The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - The Haunting of Torre Abbey

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes #25

by Carole Buggé

Sherlock Holmes receives a request for aid from Lord Charles Cary, whose family is seemingly being threatened by ghosts in and around the family manor, Torre Abbey. Once a monastery, the abbey has a long history of hauntings. While skeptical of the supernatural, Holmes does believe that the Carys are in danger, a belief that proves horrifyingly accurate when, shortly after Holmes and Watson arrive, a household member dies mysteriously, seemingly of fright. As strange sightings and threatening apparitions become almost commonplace, the companions must uncover the secrets of the abbey if they are to have any hope of protecting the living and avenging the dead.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Mystery, Historical Fiction, Crime, Historical, Victorian

293 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2000

About the author

CAROLE BUGGÉ (CAROLE LAWERENCE, C. E. LAWRENCE, ELIZABETH BLAKE) has too many pen names. She has published sixteen novels, six novellas and several dozen short stories and poems, many appearing in translation internationally. Her most recent novel, Cleopatra’s Dagger, was nominated for an Edgar Award as Best Original Paperback. She has also recently published Pride, Prejudice and Poison, under the pen name Elizabeth Blake.

Her novels range from contemporary thrillers and cozies to historical mysteries, with settings that include New York, Edinburgh, London and York. Her published short stories are also in the mystery genre, though several are in the fantasy or horror genre, including several ghost stories.

In a past life, she made a living acting and doing improv comedy and is a self-described science geek. She also founded The Montclair Maulers, the first women’s rugby team in New Jersey. They did not win a single game for three seasons. She can often be found hunting mushrooms in the woods or playing Bach on the piano when no one is listening.

Reviews

[Stephen Robert Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This first came out in 2000 this new edition reprint it's only take 18 years..From an American author who lives in New York. We all know that Holmes does not believe in ghosts so why would ask Watson if he did?
Set in haunted Abby danger & murder but Ghosts?
This version of this SH has the better cover with both the Ghosts on it.

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Holmes and Watson take on the case of a haunted Abbey, the private home of the Cary family, in Torquay. Strange occurrences have the inhabitants of the house absolutely petrified for their safety. Holmes & Watson rush to Devon, and even they are mystified by some bizarre happenings -- none the least of which is murder.

This falls into the category of worst Holmes pastiches ever written. I figured out the story in no time flat, although the author kept it going on and on with needless scenes, including Watson's dreams, a seance that didn't seem to have any relevance whatsoever, and the most obvious mystery ever. If you took this book, updated the story, added a dog & set it in America, you could watch it as a full-length Scooby-Doo episode.

How this book got a starred review is beyond me. Obviously I didn't like it, and I don't recommend it.

[Stephen Robert Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ghost of a headless Monk seen by both the sister & her brother Charles Cray has Holmes rush to sea side City of Torquay to Torre Abby on cold wet night in October rushing on train summed to save them but who is in danger from a dead Monk?

[Les Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book very much but if a writer is going to refer to an expensive wine (Montrachet 82. These dry white wines are noted for their richness and structure, and a bottle can cost from £140 to £2380 with rarer vintages priced even higher. The author should get the colour right. Quote from book, “however, the combination of the fireplace and red wine was reviving me in both body and spirit.” As mention above Montrachet wines are all of the white variety, made from 100% Chardonnay grapes. Not a criticism of the book as a whole but worth the author bearing in mind for the future.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Talk about legacy authors...Carole Bugge has taken off with a continuation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes about a century after the last published piece...She's done several and this is the 1st of hers I've read...Decent maintenance of characterization, setting, plotting tone and tenor to the original as Holmes and Watson are called to the Devon countryside to rescue one of the landed gentry from hauntings of the estate that threatens the family...Decent!

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was this the worst book I have ever read? No. But it was not good. This book read somewhat like a soap-opera. It was dramatic but also very predictable. I felt like Holmes was kind of just sitting around in this story waiting for something to happen. I didn’t feel like there was a lot of investigative work being done and Watson’s was very much suffering in this book (literally). Throughout the story he get the flu, gets hit on the head, falls off a horse and gets shot. Although admittedly none of them other than the flu seem to phase him very much (to include the gun shot wound). All the women in the story are pretty, all the men are handsome. It’s just kind of odd. If you want a no brain “fun for fun’s sake” kind of read I say go for it. I am a slow reader and read it in three of four days. But if you want a well written Sherlock Holmes story this is not it.

On a more technical note, this book is rather poorly edited. There are multiple times where small words are left out such as “a” “my” ext. there are also repeated words in sentences, such as “a good horsemen is always in need of a good horse” (this one is made up but very similar examples exist in the novel.

[Fred Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great story in the contemporary canon of Sherlock Holmes.

At a daunting Abbey there appears to be ghostly happening and Sherlock is brought in to get to the bottom of what is happening. Soon bodies start falling and the solution.

A great read.

[Maureen Wattelet · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a Sherlock Holmes purist I was curious to see it this author would carry forward in the style of Doyle. Unfortunately it was way too "flowery" IMO. Not enough focus on the mystery; too much focus on Watson getting caught up in emotions. (Yes, I know he was definitely more emotional than Holmes in the original stories, but perhaps because the author needed to drag this out to novel length there was SO MUCH exposition.) I would have preferred a more in depth mystery with interesting clues that Holmes was able to deduce. Meh

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Atmospheric pastiche

Solid plot and well conjured atmosphere even if the solution is a bit predictable. A couple unforced errors that I’ve found common to many Holmes pastiches such as what I call the “Horny Watson”- Watson must fall in love with some woman during the story despite such an infatuation being rare in the canon and the . . .

SPOILER



Pretending to leave to lure the villain out of hiding, which, based on Walton’s publication of Hound, must be known to every villain out there.

Otherwise, does a solid job of capturing the Watson voice.

[Rose]

Good characterization, some neat layers to Holmes -- and a really fun idea (Holmes & Watson investigating a family living in a potentially haunted house). Alas: the pacing killed this for me. I gave up less than a hundred pages from the end because nearly nothing had happened yet.

(I did skip ahead to the end to see how it all turned out. A good solution, but not enough plot even leading right up to the end to have made finishing the book worthwhile.)

[Annabel_Hawkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Far from the worst Holmes pastiche I've ever read, but I preferred her other one.
Half the text of this one was Holmes impressing people with his skills as if it was just a parlor trick at a party, and then feigning modesty while Watson and co. stood shocked and begged him to explain how he reached his conclusions only for Holmes to---wait for it---smugly recite how he figured out the things that he did.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2 rounded to 4

This was another fun Sherlock Holmes pastiche (one of many). Sherlock Holmes has long been a popular character for pastiche, Holmes-related work by authors and creators other than Arthur Conan Doyle. In this one, Holmes is summoned to Torre Abbey, the home of the Carys who have occupied the Abbey for over 200 years. Lord Carey requested Holmes assistance because of some very unusual phenomena that occurred there including the sighting of a headless ghost of a monk that was murdered centuries ago. So is the Abbey haunted? Holmes and Dr. Watson travel to the Devon coast near the city of Torquay to investigate. Holmes feels the family is in danger and his fears are soon realized when the family cook dies mysteriously, possibly of fright. While there, other strange sightings and feelings of dread occur. So what is really happening and what motives could be behind it?

This was an enjoyable adventure for Holmes and to me it may not have come close to an original Holmes story by Doyle but it was a fun read. It was obvious that someone was behind the strange occurrences at the abbey, but who and why? This one kept me guessing up till the end of the story. The setting of this was also interesting. Torre Abbey is a real place located in Torquay, Devon, which lies in the South West of England. It was founded in 1196 as a monastery for Premonstratensian canons, and is now the best-preserved medieval monastery in Devon and Cornwall.


I have several other Holmes pastiches on my TBR shelves that I hope to get to at some point along with some of the original stories by Doyle that I have not read. I'll be looking forward to them.

[Rachel Bridgeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

We all know that Sherlock's central tenant is that, whenever you remove everything that is impossible, what is left, must be the truth, no matter how improbable.

So how does he rationalise and deal with ghosts?

There must be another angle which he and Watson need to consider, another motive behind why this is occurring to the brother and sister, being beleagured by a headless monk.

You immediately think that there must be an inheritence or something valuable at stake as Watson goes all mooney eyed (as per!)whilst Holmes begins debunking what cannot be a ghostly apparition.

This is not a long read, it is pretty fast paced and there are many, many secrets to be unearthed from amongst the Cary family vaults. The typical tropes are put into play and it is pretty well realised as part of the new Holmes adventures. I found it engaging and pleasing , but then I am always happy to read the further adventures of the original detective duo so there may be people who have vastly differing opinions to mine.

If I was to complain about anything, it is probably the littlest issues about the use of American-isms which are not unique to this writer of 'New Holmes', quite a few others do this too, but if that is the worst that you can say-and as someone who is actually pretty fond of the Basil Rathbone movies, not exactly canonical-then that is hardly the harshest criticism, nor the worst reason for avoiding a fun adventure in a -possibly-haunted Abbey!

[WhatShouldIRead · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, but with reservations. This may contain spoilers so continue if that doesn't matter to you.

First, I found parts repetitious. Something was mentioned in one paragraph then a few paragraphs or pages later it was mentioned again. Next, poor Watson was constantly sick, tired, cold, napping, etc. This happened throughout most the book. Granted he was sick but I think he got most of the character description which was irrelevant to the storyline (for me anyway). Finally, the resolution seemed to come out of the blue. I get that the author wanted to showcase Holmes' detective skills but honestly the reader wasn't given any clue as to who might have done it. And it seemed some conversations, situations, etc. went nowhere, used just as fill.

But, the atmosphere was spot on gothic-y, spooky, and foreboding. This took place exclusively at Torre Abbey in the countryside. I had a great sense of place reading this.

All in all I did like this but the excess talking, descriptions, Watson sickness and paragraph fill put me off from giving this a higher score.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Holmes pastiche ?..yep...I have found a few already this year that will make up a pile to be read before the years out.
This one is set in the classic period I guess the Holmes and Watson Baker street years not the retired beekeeper ones or the married years that make up some of the forthcoming years reads.
this is a light tale in many ways the mysteries of hauntings within a family house...is it spooks...or something more human?
well...I'm not telling but what I will say is though no Holmes I pieced up parts of this case quite easily early on so the latter revelations?...generally but confirmation...
Not a bad shortish tale mind you which engaged enough and didn't outstay its welcome.
As to how it fits with others of this type I've read?...about midway really far from tragically bad but neither does it scale new heights...a case of ..it is what it is.

[MH · Rating 2 out of 5]

Holmes and Watson spend time in a haunted estate, where there are murders, a seance, and numerous supernatural sightings. It's well-paced, and not badly written, but there are a number of problems that stack up: I'm not sure what Holmes does all day during his time at the Abbey - they have a meal, look at a building, have another meal, and go to bed (where they are awakened by a "blood-curdling scream" three nights in a row); the first death is almost immediately ignored; Bugge gets very repetitive with her dialogue (Holmes says "the plot, as they say, thickens!" twice, and there are several uses of Hamlet's "there are more things in heaven and earth ..." - it's said so often, I was sure it must be a clue); the seance scene goes nowhere and one of the ghosts, the headless monk, is quickly forgotten; and on and on. This really feels like an unedited, unpolished first draft.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sherlock Holmes has received an urgent request for aid from The Lord Cary, who's home Torre Abbey is being tormented by phantoms and strange occurrences that leave the ladies of the house terrified.
As Holmes and Watson's investigations uncover a house full of secrets and lies, will they be able to unmask the culprit before the murders begin.
A fast easy read that I enjoyed.

[Kendra Wilde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well Done!

Though I say that, I can't say that I found the plot device as compelling as I expected. However, both Holmes and Watson were true to form and I enjoyed their interactions far more than the ghost story. I did realize who the perpetrator had to be fairly early on, though that is no insult to the plot itself; I've read a great many mysteries!

Look forward to the next book by Bugge.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent, well-written Sherlock Holmes story. The author has Doyle's style down pretty good. A bit more Watson than Holmes throughout the tale but I thought this was one of the best down pastiches I've read in the Titan series.

[Antoinette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Sherlock Holmes adventure set in Torquay, England. The Cary family, resident in Torre Abbey, is being threatened by ghosts in and around the abbey. Holmes and Watson are summoned ton to solve the mystery.
Entertaining and true to the essence of Homes and Watson.

[Symone · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was pretty good and felt like a Sherlock Holmes mystery, if a bit predictable.
The one huge annoyance of mine was calling the Foxhounds, dogs, throughout their part in the story. They should be referred to as hounds.

[Mark Levandoski · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good addition to the growing number of novels.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

solid sherlock

[Calvin Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

as are many SH books a solid 3.5. Did have the bad guy figured early though.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

My fav character was tragically killed off, other than that I liked the story alot.

[Chrisangel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read quite a few modern day Sherlock Holmes novels and wasn't too impressed but this one's a winner!

[Summers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always enjoy finding a new Sherlock Holmes author. Good reading but not edge of your seat stuff. i guessed much of the outcome before revealed. Maybe closer to 3.5 stars or so.

[Malcolm Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, entertaining Holmes story, much in the style of Conan Doyle himself. I did manage to work out the ending mid-tale, but still enjoyed the journey. A good addition to my Holmes collection.

[Oh, Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5*
The writing was good but it was just TOO LONG. Not enough plot for 300 pages.

[Joyce Wessel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Figured it out in the first 50 pages. Just continued reading to get the details.