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Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing...
Review: Holmesians are well aware that the ending of "A Scandal in Bohemia" is highly unsatisfactory for both Holmes and the King of Bohemia, whom Irene Adler, his former lover, is in an excellent position to blackmail. In his latest Holmes pastiche, John Hall takes this situation up again about a year after the events of "Scandal." Irene Norton says she needs to consult Holmes, but vanishes on the way to 221B Baker Street. Apparently kidnapped and left to die, Norton is rescued by Holmes and Watson... but her account of the new situation that threatens the King and herself is highly unsatisfactory and probably pretty close to an outright lie. Instead of refusing to take the case, as Conan Doyle's consulting detective always did when faced with a client who refused to explain the real situation, Holmes and Watson wind up in Bohemia in what is pretty certain to be a wild-goose chase, and both Holmes and Watson bumble in some pretty inexplicable ways, with Watson coming perilously close to being a comical sidekick more than once. The quest to recover the famous letters and photo supposedly stolen from Irene Norton succeeds with ridiculous ease, considering the planless, gormless, painfully unintelligent approaches adopted by Holmes. And then the fact that Mrs. Norton lied suddenly assumes deadly importance. With the situation treated rather lightly by the author throughout, it was a jarring and unwelcome twist for this elderly and jaded reader when the adventure ended with the very abrupt deaths of five characters (two offstage), over only two pages, with one of the deceased certainly an innocent bystander! Not one of Hall's better efforts, this goes on the bottom of the stack with TRAVELS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. It gets three stars only because of the fine period writing style in which the improbable adventure is recounted.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing...
Review: Holmesians are well aware that the ending of "A Scandal in Bohemia" is highly unsatisfactory for both Holmes and the King of Bohemia, whom Irene Adler, his former lover, is in an excellent position to blackmail. In his latest Holmes pastiche, John Hall takes this situation up again about a year after the events of "Scandal." Irene Norton says she needs to consult Holmes, but vanishes on the way to 221B Baker Street. Apparently kidnapped and left to die, Norton is rescued by Holmes and Watson... but her account of the new situation that threatens the King and herself is highly unsatisfactory and probably pretty close to an outright lie. Instead of refusing to take the case, as Conan Doyle's consulting detective always did when faced with a client who refused to explain the real situation, Holmes and Watson wind up in Bohemia in what is pretty certain to be a wild-goose chase, and both Holmes and Watson bumble in some pretty inexplicable ways, with Watson coming perilously close to being a comical sidekick more than once. The quest to recover the famous letters and photo supposedly stolen from Irene Norton succeeds with ridiculous ease, considering the planless, gormless, painfully unintelligent approaches adopted by Holmes. And then the fact that Mrs. Norton lied suddenly assumes deadly importance. With the situation treated rather lightly by the author throughout, it was a jarring and unwelcome twist for this elderly and jaded reader when the adventure ended with the very abrupt deaths of five characters (two offstage), over only two pages, with one of the deceased certainly an innocent bystander! Not one of Hall's better efforts, this goes on the bottom of the stack with TRAVELS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. It gets three stars only because of the fine period writing style in which the improbable adventure is recounted.
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