Prisoner of the Devil by Michael Hardwick

by Michael Hardwick

Not even the last-hope pleas of Alfred Dreyfus's wife can move Sherlock Holmes to take on the case of the unjustly accused artillery officer convicted of treason--until the aging Queen Victoria issues a direct command

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Married writer Mollie Hardwick.

Reviews

[Nandakishore Mridula · Rating 2 out of 5]

Holmes investigates the notorious Dreyfus case, when a Jewish soldier of the French army was falsely accused of being a spy and imprisoned on Devil's Island. I did not know the historical facts behind the novel when I read it, so it gave me a valuable history lesson. But as a mystery, it's pretty lukewarm: I think it can't be helped, as one cannot make history exciting on demand! Recommended only for hard-core Holmes fans.

[Read1000books · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of those rare Sherlockian pastiches wherein Holmes tackles an actual historical case (something besides Jack The Ripper thank goodness, already the subject of at least six novelizations), this one being the Dreyfus Affair of the 1890's. This is, however, probably not a novel for the average mystery reader [due to the large number of allusions to the original sixty cases (affectionately referred to as "The Canon" by ardent Sherlockians) recorded by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the lengthy introduction to get the plot off the ground] but more for the serious Holmes devotee.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was good at the beginning!!

I thought the start of the case was pretty standard, thought there was potential. Mycroft and Sherlock were a little bit savage to each other - more than I thought was in character but I also kind of liked that. All in all I was enjoying the book until Holmes and company went to a psychic to get hard facts to actually use in the case. I felt that was too out of Holmes' character to be taken seriously and it kind of ruined the story for me. After that things proceeded more or less as normal Holmes stories do, but they continued to put entirely too much weight into the information they'd been given paranormally and it just couldn't hold me after that. Which was really disappointing, because I've liked this author's other two stories well enough.

[LuAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! A tour de force of melding a notorious historical miscarriage of justice with fiction filled with intrigue, action and suspense. Some liberties taken with Sherlock taking extreme measures and Mycroft being insufferable, though both make sense in the story context. A meaty read that caused me to read the whole Wikipedia article on l’Affaire Dreyfus and to travel to France and the Guianas with Holmes and Watson.

[Outlander · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there were a 6-star rating this pastiche would earn it. The subject matter is one that has fascinated me for years, I could not fathom how the trumped-up charges and the injustice meted out to Alfred Dreyfus could ever have happened in the first instance. Putting Sherlock Holmes on the case made a great story and shows all the politicking and backstabbing reality of the European balance of power of the era. The only part of the tale to delete for me was the seance in Geneva - twaddle !

[P.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book several years ago and thought I would read it again before passing it on to others. Boy am I glad I did. Even though the language was “thick”, the plot was well researched and provided details even Doyle himself would’ve approved of. There were a couple of editorial tics, but I still gave it 5 Stars because of the effort the author to give us a masterful book.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, although a bit of a slog as I'm not hugely interested in espionage.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

The case is one of the most notorious in European history -that of the French Jew ,Alfred Dreyfus.In 1895 Dreyfus ,a mild and somewhat unprepossessing man ,was carving out a modestly successful career in the French military and was employed on the General Staff when he was accused of trying to sell military secrets to the Germans .He was tried "in camera" and found guilty on the flimsiest of evidence ,being sentenced to life imprisonment on the notorious Devil's Island near the coast of South America. The widespread view of his supporters and was that his social isolation and religion(he was Jewish)made him an ideal scapegoat for the misdeeds of other better placed people .
Holmes is approached by Dreyfus' brother Matthieu but he refuses to become involved until he is asked to do so by none other than Queen Victoria who is worried that the case may be exploited by those anxious to drive a wedge between Britain and Germany. Holmes' brother Mycroft warns him off the case claiming his involvement threatens the stability of Europe and throws a number of obstacles in his path.

The book started slowly, but Holmes, Watson & the story's characters came through. I wasn't really happy with the resolution, but then learned that it was based on a real incident.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Política internacional en el polvorín de la Europa antes de la I Guerra mundial, espionaje e intriga internacional, una de las más famosas injusticias en la historia moderna (el caso Dreyfus), acción, aventura. Añada un Holmes brillante, aventurero y decidido a hacer justicia, un Watson fiel al espíritu Doyleano; si esto no es suficiente, añada el otro Sr. Holmes, la notable médium Eusapia Palladino y una narrativa ágil que no te permite soltar el libro hasta terminarla. Una gran thriller político con Holmes como la cereza del pastel.

[Karl Øen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sherlock Holmes takes on the Dreyfus Case after a bit of Royal pressure. The book is a bit slow on the uptake, and I must confess that I've never found the resolution particulary satisfying. However, the charactherisation of Holmes as well as his relationship with Watson rings true and is among the best of it's kind, talking about pastiches.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holmes on a case, has to escape from Devil's Island.

[Moodyfeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

In terms of non-Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories, this is one of the better ones.

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

read SOMETIME in 2006