The West End Horror

Sherlock Holmes Pastiche by Nicholas Meyer #2

by Nicholas Meyer

"As authentically, irresistibly gripping as anything Conan Doyle ever wrote. . . . Don't miss it."â Cosmopolitan

March 1895. London. A month of strange happenings in the West End. First there is the bizarre murder of theater critic Jonathan McCarthy. Then the lawsuit against the Marquess of Queensberry for libel; the public is scandalized. Next, the ingenue at the Savoy is discovered with her throat slashed. And a police surgeon disappears, taking two corpses with him.

Some of the theater district's most fashionable and creative luminaries have been a penniless stage critic and writer named Bernard Shaw; Ellen Terry, the gifted and beautiful actress; a suspicious box office clerk named Bram Stoker; an aging matinee idol, Henry Irving; an unscrupulous publisher calling himself Frank Harris; and a controversial wit by the name of Oscar Wilde.

Scotland Yard is mystified by what appear to be unrelated cases, but to Sherlock Holmes the matter is a maniac is on the loose. His name is Jack.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Crime, Detective, Mystery Thriller, Thriller

222 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Nicholas Meyer graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in theater and film-making, & is a film writer, producer, director and novelist best known for his involvement in the Star Trek films. He is also well known as the director for the landmark 1983 TV-Movie "The Day After", for which he was nominated for a Best Director Emmy Award. In 1977, Meyer was nominated for an Adapted Screenplay Academy Award for adapting his own 1974 novel, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, to the screen.

In addition to his work on Star Trek, Meyer has written several novels, and has written and/or directed several other films.Most notable being the 1983 made-for-television anti-nuclear movie The Day After.

Meyer wrote three Sherlock Holmes novels: The West End Horror, The Canary Trainer, and The Seven-Per-Cent Solution. The latter was Meyer's most famous Holmes novel and the project for which he was best known prior to his Star Trek involvement. It was also adapted into a 1976 film, directed by Herbert Ross, for which Meyer wrote the screenplay.

Reviews

[Bionic Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

The West End Horror: A Posthumous Memoir of John H. Watson, MD is a superior Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel by Nicholas Meyer, published in 1976. It takes place after his other two Holmes pastiches, "The Seven-Percent Solution" and "The Canary Trainer" (although it was published between the two.)

Holmes solves a double murder in London's West End theatre district.

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 3 out of 5]

The West End Horror: A Posthumous Memoir of John H. Watson, MD (Nicholas Meyer Holmes Pastiches Series #2) by Nicholas Meyer is my least favorite of the series that I've read so far. It's still a solid read and the author definitely does just to the characters and the original tone. Plus, it was fun to see Holmes and Watson interact with real world figures in this installment from George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, to Bram Stoker. That said, that particular element became a little too much after a little while, if you know what I mean. It pulled me out of the story more than once. Overall, though, this series has been fun - and I really need to get caught up on the ones I haven't read yet.

[Carol Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicholas Meyer is my hero! He wrote STAR TREK II THE WRATH OF KHAN and he also wrote TIME AFTER TIME, two of the most amazing movies ever made. I thought they were great thirty years ago, and after seeing the junk they put out these days, like LOVE ACTUALLY and YESTERDAY, I'm even more impressed with his talent.

So this book is a sequel to THE SEVEN PERCENT SOLUTION, the Sherlock Holmes sequel that was also a huge movie. I enjoyed the movie as a kid, but I wasn't blown away by it. I was a little too young for the sexual stuff, and even at twelve I was like, does Sherlock Holmes really need to have a drug problem for a modern audience to relate to him? Really?

Luckily, there are no drug references in this book, and it's a lot of fun, though a little thin. Holmes and Watson get mixed up with a bunch of real-life legends in the London theater world. There are at least a half a dozen cameos. everyone from Oscar Wilde to George Bernard Shaw to Bram Stoker stops in to say hello. It was a lot of fun, but it felt like the murder mystery was stuck in almost as an after thought. Not to do spoilers, but it was more gruesome than gripping, and the killer was almost laughably conflicted when he finally revealed himself.

So basically, I'm giving this book five stars because I want to show respect to my man Nicholas. But really it was more of a three star read, unless you really, really like seeing cameos by the people I mentioned. What I would have liked, really, was a lot less of Shaw and more of Stoker. Maybe if corpses started turning up all over London drained of blood, and Stoker insists that he knows who the killer is, but Scotland Yard laughs at him. So then Sherlock Holmes has to match wits with Dracula, and there are secrets Dracula can reveal that put the British crown at risk! ("All those guys suck. The whole royal family sucks. I'm Dracula, and I say they suck!")

[Scott Rhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The West End Horror: A Posthumous Memoir of John H. Watson, M.D." by Nicholas Meyer" is another great Holmes mystery by the author of "The 7 Per Cent Solution".

This time Holmes and Watson take on a murderer in the West End theatre district and meet, along the way, a bevy of literary suspects including: George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, and Gilbert & Sullivan, among other cameos.

Great fun (especially if you can catch all the rather witty literary references that abound) and a solid murder mystery. Bravo, Nick Meyer!

[We Are All Mad Here · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book suffers from too much of so many things. Too many real-world names dropped, for one thing. It was entertaining to a point, but I believe we could all feel certain that Bram Stoker wasn't going to turn out to be the killer, nor George Bernard Shaw, nor Gilbert and/or Sullivan.

Too many mentions of the game being afoot, when Holmes only ever actually said it once, in all of the ACD canon.

Far too many words spoken by a dying man in the denouement. Just after choking out a sob that "wracked all that remained of his miserable frame, and...almost carried him off then and there," the guy starts a ten-page monologue with "I was born not far from here, in Sussex, just over forty years ago..."

Far, far, far too many errors in the Kindle version of the book. Missing punctuation all over the place. "Holmes" as "Hohnes," "living" as "Irving," and worse: "Toe question took him by surprise" and "'Tour eyes!' I cried suddenly," just to name a few.

Despite it all, a decent Holmes pastiche. Dear God I hope the next one has been proofread.

[Catie Currie]

I'm not going to rate this because I didn't even give it 3 chapters, but it was definitely not for me. I love Sherlock Holmes-- the original as well as some other authors' interpretations and TV and movie adaptions, so I was looking forward to this one. However, the writing was convoluted and the characters were flat and completely unlike the originals (which they were supposed to be, this isn't supposed to be like A Study in Scarlet Women or anything). I'm only marking this as read so I don't pick it up later.

[ناصر سليم · Rating 2 out of 5]

ابتدا به نویسنده کتاب توجه نکردم و بعداز کمی خوندن متوجه شدم نثر کتاب و داستان اونطوری که سر آرتور کانن دویل می‌نوشت، نیست! و بعد که به اسم نویسنده کتاب نگاه کردم متوجه شدم که بله حدس درست بود.
۱۴۰۲/۹/۳۰

[Tobin Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this one, and all the cameos Meyer dropped in. The story was enjoyable and did feel mostly like a quite authentic Conan Doyle tale.

I do also like that Meyer is willing to take chances and also push the boundaries of Sherlock's universe, but not too much. Sherlock doesn't meet Cthulhu or Batman or Donald Trump, so these are good things.

I do, however, think that it does go a touch too Hollywood. The cameos are fun, but in a slim volume, it does begin to feel a touch claustrophobic, a touch overstuffed.

Still, with no new Doyle yarns, Meyer is, at least for now, still my favourite go-to for the further adventures of Holmes and Watson.

[Cherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so happy to finally have found this story to listen to. David Case was the perfect performer to bring the characters to life. I had marked this story to be read many years ago and forgotten until recently. It was only after listening to The Adventures of the Peculiar Protocols that I was reminded to look up the author’s other books.

I had no idea what the horror in the story was referring to, both the human one and the medical one. I challenge you to read it and find out.

[Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dipped my toe into the Sherlock Holmes pastiche pool with Meyers' The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Like that book, The West End Horror is a credit to Conan Doyle's canon, and an entertaining read for fans of his Holmes and Watson stories.

[Irrlicht · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay. Nicholas Meyer hat noch zwei Sherlock Holmes Bücher geschrieben (Sherlock Holmes und das Phantom der Oper & Sherlock Holmes und Sigmund Freud), die ich auch besitze. Ich habe die Bücher seit ziemlich genau 25 Jahren und fand alle damals super.

Ich habe in den letzten zwei Jahren alle drei Bücher malwieder gelesen und kann nur sagen... Das hier ist das einzige von den dreien, das der Zeit standgehalten hat. Ich liebe es immer noch.

Vor allem, weil der Fall an sich bzw. die Auflösung für mich immer noch wahnsinnig mitreißend und unendlich tragisch ist. Und sehr heldenhaft. Ja, eigentlich selbstverschuldet, aber für mich hundertprozentig nachvollziehbar auf allen Ebenen. Ich glaube, ich habe noch nie so bedauert, dass ein Buch so geendet hat wie es endet.

Es liest sich auch tatsächlich wie eine Sherlock Holmes Buch von Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Ich weiß zwar nicht, was Oscar Wilde und Bram Stoker darin zu suchen haben - ich bin mir nichtmal sicher, ob es George Bernard Shaw wirklich gebraucht hätte, und der bringt den Fall eigentlich erst ins Rollen - aber, ja. Nimmt man eben einfach so mit. Es geht ja schließlich um das Londoner West End und die zu der Zeit dort befindlichen Berühmtheiten.

Es hätte definitiv länger sein können und ich hätte mir die medizinische Seite vielleicht noch etwas ausführlicher gewünscht, aber davon abgesehen kann ich das Buch wirklich nur empfehlen.

(Mit den anderen beiden Büchern würde ich allerdings nicht mehr meine Zeit verschwenden, es sei denn ihr mögt euren Raoul de Chagny noch waschlappiger als er normalerweise eh schon ist (es sei denn, er wird von Hadley Fraser gespielt) und findet es völlig okay, dass das Phantom jemand komplett anderes ist als im Musical bzw. im Originalroman von Gaston Leroux. Und es sei denn ihr findet es in Ordnung, dass Nicholas Meyer offensichtlich ein Gründungsmitglied im Club „Gebt-Sherlock-Holmes-eine-Frau-das-ist-die-Lösung-für-alles“ ist. Was am Ende von Sigmund Freud tatsächlich passiert. Keine EHEfrau (und tatsächlich auch man NICHT Irene Adler, oh Wunder!), aber ich war von dem ganzen Verlauf nicht nur enttäuscht sondern auch angewidert.)

[Aiden Heavilin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mystery is probably my least favorite genre. There's a variety of reasons, but the foremost has to be the sense of routine. Someone's been murdered! Interviews with the suspects... walking around the crime scene... visiting the morgue... At first they suspect person A but of course it's not the guy they first suspected, it is in fact person B all along! It's never been to my taste, and I struggle to force myself through a traditional mystery novel.

Which makes my enjoyment of "The West End Horror" odd. This isn't the sort of book I usually like. It caught my eye at a Goodwill primarily due to the name of the author, Nicholas Meyer, the writer of one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, "Star Trek: Wrath of Khan". What further interested me was that although this is a Sherlock Holmes story, it is not a parody, or a pastiche. It is entirely sincere, not so much imitating Conan Doyle's style so much as simply attempting to tell a coherent, good story with his characters.

Meyer creates interest in the routine suspect interviews by including many members of the art world at the time, Bram Stoker, George Bernard Shaw, Bram Stoker, Gilbert and Sullivan. The whole case deals with the theatre scene in England, and Meyer has a lot of fun with it. I enjoyed these parts that usually bore me.

But what makes "The West End Horror" a truly excellent mystery novel is the ending. Without spoiling the novel, Meyer finds an extremely unique motivation and solution for the mystery. I found myself actually enthralled by the last 3 chapters, blazing through them. The finale of this novel is perfectly written and extremely original, more than justifying the slow build.

Recently, "Star Trek: Wrath of Khan" suffered an awful remake, the execrable, "Star Trek: Into Darkness." Speaking about this film, Meyer said, "It is, on the one hand, nice to be so successful or beloved or however you want to describe it that somebody wants to do an homage to what you did and I was flattered and touched. But in my sort of artistic worldview, if you’re going to do an homage you have to add something. You have to put another layer on it, and they didn’t."

To be sure, "The West End Horror" is an homage to Sherlock Holmes. But Meyer does add something, another "layer". It is not just a meaningless fanfiction, it is a solid novel in and of itself.

[Melissa McShane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nick Meyer's first novel, The Seven-Percent Solution, was a clever take on the Holmes mythology. Meyer used the existing Arthur Conan Doyle stories and associated now-canon writings to build a story in which Holmes encounters, and is treated by, Sigmund Freud. Meyer does the same thing in this book, where the mystery centers on the theatrical community of the West End. Holmes encounters Oscar Wilde, Bernard Shaw, Henry Irving, Bram Stoker, both Gilbert and Sullivan...the list goes on, which may be part of the problem; yes, all these people associated with each other, but it still starts to sound like name-dropping.

But the real problem is that the solution to the mystery is so blindingly obvious that even I figured it out, and I'm terrible at working out whodunit. If I can solve the case faster than Sherlock Holmes, there's something really wrong with the book. I think, if you don't guess the solution, it would seem like a clever twist; as it was, it just felt pedestrian.

As pastiche, the book is pretty good. Meyer has a nice grasp of the language, and his footnotes are entertaining. The overall impression that this is a true Sherlock Holmes story persists (though Holmes and Watson's characters are more fleshed out than in the original stories, which I consider a plus). But as a mystery, it falls flat.

[Amy H. Sturgis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this Sherlock Holmes pastiche, especially the way it weaved historical figures such as George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, and Bram Stoker into the action with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Stoker's segments tickled me, particularly. While this novel included a solid mystery (although this definitely is not part of the "Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper" subgenre, as some reviews I read seemed to imply), an interesting look behind the scenes into London's West End theatre culture at the time, and plenty of connections to the Holmesian canon, Nicholas Meyer provides less insight into the characters of Holmes and Watson than he did in, for example, The Seven-Percent Solution. The "mystery" aspect of the story, however, was stronger in this work. All said, it was a quick and entertaining read, and I plan to continue on with The Canary Trainer to round out my reading of Meyer's Holmesian fiction.

[Edward Erdelac · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm consistently impressed by Nicholas Meyer's Holmes pastiches. I was only aware of Seven Percent Solution which I read last year. When I found out about this one I immediately ordered it. Great book. The charactetizations (which to be fair, I usually only read mysteries for the characters - almost never for the detective aspect of the story) are spot on, and the inclusion of several real life personages including Oscar Wilde, and Gilbert & Sullivan were welcome, and a very amusing scene in which Holmes and Watson break into Bram Stoker's apartment and are appalled by his manuscript for Dracula had me smiling. The culprits' motivations were quite original. Didn't see them coming.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is fan fiction, but written more or less in Conan Doyle's style. It's well-crafted and has a few nice plot twists, just like the real thing.

I finished it while in London, and spent a happy hour or two at the Sherlock Holmes Museum there.

[Hêmin · Rating 3 out of 5]

نیکلاس میر رو میشه بهترین نویسنده داستان های شرلوک هولمز بعد از آرتور کانن دویل دونست. اگه مثل من زیادی از شرلوک خوشتون میاد و 4 رمان و 56 داستان کوتاه براتون کافی نیست خوندنش خالی از لطف نیست

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book on one of the nicest afternoons of my life, lying in a hammock outside my great uncle's house on the river while my extended family buzzed around me. At twelve, I wasn't allowed to read a lot of adult novels unless they were Agatha Christie, but this one made the cut - although my grandfather warned that I wouldn't understand it. He was both right and wrong. I didn't always know which characters were historical figures, but I followed the plot easily enough. It made me feel quite grown up and I remember giving a rather pretentious review to my mother while she made dinner. "The mystery is slight," I informed her pompously. "The success of the novel really hangs on the villain's speech at the end. It's a terrific one, very grotesque and horrifying." My mother was unimpressed.

Earlier this week, this memory came to me while I was lying in a hammock outside my parents' house on the lake while my chosen family buzzed around me. Of course almost any novel is instantly available today on our devices, and I decided to revist The West End Horror. I stand by my earlier opinion.

It's worth noting though that Meyer makes it clear that his (and his characters') sympathies lie with Oscar Wilde when he is arrested and jailed for his homosexuality. He somehow avoids saying the word, or explaining Wilde's crime, and so that part did go over Little Me's head. Which is unfortunate, because I was dying for a lifeline. Knowing that I had the support of Sherlock Holmes - or anyone - would have been amazing.

[Andrew Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another interesting take on the tales of Sherlock Holmes intended to fit in as part of the Conan Doyle canon. I think my primary criticism of this book is that it includes too many interesting characters. Part of what makes the Sherlock Holmes mysteries stand apart from, for example, the Hercule Poirot mysteries, is that they are not about people. With a few exceptions, they are not really even about the character of Holmes. They are about the mystery or crime and the methods by which it is solved.

However, the introduction of various real-world "contemporaries" of Holmes in this book necessitates spending more than the usual amount of time with them. Even characters who appear in only a single scene take up a lot of the conceptual space in that scene and continue to be mentioned as the mystery unfolds. This isn't bad, but it does take away from part of what makes a Sherlock Holmes story special.

So, if you like old-school mysteries or if you are familiar with the London theatrical scene at the turn of the 20th century, then you'll probably enjoy this. But if you are looking for a true-to-the-core Sherlock Holmes mystery, then this will not quite make the grade.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent pastiche of Holmes, with one very minor hiccup. Partway through the story something happens that screams "this is a clue" to the reader, but Holmes seemingly fails to notice it. On the other hand, the scenes in which Watson puts forth a theory about the case, and Holmes carefully points out the flaws in the reasoning were done well, and felt very much like the Doyle version of Holmes. Even the reason for the "lost" nature of the manuscript made sense, because it is true that hiding identities wouldn't have worked in this case.
Other than that one flaw, the mystery part was very interesting, and the interweaving of historical characters felt smoothly done, given both the setting and their actual relationships.
The short length of the book made this a very quick read, which was also enjoyable when one needed to flip back to a previous footnote, as happened once or twice to me.

[Rhiannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! Perhaps not quite as much as the Canary Trainer, but a lot of my enjoyment there was how Sherlock was worked into the existing narrative.

The West End Horror was a really interesting case and I certainly didn't guess the ending! I loved that it centred around the West End of the late Victorian era, as that is a personal interest of mine. The cameos from Bram Stoker, Sir Henry Irving and Ellen Terry (pre-damehood) really made me happy as they are people I take a particular interest in, especially Ellen Terry. There were some really funny moments in this and I really enjoyed the friendship between Holmes and Watson — in a few of the pastiches I've read their friendship takes a backseat to the point where there's no warmth between them, and their relationship is the heart of these stories.

[Doctor Science · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant Holmes pastiche, though not quite up to The Seven-Percent Solution. Includes a zillion cameos by historical figures, including Oscar Wilde, Gilbert & Sullivan, Bram Stoker. Accurate to ADC because Holmes is explicitly anti-racist (take that!*slap* Moffet *slap*). Also accurate to ADC because it's about deeds of the empire coming home to roost.

This review is from memory, I haven't read it in years but I really liked it back then.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, the resolution was . . . surprising. The publisher should be pushing this one during the COVID-19 pandemic (Not to give away a spoiler). The case is timely and relevant to Spring '20. Again, Meyer's characterizations of Watson and Holmes are accurate, at least for the Watson and Holmes who have come to life through various other literary works, works of film and TV. In this one, we meet a host of literary characters: Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker to name just two. It was a fun, fast-paced, page-turner.

[WhatShouldIRead · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author, I thought, captured the voice of Doyle in this 'discovered' case of Holmes and Watson pretty well.

Though enjoyable I thought the middle dragged just little bit and I found the act of the crime and resolution just weird. Even so, being transported to Sherlock's world was a good way to spend a few hours.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one better than the Seven Per Cent Solution. Maybe because I was more prepared for the inclusion of historical figures, I enjoyed the roles of the theater folk and the historical accuracy of their portrayals.

[Dixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Nicholas Meyer's Journals of Dr. Watson stories.

[Mike Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

23

[Rayrumtum · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story tells of a series of murders in the theatre district of London. It includes colorful characters as Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, George Bernard Shaw, and others. I enjoy these faux Sherlock Holmes stories. The fault I find with these stories--especially this one--is too much time is spent explaining how Watson's manuscript was lost and then found. It is irrelevant to the story.

[Amir Shayan · Rating 3 out of 5]

سرگرم‌کننده.

[C.A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for books that combine fact with fiction. I'm also a theater geek, so this book seemed made for me. And it was, for about the first third of it. Holmes and Watson look into the murder of a theater critic by a young, not famous George Bernard Shaw. Taking them into the world of the theater seems a good fit for Holmes is a bit of an actor himself with all his disguises. The story is a fun, light read and I enjoyed it, but the solution, I felt, came from left field. It's not that it was impossible, it was, it's that it was melodrama at its highest. Still, a good plane read.