I think I bought this one from the thrift store. I've been into Sherlock Holmes since I was a kid, plus I liked the academia angle of this Sherlockian mystery. Back of book summary:
Hurtling from present day New York to Victorian London, The Sherlockian
weaves the history of Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle into
an inspired and entertaining double mystery that proves to be anything
but "elementary."
In December 1893, Sherlock Holmes-adoring
Londoners eagerly opened their Strand magazines, anticipating the
detective's next adventure, only to find the unthinkable: his creator,
Arthur Conan Doyle, had killed their hero off. London spiraled into
mourning-crowds sported black armbands in grief-and railed against Conan
Doyle as his assassin.
Then in 1901, just as abruptly as Conan
Doyle had "murdered" Holmes in "The Final Problem," he resurrected him.
Though the writer kept detailed diaries of his days and work, Conan
Doyle never explained this sudden change of heart. After his death, one
of his journals from the interim period was discovered to be missing,
and in the decades since, has never been found.... Or has it?
When literary researcher Harold White is inducted into the preeminent
Sherlock Holmes enthusiast society, The Baker Street Irregulars, he
never imagines he's about to be thrust onto the hunt for the holy grail
of Holmes-ophiles: the missing diary. But when the world's leading
Doylean scholar is found murdered in his hotel room, it is Harold-using
wisdom and methods gleaned from countless detective stories-who takes up
the search, both for the diary and for the killer.
Sounds right up my alley, right? First off, a quibble about the title. As the main character explains, Sherlockians are from a school of thought that Sherlock Holmes was real and really wrote the books (similar to the Sherlockian game, I guess), while the Doyleans were more normal about it and did see Arthur Conan Doyle as the author of the books. According to The Sherlockian, the groups were opposed to each other, nearly rivals. The dead guy made looking for Conan Doyle's lost diary his life's goal, which suggests he was not a Sherlockian but a Doylean. The main guy didn't seem like much of a Sherlockian either, but then he wasn't purely academic. Clearly the title is chosen more for its appeal, as more people know who Sherlock Holmes is than Arthur Conan Doyle.
This book has two plots: we follow Harold in the present day as he tries to solve the dead scholar's murder and find the lost diary, and in the second we follow Conan Doyle himself as he deals with the aftermath of "killing off" Sherlock Holmes (people wore mourning bands because they were so sad, and some angry ones physically attacked ACD in the street, lol) and tries to solve some serial murders. This part actually felt weaker than the "modern" part, which is saying something. ACD and Bram Stoker (they were BFFs IRL) are kickass sleuths! At one point they crossdress to get into a suffragette meeting, lolwut. The modern stuff was also rather suspend-your-disbelief-y (Harold really wore his deerstalker cap around EVERYWHERE? And no one ever bullied him for it?). I did like how the book made it clear that murder is horrible and sad; sometimes murder mysteries gloss over that.
There's an obligatory female character (I want to say her name is Sophie or something?) who's all chipper and nice and normal and I braced myself for their inevitable falling in love and getting into a relationship together and it. didn't happen? The reason she kept hanging out with him to solve the murder made sense (it wasn't because she thought he was cute but because she was being paid to), and while Harold does feel comfortable around her (which he never does with anyone because he's so anti-social), they grow to like each other as friends I think, not as romantic prospects. So that part was somewhat refreshing to read. Also she was quick-thinking and kind of badass. In the 1900s part of the book, it's young women who are getting serial-murdered, and they're found naked, so :/ There are suffragettes, which is cool, although ACD was sexist to them (at one point IRL they mailed him a pipe bomb, lol [he wasn't hurt]). ACD really was such a dick, though, wasn't he? Having Sherlock Holmes be his most famous creation when he hated him is so hilarious. It's what he deserves.
I'm writing about my thoughts on the ending here, highlight to read: So obviously he finds the diary but it's so sad 'cause the dead scholar really killed himself thinking it was burned when it wasn't so he threw his life away for nothing. Plus that guy was smarter than Harold and he didn't figure it out? Plus then he's so sad after reading about the serial murders and ACD killing the incel serial killer guy and his sister accidentally that Harold lets the girl throw the book into Reichenbach Falls??? Like I don't care how sad a culturally valuable item makes me, or if it changes things or the author's reputation; I am absolutely not going to destroy it, or let anyone else destroy it. My archivist brain is cringing just thinking about it. Also, they really threw the diary down Reichenback Falls. Like Sherlock Holmes. Wow. Also, the serial-murdered women are suffragette best friends, two of whom are lesbians in love. The first two were wooed by and eloped with the same young man so he could rape and kill them, just because he was so violently misogynistic and hated suffragettes. These young women were best friends, and they didn't even talk to each other about who they were courting? That makes no sense. Women talk to each other, and these girls were really close.
Anyway, if you're a true Sherlock Holmes scholar/academic/fan this may annoy you, but it was an enjoyable way to pass a four-hour reference shift. I'm not sorry I read it, but as you can see, I don't even remember the characters' names. Check it out from the library if it sounds interesting to you.
Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Read in: May 23
From: Savers thrift store
Status: give away
Cover notes: I really like the use of the classic pipe turned on its side with a blood splatter to make a question mark. I also like the old paper-esque background. Such good cover design.
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