Embassy Row

Mycroft Holmes #2

by Quinn Fawcett (pseudonym), Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Bill Fawcett

The second novel in the series launched by "Against the Brotherhood"--authorized by Dame Jean Conan Doyle and starring Sherlock Holmes's older brother. Mycroft and his assistant set out to solve a murder that takes place the night of the signing of an agreement to secure England's position in Japanese-controlled waters.

Fawcett is a pseudonym owned by Bill Fawcett and most often indicating that the writer is Yarbro (but not always).

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical Mystery, Historical

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

About the author

Quinn Fawcett is the penname of a pair of authors, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and Bill Fawcett, who also write separately.

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found myself torn while reading this book. On the one hand, the writing style was engaging and the vocabulary and phrasing felt very period-appropriate. On the other hand, I quite frankly disliked the main narrator (Guthrie, Mycroft's secretary) and I had a lot of problems with the plot itself.

Mycroft 's sedentary lifestyle is actually a ruse used to fool his enemies into underestimating him, and also serves to confuse them as to his secret work for the government. In order to accomplish this, he has a body-double impersonate his routine at home during the day, and cross over to the Diogenes Club at the appropriate time. Throughout this story, there are watchers around the house who must be thrown off the scent. However... The people Mycroft suspects of collusion are often the very ones he is meeting in secret meetings, and obviously they all know that he's out and about. And he leaves out the front door to get in his cab, etc. I just couldn't see this ploy working on any of his sophisticated political enemies. It was just very weak, story-wise.

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

In the fashion of Sherlock Holmes, Quinn Fawcett writes a book about the adventure of Mycroft Holmes from the viewpoint of Paterson Guthrie. Paterson is Mycroft's secretary helping him with his top secret government work.

And Paterson is a stuffed shirt. Oh my God, is he boring. His character doesn't develop and he never learns anything. He continuously doubts everything, EVEN after he is proven wrong again and again. And the book continues to belabor all the points. If there is a clue, every character needs to bring it up or have it explained to them.

And the person didn't even DIE until 200 pages in. I was NOT invested in it and I didn't even care who did it or why.

Everyone was so...stilted. All the conversations were weird and everyone was Captain Obvious about everything. It made everything really boring. I finished it and I am not excited.

[Emmett · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exciting mix of political tension and mystery. Though it might be a little long-drawn to some, I found the content and pace just right. Any excitement described were in short, sharp doses but the brisk (in my opinion) pace carries the book well all through to the end. The way the mystery is presented was refreshing - quite unlike modern books surrounding Sherlock Holmes - and I enjoyed the expansive scale of what was at stake rather than the incident playing the role of a 'small-time' mystery. Guthrie and other characters are well-thought out with strong characterisation and thus are unique in their own way (ie personality-wise) and yet one is able to easily relate to any one of them. I do like how Fawcett portrayed Mycroft - very fitting and exactly the sort of person I would have in mind. Perhaps this would be more enjoyable for someone unfamiliar with Japanese culture (or Asian culture and values in general) for then the grisly details and values contrary to the Western world would be more appalling to the reader and thus exert their maximum effect on the narrative as a whole - but to me they served as recollections of things I already knew and thus the concept of, for example, seppuku, did not disturb me as much as it would if one has no prior knowledge.

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great escapade with Mycroft Holmes and crew figuring it all out just in time to save the day. I truly love reading this series. I think I look forward to reading Mycroft's man Tyers' report at the end of each chapter. Guthrie, Sutton and Miss Gatspy are fully involved in the case as well. Makes the book so enjoyable with such wonderful characters.

[Pamela · Rating 1 out of 5]

I never apologize for being a full-blown fan of the Holmes brothers. I have been to Sherlock's home on Baker Street. Alright, it burned down and they have rebuilt it a little way down the block. Nonetheless, I have visited. I have viewed the Persian slipper where he kept his pipe tobacco and I have also viewed his famous deerstalker hat. I believe Dr. Watson is Conan Doyle himself and the stories are about his time with a real detective; perhaps not as brilliant as Sherlock. Oh, come on, we all have our fantasies. But, this book was so bogged down with trivial passages and drawn out scenarios that I could go no further than the first hundred pages and put it aside. Actually, I put it in the bin to donate to the Humane Society Thrift Shop. There are too many wonderful novels in this world to waste precious reading time on inane books.

[Johanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Better than the previous book (Against the Brotherhood) because there's less Guthrie (Mycroft's secretary). He's a nothing character, merely a placeholder to tell us what's happening. I enjoyed seeing more of Mycroft's other staff, his manservant Tyers and the actor Edmund Sutton, who serves as a double to distract observers. It's still a slow, overly detailed read, though.

The mystery, involving a treaty being negotiated with the Japanese, is also better suited to the Mycroft Holmes character, although it does take until halfway through the 380 pages for someone to get murdered. This isn't a mystery, so much, but I'm not sure what else it could be characterized as. There isn't enough excitement for it to be a thriller.

[Chazzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book because of the connection with Mycroft Holmes. I have enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes stories in the past and found Mycroft and interesting character too.

I enjoyed the description of the era and the behaviour of the characters for that time. Also the deductive reasoning of the characters and some of the complications of the events and actions of the characters.

The parts where there was quite a bit of explanation and reasoning about the political and historical happenings seemed a bit on the long side at times and made the flow to stagnate. I realize that the information was part of the story line and gave background and importance to the current action of the plot.

I did enjoy the book and plan to read the other three books of this series at some time.

[Bethany Swafford · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important treaty is being negotiated between Britain and Japan. Mycroft Holmes is unofficially taking the lead. Patterson Guthrie must assist him in maintaining the ruse of Holmes' sedentary life while unraveling the complicated threads of international politics and intrigue.

I enjoyed this one much more than the first. There were moments when the plot seemed overly complicated, but the writing seemed much smoother for this second instalment of the series. Patterson, Holmes' secretary, has been working for the man for less than a year. He still has much to learn about trusting the instincts of Holmes' other support staff, but he valiantly does his best at his job.

I liked the details about Japanese culture that are woven into the story. We get hints of a younger Mycroft Holmes having adventures regarding a brief time he spent in Japan. My favorite part were the journal notes of Tyers, who spends most of the story worrying over his employer.

Overall, I enjoyed this one much more than the first book. I look forward to seeing wht the rest of the series has in store.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across this book at a used items store (unread) for $0.50 and it fit nicely in my purse so I figured I'd try it on my vacation. It has been entertaining and suspenseful. I rarely have time to sit and read for long periods so I appreciate a book that I can pick up a few times a week, or sometimes only a few times a month, and easily fall back into step with. Having missed the first installment in the series has not made it difficult to follow this story, but there are references to events and characters that are intriguing so I do plan on reading it next.

[Mike Teller · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Sep · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting characters but a little dry.