Night Watch: A Long-Lost Adventure in Which Sherlock Holmes Meets Father Brown

Rating:
Summary: Holmes is where the art is!
Review: Any author who undertakes to "do" Arthur Conan Doyle takes a great risk.

Trying to emulate the great Mr. Doyle and his Sherlock Holmes stories can be dangerous,
indeed. But Stephen Kendrick in "Night Watch" has done a splendid job of presenting yet
another Sherlockian story. Naturally (and would we expect otherwise?), this one is a
long-lost Watson recollection, but no matter.

Kendrick's story is quickly afoot and the pace never slows down. Tis the season:
Christmas Day, 1902, in London. A group of international religious leaders are meeting
and, voila, a corpse in their midst! A priest is found murdered, a real grisly affair.
Immediate authorities are without a prayer, and Holmes is summoned. Kendrick presents
all the standard clue requirements (red-herrings, too!), baffling to everyone but our
Sherlock. In an interesting--and delightful--twist, Kendrick enlists the aid of the liturgical
side, too, in the form of young Father Brown!

Kendrick has done his homework well and the novel provides great insight into the
setting/situation, as well as presenting a great story line. Not being a totally committed
dyed in the wool Doyle fan (I can appreciate him, but he's not my favorite writer of the
genre!), I found Kendrick's "version" an exciting piece to read, one that certainly kept my
interest as his suspense is well-paced and captivating. A fun book to read! ([e-mail])

Rating:
Summary: With added emphasis on psychological motive
Review: Fans of Sherlock Holmes-type mysteries who appreciate a historical setting will relish Nightwatch, a mystery set in Edwardian London telling of a priest's murder during a secret high-level interfaith meeting. It's up to Sherlock Holmes and Watson to uncover the roots of the murder, embroiled in both religious and political connections - with assistance from priest Father Brown. The added emphasis on psychological motive makes this especially intriguing.

Rating:
Summary: A Too Meditative Sherlock Holmes
Review: Night Watch is a passing good mystery story. It has trappings of the gothic-- spooky, nocturnal settings; seemingly supernatural happenings; and an interweaving of frightening superstition. The plot also has some enjoyable complexity-- such as when Sherlock solves the mystery, but later, Father Brown re-solves it again, this time with a somewhat different explanation of events!

The book's subtitle suggests a balance between the detective genius of two literary master detectives-- Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown. However, this promise is not delivered. We meet Father Brown when he is very young in this novel, just approximately 20 or 21 years old. He says little or nothing throughout most of the book, and appears as a minor character at best. In the closing pages of the novel, Holmes seems to sense Brown's promise but that promise is simply stated, not dramatically rendered. Holmes says of Father Brown, "don't let that stolid round face and those blank grey eyes fool you. Brown's a little genius, mark my words."

Holmes himself is too meditative -- a kind of crackerbarrel theologian. He waxes philosophic a bit too often. He is portrayed near the end of his professional career, and Watson explains that as Holmes has aged, he has begun thinking more about higher, meditative sorts of truth. But even though Watson states this, it does not jibe well with the Holmes' portrayal as an acid sort of skeptic whom we came to know in the original Arthur Conan Doyle books.

I don't want to seem too hard on Mr. Kendrick's novel. It was entertaining to a point, and provided some entertainment on a chilly autumn evening. However, it can't compete in quality with several other recent pastiches (imitations) of the Sherlock Holmes books, such as those written in recent years by Larry Millett.

Rating:
Summary: A Too Meditative Sherlock Holmes
Review: Night Watch is a passing good mystery story. It has trappings of the gothic-- spooky, nocturnal settings; seemingly supernatural happenings; and an interweaving of frightening superstition. The plot also has some enjoyable complexity-- such as when Sherlock solves the mystery, but later, Father Brown re-solves it again, this time with a somewhat different explanation of events!

The book's subtitle suggests a balance between the detective genius of two literary master detectives-- Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown. However, this promise is not delivered. We meet Father Brown when he is very young in this novel, just approximately 20 or 21 years old. He says little or nothing throughout most of the book, and appears as a minor character at best. In the closing pages of the novel, Holmes seems to sense Brown's promise but that promise is simply stated, not dramatically rendered. Holmes says of Father Brown, "don't let that stolid round face and those blank grey eyes fool you. Brown's a little genius, mark my words."

Holmes himself is too meditative -- a kind of crackerbarrel theologian. He waxes philosophic a bit too often. He is portrayed near the end of his professional career, and Watson explains that as Holmes has aged, he has begun thinking more about higher, meditative sorts of truth. But even though Watson states this, it does not jibe well with the Holmes' portrayal as an acid sort of skeptic whom we came to know in the original Arthur Conan Doyle books.

I don't want to seem too hard on Mr. Kendrick's novel. It was entertaining to a point, and provided some entertainment on a chilly autumn evening. However, it can't compete in quality with several other recent pastiches (imitations) of the Sherlock Holmes books, such as those written in recent years by Larry Millett.

Rating:
Summary: If you like Holmes or Brown, get something different...
Review: Night Watch presents Holmes in a slightly different setting, but unfortunately, it is only looking at how he uses unusual bits of info and the bit of theological interplay that makes the book truly interesting. For fans of Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown, I recommend getting a different book.....

Rating:
Summary: A pleasant diversion, but nothing more
Review: Stephen Kendrick enters the Holmes pastiche realm with this meeting of Holmes and Father Brown. Creating a murder mystery set at a secretive international religious conclave, Kendrick sets an interesting table. Populated with familiar characters (Mycroft, Lestrade, Watson) and using the clever excuse that this was Watson's undiluted (by Doyle) account; Kendrick creates a page turner. But the little errors kept nagging at me. Like when Holmes states he never caught the Ripper because "he was too random, impulsive and totally haphazard," then in the next paragraph Holmes says, "The odder the murder, the easier it is to solve." The Ripper murders were not odd? Later Kozan, the Buddhist monk, compliments Holmes twice on his familiarity with Buddhist principles. Did he forget the first conversation? I'm usually not that much of a nitpicker but these types of errors interfered with my enjoyment of this book.

Rating:
Summary: A pleasant diversion, but nothing more
Review: Stephen Kendrick enters the Holmes pastiche realm with this meeting of Holmes and Father Brown. Creating a murder mystery set at a secretive international religious conclave, Kendrick sets an interesting table. Populated with familiar characters (Mycroft, Lestrade, Watson) and using the clever excuse that this was Watson's undiluted (by Doyle) account; Kendrick creates a page turner. But the little errors kept nagging at me. Like when Holmes states he never caught the Ripper because "he was too random, impulsive and totally haphazard," then in the next paragraph Holmes says, "The odder the murder, the easier it is to solve." The Ripper murders were not odd? Later Kozan, the Buddhist monk, compliments Holmes twice on his familiarity with Buddhist principles. Did he forget the first conversation? I'm usually not that much of a nitpicker but these types of errors interfered with my enjoyment of this book.