Sherlock Holmes and the Search for Excalibur

Rating:
Summary: A page turner, but not Sherlock or Watson.
Review: I enjoyed this book as a fast paced adventure and only wish other names had been used rather than the very famous Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. I would recommend the book, but warn the reader, if a real Sherlockian, you may not recognize our beloved detective and sidkick.

This is the third in the series and I have to read the first two to solve a mystery. Usually when you have a valuable stolen item involved by a mystery author, he won't use it again in a case. I cannot for the life of me see the benefit of having the famous sword of Arthur, Excaliber, be the source of a hunt twice in a row by the same author. It may not be fair to say this until I can find the first two.

My problem with Sherlock Holmes is that his treatment as a chracter is well below par. Many many authors have recreated that super genius of a detective and some are more careful than others to faithfully follow Doyle's depictions. I refer to depictions about how he talks, acts, and reacts to others. It is not the first time that Holmes has been given a love interest, however others, especially Laurie King, have done a much better job. Holmes here is always between serious and simpering. Watson has to explain over and over how unusual it is for Holmes to react to an intelligent woman who is his equal. Has the author not heard of Irene Adler? There is almost a wink wink, nudge nudge relationship between Holmes and Watson when it comes to women. Monty Python does not belong in a story we are expected to take seriously.

The author must have been afraid that there weren't enough interesting characters so we have Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, and Frank Butler as helping sidekicks. There is even a chase through London that reminds one of car chases put in a movie when there isn't enough plot to fill the time. And of course Moriarity has to be brought back to life. Lastly, let's not forget the Werewolf of London. I'm afraid to mention more as I don't want to be a spoiler.

It is very fun light reading, but very poor when it comes to touching the flavor of the times when Sherlock Holmes would announce "The games afoot". I gave it three stars as an average. It deserve five for fun and one for missing the mark with the character of Sherlock Holmes.