The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

by Ted Riccardi

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson traverse the British Isles and the Italian peninsula in a rousing new series of adventures . . .

After a thrilling jaunt in the Far East, Holmes and Watson return to England to address an inheritance left by one of Watson’s relatives in Cornwall, half of which he gave to his dear friend, Sherlock Holmes. Financially secure, the two are now free to spend as much time on Baker Street and the Continent as they please, and the duo find themselves as comfortable on the banks of the Tiber as the Thames.

As Holmes rationalizes his way through case after case, it’s all in a day’s work—until clues surface that his great nemesis, Prof. James Moriarty, might still be alive . . .

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, British Literature, Detective

290 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Ted Riccardi (born 1937) is a professor emeritus in the Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University.

Reviews

[Pamela · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's a scene from Seinfield where George and Jerry are pitching their idea for a television series to the head of a network. It goes something like this:

George: It's a show about nothing.
Network Exe: What happens.
George: Nothing.
Network Exe: Then why will people watch it?
George: Because it's on TV
Network Exe: Not yet it isn't.

Apparently the network executive had more sense than the publisher of this load of crap since this load of crap was actually published. Unfortunately, I fell for the trap and read (or rather listened to) this load of crap.

I do not know who Riccardi is, but I do know that I will never ever read another word written by him. Here are a few reasons:

1. He's pretentious. Even though he lamely has Watson justify the long passages of Italian and Italian dialect, it still comes off as what it is...Riccardi screaming "Look at me! I speak Italian!" Who cares?

2. He's either stupid or thinks his readers are stupid since he changes Watson's leg injury to a shoulder injury. (Yeah, yeah. I know. Doyle did that once in one story, but Riccardi, YOU are no Doyle so knock it off!)

3. He can't keep his story (or stories) straight. In Watson's preface to the collection we are told one thing regarding Watson's inheritance, then this is contradicted in one of the stories.

4. The stories are, on the whole, pathetic, badly plotted, disjointed, and where they aren't confusing they are just plain boring.

The only reason I finished this load of crap was because it was read by Simon Vance. His voice and his voice alone was the only thing that even partially saved this .... yeah... "load of crap".

(I tried to use "load of crap" as many times as there are stories in this collection, but don't think this load of crap deserves that many keystrokes--or thought.)

[Rena Sherwood]

This is, without a doubt, the worst Sherlock Holmes pastiche ever published. Some pastiches are so bad that they are funny -- like Exit Sherlock Holmes by Robert Hall. But not this. This was boring, difficult to follow, had large swatches in languages other than English and presents Holmes as a slow-witted failure (albeit a RICH slow-witted failure.) I gave up by page 150. I've read fan fiction better than this -- and this got PUBLISHED.



I wonder what the story behind the publishing of this book was. Did Riccardi kidnap someone and the ransom was the publication of this book? Then the editor got even by making all sorts of deliberate mistakes with punctuation, paragraph spacing and removing key points or even interesting points to all of the short stories here? And why the hell is one of Watson's aliases "Anthony Hopkins"? That really was a distracting mental image-- Hannibal Lecter helping Sherlock Holmes try to prevent the murder of Richard Wagner. No wonder Wagner dies.

[Rachel Kennedy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Of course, no one can recreate Sherlock Holmes, but this was a weird attempt. Some of the basic Sherlock characteristics were ignored, the stories were not well developed, and most of the stories didn't really seem to have an ending. If they did, 9 times out of 10, Sherlock was bested, which also is supposed to be a rarity. Settings and time periods in which the stories were placed in relation to the known Sherlock stories was confusing and not clarified, in my opinion.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lackluster. I especially didn't like the story with Wagner and Liszt in it, nor any of the operatic or musical bits thrown about - not a faithful representation of Holmes or of Doyle's intent for his character, in my opinion. I am now officially through with the pseudo-Sherlockian, and will return to the original because there. is. no. one. like. Holmes.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

The audio novel version made pleasant listening through most of the stories. Simon Prebble does an excellent job representing Holmes and the good Doctor as well as providing distinctive intonations for the various characters they meet in their adventures. I found most of the stories to be just intricate enough to keep my interest while driving, but not complex enough to frustrate me if I happened to miss anything while concentrating more intently on traffic situations when necessary. I do have the distinct impression (supported by various reviewers on Goodreads) that the plots might not hold up to the greater scrutiny I could give them if I read the hard copy book.

And there were definitely a few frustrating details that I noticed even though I was listening and not reading. The adventures are not given in chronological order; they jump back and forth in time with one story taking place before Moriarty died and yet it isn't given a flashback feel. It is produced as if it just naturally comes next after a story that takes place in the early 1900s. Several of the adventures--particularly in the latter half of the audio novel--quite simply do not have a resolution. The culprits are not caught and in two of the stories you don't even know for sure who culprit was. The story just ends as if Holmes had given up which is not at all what one expects of the world's greatest detective. In addition, Riccardi introduces a lady-interest (not enough happens that we could call it a love-interest) for Holmes in one of the first stories and then she just disappears. Watson makes remarks in his introduction to the stories about how influential this relationship was on Holmes and yet we are given no evidence of any such thing.

What I enjoyed most about the collection was the relationship between Holmes and Watson. Riccardi gets that right (for the most part). The friendship between the two is quite evident and portrayed well. Prebble's reading helps to emphasize this. Also, Watson is, as he should be, not as observant and intelligent as Holmes, but he is not the bumbler or fool that is sometimes his lot in pastiche (or in the Rathbone/Bruce films). ★★★ for a pleasant audio novel experience.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.

[Jim Voorhies · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've always been a fan of Sherlock Holmes. The originals I grew up with and now and then I'll find another writer with the skill and story-telling abilities like Conan Doyle. This isn't it. This Holmes barely solves any of these "mysteries" and approaches the Watson of the Barrymore pictures in his denseness. It is amazing that anyone would actually publish this. Avoid this like the plague.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ted Riccardi is a brilliant stylist in terms of his prose; unfortunately he is fundamentally lacking as a storyteller. Most of the stories in BETWEEN THE THAMES AND THE TIBER are deadly dull (albeit very well-written) and seem to have been composed without the audience in mind. Instead of getting in on the action, readers are constantly forced to hear about it after the fact. Mostly, these stories consist of people just standing around talking. Even when a little legwork needs to be done, Riccardi often skips over it and has the characters bring us up to speed via more conversation. This results in a lack of immediacy, causing us to feel that we have gone straight from the story's set-up to its resolution, without anything of interest happening in between.
Of course some of this might be blamed on Conan Doyle, whose original Sherlock Holmes stories can hardly be considered pulse-pounding excitement. But Doyle knew how to write a good mystery, and he always managed to intrigue the reader at some point in the story. With Riccardi, on the other hand, the story often feels like an afterthought--he's too busy showing off his knowledge of classical music, Indian culture, and Italian landscapes. It's a book that makes you feel smart but generally not the least entertained.
Riccardi also errs, I think, in adding to Sherlock's prodigious skills by making him both a master of several foreign languages and an unparalleled music critic. The biggest weakness (in my opinion, anyway) of Conan Doyle's stories was that Holmes' mental prowess, while undeniably entertaining, was so ridiculously advanced as to make it impossible to be taken seriously. Adding to his abilities only makes these stories seem more fantastical, and therefore less interesting.
A couple stories in this collection are actually quite impressive. I particularly enjoyed the one where Sherlock and Conan Doyle bump into each other at a seance. I also enjoyed learning a thing or two about classical music, even though such a heavy focus on that particular topic seemed rather out of place in a Sherlock Holmes tale. I'll give this book credit: even when the stories are weak, Riccardi's writing is generally strong enough to carry the day. However, there are a few exceptions--in particular, the stories where Holmes "loses." Whenever Conan Doyle had Holmes lose a case, he still made sure to wrap things up in a satisfying manner. On the other hand, Riccardi, in at least one glaring instance, is willing to cut things off in the middle, without offering readers any sort of resolution as to what the heck is going on.

[Jennifer Petkus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t like writing negative reviews, especially for a book that seems as promising as Ted Riccardi’s Between the Thames and the Tiber: The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. And it’s made even more disappointing because Riccardi can certainly match Conan Doyle’s style and the friendship between the detective and the doctor.


But unfortunately style alone can’t make a good Holmes story, plot also plays a hand and here many of the stories in this collection of short story pastiches leave you gasping: “It that it! Where’s the rest of the story?” Admittedly it’s a failing that Riccardi shares with Holmes’ creator. As much as I like The Five Orange Pips for example, I still marvel at how Holmes sends the hapless John Openshaw off to his death, reading of his drowning the next day. Doyle obviously had the basis for a great story, but either couldn’t or didn’t want to write a plot that would involve rescuing the man from his fate. And that happens a lot in this collection.

And it is a collection because it ostensibly collects the adventures of Holmes and Watson after the doctor inherits from a relative he didn’t know he had, giving him financial freedom and allowing the two to split their time between Rome and London. But the stories are not in chronological order, and they are self contradictory. In fact one of the stories — The Case of Isadora Persano — seems to directly contradict the story of Watson’s inheritance as explained in the preface.

Several of the stories refer to the breakup of Moriarty’s gang or Moriatry-like gangs — Porlock’s Demise and A Case of Criminal Madness. The latter story also refers to Holmes’ retirement to Sussex and his most unlikely beekeeper’s revenge. I did appreciate Riccardi addressing Holmes’ retirement because it never really made sense to me, but I can’t see the Holmes of Doyle meting out a punishment as in Riccardi’s story. Another story involves Holmes in the events that lead to the First World War, a nice nod to His Last Bow, but involves a ludicrous cypher in the baldly titled The Death of Mycroft Holmes.

Other stories — such as A Singular Event in Tranquebar — left me wondering as to the author’s intent, where I think I know who the murderer is but the story is so odd and disturbing that I would appreciate Holmes coming out and saying it. One thing about a Doyle story: you’re not left wondering who the culprit is. And in several stories, the culprit gets away and is not drowned at sea, as per the usual justice Doyle would devise.

And I’m sorry, you’re not allowed to refer to The Sign of the Four twice in a collection, especially if reusing in the last story — The Mountain of Fear — the exact same name of one of the characters from the first story — An Affair in Ravello — and pretend he’s someone totally different. My husband suggested that maybe Riccardi is subtly playing with perception and reality in these stories, or that they refer to his previous collection, The Oriental Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. If so, the technique is entirely lost on more, the more so because I read at night before I go to sleep and the subtleties are lost upon my tired intellect.

And I also resent the tease of a romance between Holmes and Lady Jennifer Maxwell (who appeared in the Oriental Casebook) in the first story, which remains undeveloped and never mentioned again. Something like a Holmes romance deserves more than just being a plot point. And please, offer translations of all the quotes Holmes is spouting.

OK, I got myself worked up. Despite what is a negative review, I recommend this collection simply because I like just about any Holmes pastiche and Riccardi does capture the style of Holmes, but be forewarned if you read this collection; you may be muttering “What the …” and “How the hell …” and “Did I miss something …” a lot during your reading.

[Lis Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holmes and Watson are back, in a new set of adventures that take the reader back and forth between London and Italy, where the two friends are now spending much of their time, with occasional excursions elsewhere. The stories vary in time from the 1890s to World War One, and they aren't presented in chronological order.

Watson inherited a sizable estate from an uncle his family had little contact with, and, in the guise of an anonymous benefactor wishing to support Holmes' work, has given half of his inheritance to Holmes. This gives them a freedom from any concern about whether a particular client can pay, as well as allowing them to spend a good part of the year living in Italy, and travel in Europe as freely as they like.
Or, well, maybe not. That's what Watson's intro says; one of the stories later in the book says something different. I think there's a real continuity error here, but you be the judge. Sadly, it's not the only one. There's a story set in Italy, where they meet a certain couple. In another story later in the book, the same couple appears. There's no suggestion that the events of the prior story ever occurred, and events in the later story are just incompatible with the events of the earlier story. Some readers may not be bothered by this, as each story taken separately is excellent. Personally, I hate the sloppiness that leads to truly incompatible continuity errors.

I do think Riccardi captures the tone and style of the Holmes stories very well. His Watson is, like Doyle's own, not as clever and observant as Holmes but nevertheless an intelligent, level-headed, tough man who's a crack shot. The overall quality of the stories individually is high, and like Doyle, Riccardi has the confidence to leave some things not fully resolved.

Overall, not an excellent book, but an enjoyable read, especially if you're pining for more of that Holmes/Watson story goodness.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read The Oriental Casebook of Sherlock Holmes recently and loved it; it is probably my favorite example of continuing Holmes cases. With that in mind, I very much anticipated reading Between the Thames and Tiber, thinking it was the collection of post-Final Problem european cases mentioned in The Oriental Casebook. I was disappointed upon reading the introduction and finding that this was not the case, and yet more disappointed upon reading the cases themselves.

The cases in BTT range from a bit boring to just ok and are nowhere near the caliber of the cases in OCB; some ten years between the publication of the two books did not help the author's ability to write Holmesian stories. Additionally, it has a very strange premise: that Watson and Holmes spent a large amount of time living in continental Europe and these are the cases they solved while just going about their lives there. This strikes me as odd, because it doesn't seem to mesh all that well with canon and because Riccardi passed up the great premise mentioned in OCB to do this.

There are things about BTT that I do like. As with OCB, the author mimics Watson's victorian-blog-post writing style almost perfectly and the characterization of Watson and Holmes is spot on. But that's not enough to make up for the quality of the cases themselves, and what makes this book such a letdown in comparison to OCB.

[Jeff LeMaster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it possible to resurrect the genius of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and provide the 21st century with new and original Sherlock Holmes mysteries?

These reimagined and reinvented cases follow Holmes and Watson from their original fin-de-siecle adventures into the twentieth century. Some occur in London, but many in Italy (hence the title).

The conundrums range from the personal to the international, from the trivial to the weighty, from mere curiosity to mortal danger. The stories and characters are diverse, but Holmes and Watson always rise to the challenge.

SO WHAT?

The original Sherlock Holmes was astounding yet believable, awe-inspiring but not fantastic. This new Holmes and his historic adventures stretch the limits of credulity (really, he almost averted World War One?).

There are also a number of dissatisfying failures on the part of the super-sleuth that could have been minimized or averted. I know he is only (fictionally) human, but I prefer to see my heroes triumphant more often.

Riccardi’s Dr. Watson, on the contrary, is spot on. His prose, personality, and peccadilloes are the same winsome surgeon of yore.

This was an enjoyable read, but I would not wholeheartedly recommend it.

[Carl · Rating 1 out of 5]

When you're writing new adventures of one of the greatest characters of all time I think it's important to actually maintain the character, which isn't done here. I understand that Holmes has been written in every style and manner and there must be a tremendous urge to try and put your own stamp on the iconic character. However, as a reader, I want Holmes! Riccardi immediately takes Holmes out of England and places him in Italy and there's way too much rhapsodizing about the glories of Italy. It also begins with a lame reference to a suddenly discovered member of the Watson family who leaves him a fortune, allowing Watson and Holmes to live as they please. Please don't add to the canon like that, when it's so clearly a plot device. I enjoy different variations of Holmes, but this one left me cold, as it didn't even seem to be Holmes at all.

[Marijan Šiško · Rating 2 out of 5]

A piece of fanfiction, and a lousy one at that. Not only that the author was unable to curb his italian patriotism by inserting excessive italian words and phrases, but the characters of holmes and Watson are badly misused. And don't let me start on historical facts! The most blatant example was, porbably, character of assasin Gavrilo Princip, who was of highschool age when he shot Archduke Ferdinand. But in Riccardi's book he is made into a man at least twice his age, married and holding an ancijent grudge against the Archduke, which, too, is pictured in a very unflattering light, contrary to all historical records.
All together, I readt the first half of the book, and I have no intention on finishing it. It's just not worth my time.

[Valerie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another Poor Parody

This continues the trend of Holmes stories that bear no resemblance to the original. Here Holmes has numerous friends from all over the world, is a friendly and warm person, and barely solves any of the cases. Worse, though, the stories are just poorly written. Timelines make no sense, endings come out of nowhere. There is a prologue by Watson explaining how he inherited a fortune that allowed the famous pair to set up in Italy. One of the stories then seems to reveal that the fortune is fictitious, set up by Holmes in pursuit of a case. This would at least explain why they seemed to be living in miserable conditions while in Rome. If you are looking for a good book don't bother with this.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ted Riccardi wrote a marvelous set of Holmes Short Stories years ago attempting to explain the missing years problem in the Holmes Cannon. This new set of stories, set between London and Rome are really quite nicely done but lack the brilliance of the first collection of stories...

[Pamela Huxtable · Rating 2 out of 5]

Riccardi's use of language echoes Doyle's, but these adventures did not command my attention as the original canon does.

However, the story in which Doyle himself makes an appearance I found very amusing.

[M.R. Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

A real disappointment after Riccardi's Oriental Casebook, which I enjoyed tremendously. It needs more action, by which I don't mean running around and high tension, but simply things happening. Each story is an exposition and solution, without much process in between.

[Peggy Hernandez · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not like this book of short stories. Typos littered throughout the book. Stories were written as if it were Scooby and those darn teenagers doing the sleuthing. Sherlock and Watson deserved better!

[Suzanna Renea · Rating 2 out of 5]

My belief I love all things Sherlock Holmes has been proven false. The entire tone was all wrong and the stories didn't make sense. I can appreciate wanting to stay authentic and write in the language spoken but that left large chunks of of the stories lost to me. It was all disappointing.

[Barb · Rating 1 out of 5]

Possibly the worst book I have ever read - a collection of stories and no continuity. Used the same character names for totally different characters in different stories. Some stories didn’t even seem to be completed, had no resolution. Not sure how it ever got published...

[Al · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. Nowhere near as good as the first book - I felt this book didn't get Sherlock right. It's hard to explain - Sherlock Holmes is an arrogant genius but this book made me feel he was aware of the way that affected Watson - Holmes is Holmes, he doesn't say things to show off.

[Sara]

HOLY SPELLING ERRORS, BATMAN! Someone needs to fire the editor. Inexcusable.

[Denton Holland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Neither as creative nor engaging as many other pastiches I've read.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was boring, and I love Sherlock Holmes, but....nahhh.

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Weirdly bad fanfic

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of short stories about Sherlock Holmes taking cases in Europe, mostly outside England. Its well written and Holmes and Watson are pretty well characterized. There are no jarring anachronisms and the characters for the most part are properly in their time, if a bit more modern in their outlook.

But Holmes fails in almost every single case. And most of the cases the "bad guy" is a villain with a tragic back story who only did it out of bad things that happened to them in the past. Holmes watches a poisoned musician die, and cannot figure out a code to stop a bombing, and on and on.

Partly this is because most of the cases are "ripped from the headlines" actual events, so he cannot actually prevent them from happening, which is a flaw with this sort of conceit. But its not very rewarding to watch our hero brilliantly fail to accomplish his goals, yet walk away unperturbed and unchastened.

[Sonja Charters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in The Sherlock Holmes Mysteries and I was so sad that I totally missed and didn't read the first.
I've loved Sherlock for so long and it's great to see and read new books with new cases for him and Watson.

I don't feel as though I'd missed out too much by not reading the first in this series and this book read absolutely fine as a standalone read.

With something as iconic as Sherlock, you can't really afford to stray too far from the original characterisation and format of the Doyle books - but there's certainly a lot of scope for adding to the stories and plenty of reference material.

I'm pleased to say that this book feels very authentic and nothing feels amiss as we read through some intriguing new cases, all narrated by Watson of course.

I liked that this was presented as a set of short stories detailing each case which made it really easy to devour a case over lunch each day alongside my other reads for the week.

A great read and a must for all Sherlock fans out there.

[Bob Hole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read it. The first half of many of the stories are somewhat interesting. But the stories kinda drop off after the middle and none of the solutions are satisfactory.

A few of the stories are tied to public people and events, though highly fictionalized. They read in some ways like secret histories, but more boring.

I had picked up both the volumes of this (the other being "Oriental Adventures") but I'll be turning the other volume back unread.

[Gina Guesby Mays · Rating 3 out of 5]

This audiobook wasn't too bad, but the pronunciation of Sergeant Lestrade just irks me! Previous audiobooks that I have listened to pronounce the names properly as it is French, "le - strah - d". This narrator pronounces it "le - str- aide" and I cringe every time. The stories are good though, and mysterious. I love looking at Holmes through Watson's eyes. I look forward to another adventure from Holmes but with a different narrator and pronunciation.

[So-Cal Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK take off on Sherlock Holmes stories but stories jump around in time (from one story to the next) so it makes it difficult to follow at times.
The type of deductive reasoning used by this version of Holmes is different than Conan Doyle's version of Holmes and at times seemed more inductive than deductive.