The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - The Improbable Prisoner

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes #26

by Stuart Douglas

A new novel from the author of acclaimed Sherlock Holmes patisches The Albino's Treasure and The Counterfeit Detective.

WRONGLY IMPRISONED

Following a summons to a fictional patient, Dr. Watson finds himself arrested for the horrific murder of an elderly woman. Imprisoned at Holloway, and with the evidence stacked against him, Watson's only hope is that Sherlock Holmes can discover the identity of the real killer. But when a mysterious letter appears to link Watson to blackmail and a notorious street gang, Holmes must use all his powers of reasoning to save his friend from the hangman's noose.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Thriller, 21st Century

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 3, 2018

About the author

Author of The Lowe and Le Breton Mysteries.

Reviews

[Stephen Robert Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Holiday for Doctor Watson at the bequest of The government a very special holiday .Doctor Watson charge with murder sent to Holloway .
A Murder of an old woman stabbed to death with murder in the room with bag of knives covered in blood with door locked from inside with only key in the lock. Has the Ripper returned ? When police brake in he is stood over the body even for Holmes it is a slam duck .Shame that the murder is a confused Doctor Watson.
This very much like Wilde in Reding Jail he has Watson in dark place in the shadow of the rope.

[Scott Liddell · Rating 5 out of 5]

With delightful serendipity, this book came out just as I was leaving to go on holiday. This allowed me to sit in sweltering heat and be cooled by this tale of dark and grimy London. Told within the tight confines of only a few locations, Douglas delivers a rich and by varied story which takes a hard look at the ethos of Holmes himself and a detailed look at the resilience of his partner. It is a testament to the authors skill that an, on the face of it, simple crime can gain so many facets and weave itself into the mythology of Holmes itself. The only downside is that I am still on holiday and the book is done. Better to have read and loved than never to have read at all.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite duo return...
Dr Watson is in the frame for a vicious bloody murder and somebody has made sure he won't escape the noose.
As Watson is imprisoned in Holloway, his life could be in danger from a fellow prisoner with a grudge.
Can his friend Sherlock Holmes - the world's greatest detective - solve the puzzle and save Watson from the gallows.
The game is afoot...

[Underpaid Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book with high expectations after reading the authors previous two Holmes and Watson stories and was not disappointed. The story is tight, well plotted and best of all for once it focuses almost entirely on Watson with his thoughts and actions as the protagonist being the main part of the story. Douglas also does something that I can't think has ever been done before and has done a touch of a modern Dickens in touching on why criminals become who they are, in this he's a latter day genius as too many modern Holmes stories slavishly copy Conan Doyle (in itself no bad thing) but by moving outside the comfort zone of pure pastiche he takes the story and setting to a new level of enjoyment.

[Susan Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A fun, light read in the Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I did like how this one drew attention to the lack of choices poor of the time had, leading many to crime as only way out. (Own)

[David Blyth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

I thought the novel well researched. Disparate threads come together. The author ingeniously refers back to a story from the canon in the revealing of the solution.

[Tim Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr Watson has been framed. Not my idea of fun.

[alexander burrus · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay

The idea of this story is better than the actual story for me. Having the main plot take a back seat in importance kinda soured my enjoyment of this title. Not an unworthy book but I really didn’t enjoy the jail settings. I did enjoy the motives and connected back stories.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, that was fantastic. Review forthcoming.

[BBoz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected little going into this book, and imagined so many ways a prison Sherlock story could go wrong, but this novel REALLY surprised me! The author is clearly a very resourceful writer: He constructed a solid plot that kept me engaged throughout, where everything had an explanation behind it, and created memorable characters who were then developed delicately. I loved the villains of the story and sympathized with their motives; The friendship between Sherlock and Watson really stood out; Sherlock's calm demeanor towards and interactions with the villains were beyond charming, and I never thought I'd come to love Lestrade this much!

Some negatives: The arrogant and unsympathetic parts of Sherlock's personality were a bit overdone, although the author made efforts to remedy it and ensure Sherlock was likeable (It was jarring how Sherlock continuously slighted Lestrade despite Lestrade having become an amiable ally by this time, which I don't think Sherlock did in The Hound of Baskerville's). But of course, the author was portraying Sherlock as an obviously flawed character, so that the villains' criticism of him feel valid.

The story definitely does not feel like something ACD could have written, given the amount of focus placed onto the plot itself and the inner worlds of characters, and the dark & grimy tone - All of that was brilliantly done, but this isn't another fun Sherlock adventure you might expect, and is instead a story of a different style that fits well into the Sherlock setting (which I enjoyed, but I imagine others may not).

The deductions sometimes feel weak and contrived (with alternative explanations you can think of), and there exists logical flaws in the actions the characters took. However, I could easily come up with story details to add / slight changes to the circumstances that'd fix the logical flaws, or make the deductions more plausible, so the issues really weren't significant. The fact that the story is so good that it prompted me as a reader to go out of the way to reconcile anything that didn't make sense, because I so badly wanted things to unfold the way they did, should speak for how compelling this book was!

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doctor Watson framed for murder!

Watson has been on call and walking home to Baker Street when he is approached by a young woman. Stating that her grandmother needs a doctor, she leads him to a room where an elderly lady lies murdered! Watson discovers he is locked in and calls for help from the window. But when the police break in the key is discovered in the lock—on the inside!

The story is terrific, a constant battle, with Holmes trying to prove Watson innocent and bellicose Inspector Potter determined to put him in prison and keep him there! The evidence is expertly planted, the young woman is nowhere to be found, and the dead woman is kin to Major Sir Campbell McLachlan, member of Parliament! The Major is also involved in cleaning up the gangs of London, and a firm supporter of Inspector Potter.

Even with Mycroft Holmes pulling strings, Watson is placed in prison awaiting trial…

I really like this one! I give the book five stars!

Quoth the Raven…

[Richard Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-plotted, well-written Sherlock Holmes story. It had some flaws, IMO, but I enjoyed it.

The characters are true to form, which I think is important, and though the story is slightly outside the tradition in terms of scale (over months) and location (mostly in prison), I think it works. The ending was somewhat awkward and anticlimactic--really, it had two endings--but it was pretty satisfying, so I'll allow it. :)

Watson gets framed for murder and spends most of the story in prison. Holmes performs his usual miracles to keep him alive (surely no spoiler), though much of his work is only revealed after the fact. It's not quite as fun this way; I want to see Watson out with Holmes, finding clues, making discoveries, but it has it's own charm.

Overall, I found it entertaining and well worth reading. It kept climbing to the top of my "now reading" pile ahead of a few others. If you like Sherlock Holmes pastiche, I'm pretty confident this would work for you.

[WhatShouldIRead · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of this story was pretty interesting, especially the scenes that took place at Holloway prison. There, different characters were introduced, some OK some really nasty, which ultimately had an impact on Dr. Watson's future freedom.

And speaking of Dr. Watson, his actions in this book were of a bumbling fool, not the Watson we all know in later interpretations. No matter what he did here he seemed to dig a deeper hole for himself.

Holmes was mostly off stage throughout the story and he seemed to not to be able to help Watson's case much till the very end.

But in spite of this I still did enjoy the story and would recommend it.

[Michael Rumney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Watson is framed for murder and has to spend time on remand at Holloway prison. The nig flaw with the novel is that evidence against Watson is so flimsy, the Conan Doyle Holmes would have had Watson released within minutes instead of the days it took.
The author does gives us the rough conditions within a Victorian prison as a rather too naive bumbles his way around some interesting characters.
This means Holmes is absent for a chunk of the book and I kept wondering, what is he up to?
The conclusion was convoluted and rambling but it was still an enjoyable read overall. The did think Douglas got the voice of Watson spot on as the story is told from Watsons view point.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this Sherlock Holmes book not written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Told mostly from the perspective of John Watson, who imprisoned for murder, it has all the classic styling of the original writings within a well told and plotted full length novel. I will certainly seek out more stories in this vein by this author.

[Michael Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part of a long series of new tales by various authors either filling in gaps from the Doyle chronicles, covering episodes listed as too dangerous or secretive in the Doyle tales or just in the realm of Holmes and Watson. Story was long, boring and way too much wasted description / dialogue.

[Luke Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent case with some interesting twists. The plot slows in places, but the book does wonders for the overall world building in the Holmes universe. It's an enjoyable read if you're caught up with the majority of Sherlock Holmes stories.

[Eric Smith]

Interesting story. While Dr. Watson narrates all of the Holmes stories, in this one he is also the Yards primary suspect in a gruesome murder. This gives the story from Watson a different and unique perspective which I found enjoyable.

[Calvin Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

A more Watson-focued tale which endeavours to look at the impact of what Holmes does when investigating crime.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

great chronicle of awful prison experience of the time

[Lari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid mystery, with some excellent deductions from Holmes and also a look at his softer side.

[Kya Strong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't think I would enjoy this series resurrecting Sherlock Holmes, but I loved it!

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story. I just think it would have been more interesting if Holmes was the one in jail with Watson trying to free him.

[Fraser Merricks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something different to the normal Holmes and Watson adventure. Enjoyable and makes you think about the plot from different angles

[Jens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good writing. Not my favorite case.

[Parthan Ramanujam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A non typical Sherlock Holmes book told by Watson as the protagonist on his own experience of being accused of a crime and how the brilliance of Mr Holmes saves him.

[DenaIsntHere · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was a tad slow for a few bits, but overall I was kept entertained as I would expect from an adventure with Sherlock and Watson.