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| © Wordsworth |
Arthur Conan Doyle's creation of sleuth extraordinaire Sherlock Holmes revolutionized detective fiction and continues to do so to this day. I doubt there is a single writer of crime or detective fiction who hasn't read some or all of the work of Doyle and has been influenced by it, by the clinical attention to detail, the strong sense of atmosphere, the sharp dialogue, and above all, the sense of fun.
Although Doyle had retired Holmes a long while before the author's own death, writers continue to churn out pastiches; some are good, some are bad and some are brilliant. The Tangled Skein and The Italian Secretary fall somewhere between good and brilliant.
The Tangled Skein by David Stuart Davies focuses on Sherlock Holmes facing the lord of the undead himself, Dracula. And although the premise sounds ludicrous and could even be considered an insult to Doyle's work, the resulting book is neither. Author and Holmes expert David Stuart Davies captures Doyle's tone and style almost perfectly and weaves a tale full of action and mood. It is a well-told tale that stays true to the mythos and features dialogue that could have been written by the master himself. Where the book falters a bit is in the mystery aspect. In trying to combine the mythologies of both Doyle and Bram Stoker's work, Davies veers more towards the plotting style of Stoker, with more action than intrigue. Although that makes it a rousing thriller , full of atmosphere and foreboding, it also makes it a not very good mystery. But there is an added bonus here. Davies ingeniously adds the very neat twist of making this story a direct sequel to The Hound of the Baskervilles. Something that avid Holmes readers will find delightful. I did.
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| © St. Martin's |
The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr is another attempt to write a story that makes Holmes face supernatural foes. Although this story leans closer to Doyle's style of plotting, Carr's writing style doesn't wholly succeed in capturing Doyle's own. Nonetheless, this is a splendid mystery, very well told and which features a couple of nice tricks up its sleeves that will please Holmes aficionados. And any Holmes story that features the elusive Mycroft in a starring role is bound to be interesting!
So which novel is the winner? Both. Both are entertaining, well-written tales that pay respect to Doyle's work. Don't miss them.
Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2009 - 2021.
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Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of several short films and a feature, which was released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer
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