The Secret Notebooks of Sherlock Holmes

Secret Sherlock Holmes #6

by June Thomson

Now,outlasting the memories of those they could have harmed,these mysteries finally come to light.An aluminium crutch betrays the criminal who relies upon it for support...An Italian Cardinal lies dead in a muddy yard in Spitalfields...What do a pair of suspiciously successful gamblers have in common with the Transylvanian mind-reader,Count Rakoczi?And can Holmes and Watson outwit the jewel thief who has the nerve to steal from the King of Scandinavia?

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Fiction, Crime, Detective, Historical Mystery, Historical

260 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2004

About the author

June Thomson, a former teacher, has published 24 crime novels, 18 of which feature Detective Chief Inspector Jack Finch and his sergeant, Tom Boyce. She has also written six short story collections of Sherlock Holmes pastiches. Her books have been translated into many languages. She lives in St Albans in Hertfordshire.

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. I'd read a previous book of Holmes stories by this author and liked it enough to look for more. But the tales in this book make practically no use of Holmes' detective powers and are sadly slight in their plots.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imaginative, but well-rooted in canon. A tendancy to rely on Holmes filling Watson in on stories rather than plunging into the thick of things, but still very enjoyable.

[Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad attempt at a Holmes pastiche but the interminable number of footnotes really distracted from the narrative. In the end I just stopped looking at them. The best stories were the ones involving Holmes and Watson investigating together. The remainder were either Watson reading of an old case or Holmes explaining how he solved one and they lacked any real sense of adventure.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 2 out of 5]

June Thomson’s Sherlockian pastiches had been praised by many scholars & readers as the “real” thing. My own feelings, after reading “The Secret Journals of Sherlock Holmes”, matched this expression, and I had hailed the stories to be better than the later stuff churned by Sir ACD. However, the next book came as a rude shock as I discovered that the author has created a niche for Holmes (who had acquired a persona that is too gentle and empathetic to be true, with many traits that directly contravene the canonical template) and is very happy to see him confined to that niche only. Hence, I approached the 3rd & final (from my perspective) collection of her pastiches with some trepidation. This one was marginally better than the previous one. The stories contained in this book are: -

1. The Case of the Upwood Scandal: a rather simple and one-dimensional story, with no mystery whatsoever.
2. The Case of the Aluminium Crutch: the story was incredibly simple, and the reason for keeping the story ‘secret’ was improbable.
3. The Case of the Manor House Mystery: no mystery, hardly any role played by the house, and a rather drab story.
4. The Case of the Cardinal’s Corpse: better story, involving illustrious people, and with a hint of actual scandal and few dramatic moments, although the mystery was too flimsy.
5. The Case of the Arnsworth Affair: definitely the pick of this collection, with several dramatic moments and action. Not exactly a mystery, but even then it was better.
6. The Case of the Vanishing Barque: no mystery, and only action performed by Holmes was more like a lawyer than a detective.
7. The Case of the Gustaffson Stone: precious jewel belonging to royal family getting stolen by a crook who is so powerful that even kings daren’t arouse his enmity, illustrious client approaches Holmes asking him to retrieve the jewel using explicitly illegal means, Holmes does so with a flourish (involving Watson without his consent) and in-the-process allows us to be lectured about lock-picking! Definitely readable stuff, but actually a cannibalization of two of the most famous canonical stories (‘A Scandal in Bohemia’ and ‘The Illustrious Client’).

Thus, marginally better than “The Secret Archives of Sherlock Holmes”, but nothing that might warrant a return.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite interesting stories but not totally convincing in the language used. The footnotes are annoying as they repeat the same extremely obvious infornmation over and over again.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sometimes forgot I wasn't actually reading Arthur Conan Doyle, which is the best compliment I could give this book :) Really enjoyed it.

[Ehbooklover · Rating 3 out of 5]

A modern Sherlock Holmes story compilation. As an obsessive Holmes fan I enjoyed reading “new” stories but if I am being honest, they can't compete with the originals.

[Shubhra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a few good cases in here...

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat anodyne anthology of 'new' Holmes stories narrated by the faithful Watson. Far too many footnotes which are meant to lend a credence to the stories but become distracting (and better off ignored). Having said that, this is far from a bad collection of short stories, but overall, it is somewhat unsatisfactory.

[Isha Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted more, can I have more!?

[Selena]

Need the audio

[Outlander · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small collection of seven short Sherlock Holmes stories well worthy of the four stars as all seven were well written, flowed nicely and were true to the Canon - a must read for SH fans.

[Isabel Mansfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light Reading