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A Holmes and Garden Story #1
The Curious Case of The Black Swan Song
Best-selling author Andrea Frazer is back with a Holmes and Garden murder mystery.
Sherman Holmes has reached a crossroads in his life, having inherited a large fortune from a hitherto unknown relative.
John Garden also has a decision to make that will have a far-reaching effect on his future.
The two happen to book into the same hotel, The Black Swan, on the same weekend, to mull over the changes to their lives that both of them are thinking of making.
Meeting purely by chance, foundations for a friendship are laid based on their mutual love of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. When a murder occurs in the hotel, though, it isn’t long before their bond strengthens, as they decide to form an alliance and unmask the murderer. They soon find that Death is following them like a faithful dog and, as the case gets more tangled, they make the decision to cement their alliance formally and set up as private investigators.
This first book in the series is a romp through a small English town, featuring a pompous would-be Holmes of Baker Street and his own, cross-dressing, ‘Watson’. Mercurially tempered Colin, Holmes’ cat, also makes his first appearance …
Sherman Holmes has reached a crossroads in his life, having inherited a large fortune from a hitherto unknown relative.
John Garden also has a decision to make that will have a far-reaching effect on his future.
The two happen to book into the same hotel, The Black Swan, on the same weekend, to mull over the changes to their lives that both of them are thinking of making.
Meeting purely by chance, foundations for a friendship are laid based on their mutual love of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. When a murder occurs in the hotel, though, it isn’t long before their bond strengthens, as they decide to form an alliance and unmask the murderer. They soon find that Death is following them like a faithful dog and, as the case gets more tangled, they make the decision to cement their alliance formally and set up as private investigators.
This first book in the series is a romp through a small English town, featuring a pompous would-be Holmes of Baker Street and his own, cross-dressing, ‘Watson’. Mercurially tempered Colin, Holmes’ cat, also makes his first appearance …
160 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 31, 2014
60 people are currently reading
100 people want to read
About the author
Andrea Frazer
226 books83 followersAn ex-member of Mensa (bored!),Andrea Frazer is married, with four grown-up children, and lives in the Dordogne with her husband Tony and their seven cats. She has wanted to write since she first began to read at the age of five, but has been a little busy raising a family and working as a lecturer in Greek (she has a Fellowship Diploma in Greek), and teaching music.
Apart from writing, Andrea continues to teach music, and now also teaches French to ex-pats.
Her interests include playing several instruments (but not all at the same time!), reading, and choral singing (she sings with two choirs in a nearby town). In her spare time, she breathes!
Apart from writing, Andrea continues to teach music, and now also teaches French to ex-pats.
Her interests include playing several instruments (but not all at the same time!), reading, and choral singing (she sings with two choirs in a nearby town). In her spare time, she breathes!
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 3, 2014
Godawful. Need I say more?
February 19, 2024
Two men, Sherman Holmes and John Garden, meet by chance in the hotel The Black Swan. Both have a decisions about their lives to make. Holmes has inherited a fortune and doesn’t know what to do with it, and Garden wants to start living the life he wants as a cross dresser. Both love Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. Before long there is a murder in the hotel, and the two Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts take the case without anyone asking them to do so.
It’s a cozy crime, and ticks a lot of the boxes of the genre, small town, quirky character, and humor, but there is also the first in the series problem. Basically, the mystery take the backseat to the introduction of the characters. In fact, most of the story is taken up by something else than the mystery, but the good thing is that it is fun to read anyway. The characters are likable, and I thought the story was enjoyable despite the mystery being absent for a lot of the novel. So much so that I would probably have gone on to the next in the series, but the author died before she wrote another Holmes, and Garden mystery novel. There is a short story, but I can’t find it anywhere to read. Still, an nice twist on the Sherlock Holmes stories.
One thing more, Sherman’s homicidal cat adds an interesting element to the story.
It’s a cozy crime, and ticks a lot of the boxes of the genre, small town, quirky character, and humor, but there is also the first in the series problem. Basically, the mystery take the backseat to the introduction of the characters. In fact, most of the story is taken up by something else than the mystery, but the good thing is that it is fun to read anyway. The characters are likable, and I thought the story was enjoyable despite the mystery being absent for a lot of the novel. So much so that I would probably have gone on to the next in the series, but the author died before she wrote another Holmes, and Garden mystery novel. There is a short story, but I can’t find it anywhere to read. Still, an nice twist on the Sherlock Holmes stories.
One thing more, Sherman’s homicidal cat adds an interesting element to the story.
June 13, 2025
Χμ, ναι. Η πρώτη μου επαφή με την Φρέιζερ ήταν καλή, χουχουλιάρικη και χαριτωμένη. Αυτό εδώ τραβάει τηις συμπτώσεις από τα μαλλιά και βασίζεται σε αυτές για να προκαλέσει το γέλιο. Δεν ενθουσιάστηκα και δεν βοήθησε και η ΑΙ φωνή του αφηγητή. Φοβάμαι πως δε θα συνεχίσω την σειρά Holmes and Garden, αν και ο
spoiler alert
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cross-dresser Γκάρντεν ήταν φρέσκια ιδέα και πολύ πετυχημένη.
spoiler alert
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cross-dresser Γκάρντεν ήταν φρέσκια ιδέα και πολύ πετυχημένη.
November 15, 2025
Excellent Mystery by Andrea Frazer
I truly enjoyed this book. It's one of the most impressive mysteries that I've read recently and I read everyday . The characters are fascinating and well written. Holmes and Garden spent a lot of time getting their business together, but in a fun way, not tiresome. The ending was a big surprise and caught me off guard. It was fantastic.
I truly enjoyed this book. It's one of the most impressive mysteries that I've read recently and I read everyday . The characters are fascinating and well written. Holmes and Garden spent a lot of time getting their business together, but in a fun way, not tiresome. The ending was a big surprise and caught me off guard. It was fantastic.
September 27, 2025
An interesting take on characters
The writing is very good. I do find myself struggling to critique the writing rather than the story itself and the behavior of the characters in the story; the stumbling, bumbling, clumsy way they come together.
The writing is very good. I do find myself struggling to critique the writing rather than the story itself and the behavior of the characters in the story; the stumbling, bumbling, clumsy way they come together.
September 17, 2017
read it very quickly - quite a tong-in-cheek reading - a good spoof about holmes and john h. (watson)
November 25, 2025
An amusing look at another set of "Holmes and Watson" investigators.
Two rather bumbling men meet up and decide they should become prper investigators with somewhat mixed results.
Two rather bumbling men meet up and decide they should become prper investigators with somewhat mixed results.
September 15, 2014
Two and a half stars.
While this is an interesting concept for a new series by Andrea Frazer, it became somewhat too cutesy in its parallels to Sherlock Holmes and John H. Watson.
The mystery itself was so-so, and the denouement was fairly easy to guess at.(Never a good thing, in my opinion.)
I did like Garden's character. He started off as seeming a bit too similar to D.S. Carmichael from the Falconer Files series, also by Andrea Frazer, but developed his own persona fairly soon.
Similarly, Holmes' character seemed similar to Detective Falconer, but quickly became rather stupid and annoying; much less endearing than Falconer. Hopefully he will become more likeable as the series develops further.
While this is an interesting concept for a new series by Andrea Frazer, it became somewhat too cutesy in its parallels to Sherlock Holmes and John H. Watson.
The mystery itself was so-so, and the denouement was fairly easy to guess at.(Never a good thing, in my opinion.)
I did like Garden's character. He started off as seeming a bit too similar to D.S. Carmichael from the Falconer Files series, also by Andrea Frazer, but developed his own persona fairly soon.
Similarly, Holmes' character seemed similar to Detective Falconer, but quickly became rather stupid and annoying; much less endearing than Falconer. Hopefully he will become more likeable as the series develops further.
January 10, 2016
After a promising start, what appeared to be an original take on a Holmes and Watson murder mystery didn't achieve it's full potential. Yes there were murders but no mystery and after a while the many references to Conan Doyle and other classic writers, puns, idioms and phrasing made this less enjoyable and more of a chore to finish. Will not be reading any more of the series.
February 11, 2016
I've never before gotten 2/3 through a book and then given up lol but there's a first time for nearly everything... I kept reading because of the premise - and promise - but stopped when I realized I literally dreaded seeing it on my kindle. I liked the idea and the beginning but it went SOOOO far afield of that liking that there really isn't much to say!
April 18, 2016
I tried to continue reading this book, but a waste of time. It's a weird book. I noticed that there were no reader comments on this book, yet it had 4 stars. FOUR STARS! Why? Are all her books this odd?
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews