Rating: 
Summary: Very faithful to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, yet fresh and new.
Review: "The Canary Trainer" is another "rediscovered" Sherlock Holmes manuscript, written this time in the voice of Holmes himself.
It was very easy to imagine that Sherlock Holmes had actually written this "memoir".
The story (which takes it's place in the chronology right after Meyer's " The Seven Per Cent Solution") begins when Sherlock Holmes is hired as a violinist with the Opera company orchestra.
He learns of the strange events surrounding the "Ghost", and, allowing himself to be perceived as a Surete agent 'undercover', begins to investigate the 'accidents' which have been taking place in the Opera house.
Unexpectedly,his cover is blown by the indomitable Irene Adler, who is engaged to perform with the Paris Opera Company, and who blackmails him into protecting her young friend, the lovely Christine Daae.
Irene joins him in his investigation.
Anyone familiar with the orginal story of the Phantom of the Opera, (or who has seen Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of the same name) will enjoy this book, with it's familiar characters, and what seems to be an insider's view of the mysterious events.
I have read this book more than three times, and am buying another copy to replace one that has gotten ragged from being read too many times.
For me, there can be no higher praise than saying that a book is not only worth reading, but reading again.
Rating: 
Summary: Meyer really dropped tha ball!
Review: After Meyer's two other great books, he now falls victim to the trend of linking everybody up with the Phantom of the Opera. Very disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: A great premise, but a not-so-great story
Review: As a big fan of both Sherlock Holmes and the Phantom of the opera, I eagerly looked forward to reading this book, but found it disappointing. The premise itself is great - the master detective investigating the strange occurrences at the Paris Opera house. However, Holmes makes many uncharacteristic blunders throughout his investigation, and his work is hampered by the fact that he must keep his true identity a secret, since he is believed to be dead at the time. The book also suffers because of the absence of Dr. Watson. The book also shows Christine Daae as an idiot, and the Phantom as an evil maniac with no redeeming qualities.I really enjoyed Nicholas Meyer's previous two Holmes pastiches, "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution" and "The West-End Horror," but I don't feel that "The Canary Trainer" is as good as its two predecessors. It was a very interesting premise, but I just don't like the way Meyer handled it.
Rating: 
Summary: 'you must forget the man called Erik'
Review: But it's not as bad as all that. Nevertheless if you want to read Meyer's Holmes pastiches I'd recommend starting with the other two (_The Seven Per Cent Solution_ and _The West End Horror_). Meyer at his best is splendid. If you do so, then be sure to ignore the misinformation in the Kirkus Reviews excerpt above. _The West End Horror_ has nothing to do with Jack the Ripper; it concerns a pair of grisly murders that take place in London's theater district. I assume the reviewer is thinking of Edward Hanna's _The Whitechapel Horrors_.
Rating:
Summary: 'you must forget the man called Erik'
Review: I liked this book because it combined my two favourite characters: the phantom of the opera (Erik) and Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock stayed the remarkable genius that he is(even though he blundered miserbly sometimes-but,hey,YOU try to do better). But I was really disappointed with the treatment of Erik. Meyer calls him 'the creature' and makes him more insane than even in the original book! Personally, I the most appealling thing about Erik is that he IS a sympathetic character hopelessly in love with Christine Daae. This is why I 'liked' the Canary Trainer, not 'loved' it. (P.S.-Having Gaston Leroux as the music instucter was a creative touch)
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre at best
Review: I read the other 2 books Meyer wrote about Holmes and thought this one was the least enjoyable. As another reviewer wrote, Holmes makes many uncharacteristic mistakes when he goes undercover at the Opera, too many to bother going into detail about here. But what most gets to me, and maybe I'm the only one who really thinks this way, is how Holmes becomes thick-headed whenever Irene Adler is part of a story, whether this one or any other pastiche.
In the Canary Trainer he really does become a bit of a buffoon which I think Meyer did to show Holmes' more human side, though I think it was distracting. The premise was good but, overall, the story was convoluted and the ending was non-sensical. The other two pastiches by Meyer I'd probably recommend but not this one, there are better ones out there like The Whitechapel Horrors by Edward Hanna.
Rating:
Summary: A dissenting opinion
Review: I've read all three of Nicholas Meyer's Sherlockian pastiches, and oddly enough, this one's my favorite. Yes, it lacks Watson, yes, everyone already knows the story of the Phantom of the Opera, and yes, Meyer stupidly describes a real-life character as dead when he was actually very much alive - but the plot is fast-paced, and Holmes makes a good enough narrator that Watson's absence doesn't hurt as much as it might. Although it has Irene Adler in it, Meyer knows better than to turn the book into a romance. In fact, Holmes' reaction to Adler's presence is nicely ambiguous; while he's clearly attracted/fascinated by "the woman," he just as clearly wishes she'd go away and leave him alone! Get it from the library and see if it appeals to you before you buy it.
Rating:
Summary: A dissenting opinion
Review: I've read all three of Nicholas Meyer's Sherlockian pastiches, and oddly enough, this one's my favorite. Yes, it lacks Watson, yes, everyone already knows the story of the Phantom of the Opera, and yes, Meyer stupidly describes a real-life character as dead when he was actually very much alive - but the plot is fast-paced, and Holmes makes a good enough narrator that Watson's absence doesn't hurt as much as it might. Although it has Irene Adler in it, Meyer knows better than to turn the book into a romance. In fact, Holmes' reaction to Adler's presence is nicely ambiguous; while he's clearly attracted/fascinated by "the woman," he just as clearly wishes she'd go away and leave him alone! Get it from the library and see if it appeals to you before you buy it.
Rating:
Summary: The Strange Case of the Opera Ghost
Review: Meyer continues his version of Sherlock Holmes with a tale of Holmes' lost years after the "Moriarty Problem." Holmes becomes a violinist for the Paris Opera and through the intervention of Irene Adler, becomes involved in the strange case of the "opera ghost." There are many problems with this novel. Watson's presence is sorely missed and efforts to replace his role with characters from the opera are unsuccessful. Irene Adler's inclusion is an uneccessary distraction and is used soley to comment on Holmes' sexual repression. The case itself is so familiar to the reader that only the inclusion of Holmes changes the basic story, thus there are no surprises.(who doesn't know the basics of Laroux's Phantom?) This was a very disappointing sequel to Meyer's other Holmes' novels and wasn't owrth the wait.
Rating:
Summary: The Strange Case of the Opera Ghost
Review: Meyer continues his version of Sherlock Holmes with a tale of Holmes' lost years after the "Moriarty Problem." Holmes becomes a violinist for the Paris Opera and through the intervention of Irene Adler, becomes involved in the strange case of the "opera ghost." There are many problems with this novel. Watson's presence is sorely missed and efforts to replace his role with characters from the opera are unsuccessful. Irene Adler's inclusion is an uneccessary distraction and is used soley to comment on Holmes' sexual repression. The case itself is so familiar to the reader that only the inclusion of Holmes changes the basic story, thus there are no surprises.(who doesn't know the basics of Laroux's Phantom?) This was a very disappointing sequel to Meyer's other Holmes' novels and wasn't owrth the wait.
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