Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Alliance

Rating:
Summary: Best Millett Book Yet
Review: Bring us more Shadwell Rafferty and George Washington Thomas. This dynamic duo has captured my imagination. I found myself torn between reading the footnotes and reading the story. I finally gave up and read all the footnotes through from beginning to end, even when I didn't know what they related to in the story. The history in this book is fascinating and I admire Millett's ability to turn his in-depth factual knowledge of the Twin Cities into a highly entertaining and deftly plotted mystery. There are surprising twists that I never saw coming, thorough characterizations, and--pleasingly--the emotional quality of the characters shines through without the restraints of Holmes' and Watson's prescripted personalities. Their minor involvement felt just right--enough to thread this book in with the series, but also enough to bring in the worldly knowledge that Rafferty wouldn't have. Highly entertaining. Millett has found the perfect heroes for the Gilded Age. Please give us more!

Rating:
Summary: Not Millett's Best
Review: Disappointing. Sherlock Holmes basically disappears from the book - except for the stupid diary form that is practically unreadable - and Shadwell Rafferty does not take the stage. The narration might as well be from a newspaper - no humor, no real way to identify with the characters. He has no alternate narrator to take the place of Watson, and that reduces his usually wonderful book plots to dust.

Rating:
Summary: Sherlock Holmes and the missing character
Review: How Sherlock Holmes' name can be used in the title with good faith is outside my understanding. I've read all of Millett's "Holmes" books, and this story is not only the most tedious, the most uninspiring and the least exciting, it is also the most non-Holmes mystery. We really only experience his presence toward the end of the novel, and then it is still only a shell of the Holmes we've seen from Millett in the past.
Shadwell Rafferty is a respectable character, but he is no Holmes. Please, next time just give us a real title like "Shadwell Rafferty and the Englishmen." At least that would be fair warning.

Rating:
Summary: Sherlock Holmes and the missing character
Review: How Sherlock Holmes' name can be used in the title with good faith is outside my understanding. I've read all of Millett's "Holmes" books, and this story is not only the most tedious, the most uninspiring and the least exciting, it is also the most non-Holmes mystery. We really only experience his presence toward the end of the novel, and then it is still only a shell of the Holmes we've seen from Millett in the past.
Shadwell Rafferty is a respectable character, but he is no Holmes. Please, next time just give us a real title like "Shadwell Rafferty and the Englishmen." At least that would be fair warning.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Sequel
Review: Larry Millett is a columnist for a newspaper in the twin cities. He apparently is also a Sherlock Holmes fan. Those two things seem to have combined to convince him to write these Sherlock Holmes in Minneapolis books, which are very fun. The first two were very good, but the author has introduced an American counterpart, after a fashion, for Sherlock. This is Shadwell Rafferty, a saloon keeper and veteran of the Civil War who has more street smarts than Holmes, if not quite the education and deliberation. Holmes, in Millett's hands anyway, admires Rafferty's rough detective skills.

In the latest installment, Rafferty is hired by an old lady friend and competitor who owns a saloon. One of her bartenders has moved on to union agitating, and gotten himself killed. The original verdict is that he tried to rape a woman, and was lynched by a mob, but that theory soon dissipates, and is replaced by the idea that an anti-union conspiracy might be responsible. The plot takes many twists and turns before the crime is solved.

One problem is that, given the title, you would expect Holmes to be more involved in the plot. Instead Sherlock and Dr. Watson are trapped in New York City, investigating some sort of controversy involving the Astor brothers. Holmes and Watson stew about this for half the book, without the reader knowing what they are upset about (it's never explained) before they terminate their business and make their way to Minnesota. For the first half of the book, Rafferty does all of the investigating.

Once they arrive in Minnesota, Holmes and Watson find themselves involved in various conspiracies and scandals, involving a shady mayor and one of the most famous real life detectives of the 19th century. This part of the book is the most entertaining, to be frank.

I enjoyed the book a great deal, especially the author's period detail dealing with various parts of the twin cities and their lore, and especially the buildings therein. Unfortunately, Shadwell Rafferty isn't Sherlock Holmes.

Rating:
Summary: Secret Alliance Revealed
Review: The true secret alliance is between the publisher and the author, as they attempt to con and bamboozle the innocent public into thinking that this is a "Sherlock Holmes" story. It is not. Not even close. Oh, sure, we're given some badly written "diary entries" by Watson, but those are filled with Holmes and Watson pining for Minnesota. Funny how Conan Doyle missed Holmes' deep love for the Midwest.

The bulk of the novel is taken up with Millet's own creation, Shadwell Rafferty. Tragically, if this were a "Shadwell Rafferty" book, it wouldn't be all that bad. Rafferty is an interesting enough fellow, and the narrative voice used for him is light, but gets the job done. But, then, "Shadwell Rafferty and the Secret Alliance" wouldn't sell books, would it?

Rating:
Summary: Secret Alliance Revealed
Review: The true secret alliance is between the publisher and the author, as they attempt to con and bamboozle the innocent public into thinking that this is a "Sherlock Holmes" story. It is not. Not even close. Oh, sure, we're given some badly written "diary entries" by Watson, but those are filled with Holmes and Watson pining for Minnesota. Funny how Conan Doyle missed Holmes' deep love for the Midwest.

The bulk of the novel is taken up with Millet's own creation, Shadwell Rafferty. Tragically, if this were a "Shadwell Rafferty" book, it wouldn't be all that bad. Rafferty is an interesting enough fellow, and the narrative voice used for him is light, but gets the job done. But, then, "Shadwell Rafferty and the Secret Alliance" wouldn't sell books, would it?

Rating:
Summary: A disappointed Holmes fan
Review: This can not be a true review as I have not yet been able to finish the book. I loved the 1st 3 books of this series and highly recommend them. In those books, Mr. Millett captured the "real" voice of Dr. Watson (as created by Doyle.) This book is all over the place with different points of view -- a street person who catches rats, Shadwell Rafferty, an axiliary character, the author and when we hear about Holmes it's in the awful form of journal entries with initials and ampersands that slow the reading. I intent to try again to finish the book, but think I'll find the next one at the library rather than buying it as I did the first 4, just in case Millett has truly abandoned Holmes in favor of Raffety and is tired of writing in that beloved voice that he was clever enough to re-create when he chose to.

Rating:
Summary: A disappointed Holmes fan
Review: This can not be a true review as I have not yet been able to finish the book. I loved the 1st 3 books of this series and highly recommend them. In those books, Mr. Millett captured the "real" voice of Dr. Watson (as created by Doyle.) This book is all over the place with different points of view -- a street person who catches rats, Shadwell Rafferty, an axiliary character, the author and when we hear about Holmes it's in the awful form of journal entries with initials and ampersands that slow the reading. I intent to try again to finish the book, but think I'll find the next one at the library rather than buying it as I did the first 4, just in case Millett has truly abandoned Holmes in favor of Raffety and is tired of writing in that beloved voice that he was clever enough to re-create when he chose to.

Rating:
Summary: Millett is getting worse and worse
Review: Unlike the first three books of the series, Holmes and Watson are secondary characters here with Shadwell Rafferty taking center stage, which means this book will be a disappointment to all but those readers who've developed as much of an attachment to Rafferty as to Holmes.

In fact, you'll need to go through more than 1/3 of the book before the Baker Street duo actually arrives in Minnesota, and even then, you'll never be reading the Watsonian-style chronicle you're accustomed to. Instead, Watson's contribution is presented in the form of hastily written journal entries, which are full of abbreviations parenthetically explained by Millett in his role as "editor." The other parts of the story are filled in with standard prose---more or less from Rafferty's point of view---but not written in his voice.

This creates a somewhat disjointed narrative, and worse, an irritating rhythm, the brief, fast-paced journal material always being followed by the longer, plodding prose.

It seems rather obvious that Millett used this book to shift his focus from Holmes/Watson to Rafferty and his partner, G. W. Thomas (Thomas is shown in a way that unmistakably parallels Watson), and I wouldn't be the least surprised if Millett evolves the series into one of Rafferty's own.

I'd be sorry to see a decently written Holmes series end, but I do like Rafferty, and think Millett deserves some praise for his creation and development of the character. I've also grown to admire Millett's ability to weave fictional characters and elements of mystery into his state's history (If you've been reading this series, but skipping his historical notes, you've actually missed a bit).

Ultimately, I rate the book only three stars because it doesn't have enough Sherlock to appeal strongly to a Sherlockian, and because if it is indeed a transitional volume between a Holmes series and a Rafferty series, it feels like an awkward transition.