book of Lescroart should be reprinted and stay in print. You will not find a better book set in WWI.

Rating:
Summary: Extra Credit for Brevity
Review: "Dead Irish" and "The Vig" were O.K. But why must all of the "Dismal" Hardy novels be 400 pages+? And, if a knucklehead like me can figure out "whodunit" by page 10 -- imagine the torture for semi-literate readers!

Thankfully, "Son of Holmes" is only half the length of a Dismal Hardy novel. Not that Mr. Lescroart has figured out how to put "mystery" in his mystery novel: the "whodunit" is still loudly and obviously broadcast early on. But at least we're given a couple hours of our lives back.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite mystery book
Review: "Son of Holmes" is based in a small French town just after WWI broke out. Auguste Lupa is the supposed son of Sherlock Holmes (its always hinted at, but never confirmed). Lupa must discover, with the help of a French agent, the murderer of a crime. The murderer turns out to want to disrupt France's war effort.

With brillant plot, brillant characters, and a wonderfully done setting, this book of Lescroart should be reprinted and stay in print. You will not find a better book set in WWI.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite mystery book
Review: "Son of Holmes" is based in a small French town just after WWI broke out. Auguste Lupa is the supposed son of Sherlock Holmes (its always hinted at, but never confirmed). Lupa must discover, with the help of a French agent, the murderer of a crime. The murderer turns out to want to disrupt France's war effort.

With brillant plot, brillant characters, and a wonderfully done setting, this book of Lescroart should be reprinted and stay in print. You will not find a better book set in WWI.

Rating:
Summary: dull, trite, disjoint disappointment
Review: I am a big fan of Sherlockiana and Conan Doyle pastiches, and this book started out promisingly with the requisite prologue explaining the genesis of the manuscript at a "Martha Hudson dinner" in an academic suburb of Boston. Even the preface was a clever touch, "All the events in this book are true, despite the disclaimer which you have just read ...." I was eager to proceed!

Unfortunately, when the focus shifts to the story itself, set in rural France during WWI, it lost all focus for me. I have spent over a week dragging through this tale a page or two at a time. The prose is wooden, which can be forgiven in a piece of Holmesiana if the plot is grabbing, but that plot is sparse and slow to develop. Doyle would have done this in a short story. There isn't much in the way of character development to fill in, either. The writing and plot seem disjoint. For instance, the narrator describes one character, Tania, as (something like) 'the only woman he had ever truly loved', yet this love is not _shown_ in their relationship (which seemed a very Gallic accomodation of convenience). So, just short of halfway through, I shall admit defeat and place this one aside.

This one of the worst Holmes offshoots I have (tried to) read.

Rating:
Summary: Elementary my Dear Lupa!
Review: This was a great read, from the introduction to the end....Lescroart gave Lupa enough of his "father" but still keeping a sensible distance as to not create a clone. I just purchased Rasputin's Revenge, and I'm looking forward to reading it! I hope you continue to write more A. Lupa stories!

Rating:
Summary: Elementary my Dear Lupa!
Review: This was a great read, from the introduction to the end....Lescroart gave Lupa enough of his "father" but still keeping a sensible distance as to not create a clone. I just purchased Rasputin's Revenge, and I'm looking forward to reading it! I hope you continue to write more A. Lupa stories!