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The Watson Files #3
Sherlock Holmes and the Werewolf of West End
Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson return in their strangest case yet!
Something's stalking the streets of London's West End.
People are dying, and all signs point to a killer of unfathomable strength and brutality.
On the night of the full moon, Doctor John Watson is called upon to save a colleague who's been brutally attacked by what appears to have been a pack of wild dogs.
As his friend succumbs to his wounds, his dying words seem to implicate a "wolf man." Confused, Dr. Watson turns to his good friend for help.
However, the killer's wiles and weaponry are far more dangerous than anything the good doctor or the legendary sleuth have encountered before. Indeed, it is a clever enemy who can hide from the likes of these two persistent sleuths.
The game, as they say, is afoot. Except this is no game.
It’s life and death.
Click BUY NOW or READ FOR FREE to continue the "Watson Files" series of historical mysteries today!
Something's stalking the streets of London's West End.
People are dying, and all signs point to a killer of unfathomable strength and brutality.
On the night of the full moon, Doctor John Watson is called upon to save a colleague who's been brutally attacked by what appears to have been a pack of wild dogs.
As his friend succumbs to his wounds, his dying words seem to implicate a "wolf man." Confused, Dr. Watson turns to his good friend for help.
However, the killer's wiles and weaponry are far more dangerous than anything the good doctor or the legendary sleuth have encountered before. Indeed, it is a clever enemy who can hide from the likes of these two persistent sleuths.
The game, as they say, is afoot. Except this is no game.
It’s life and death.
Click BUY NOW or READ FOR FREE to continue the "Watson Files" series of historical mysteries today!
- GenresMystery
168 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 27, 2018
78 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
J.R. Rain
586 books1,727 followersJ.R. Rain is the author of 110 novels and counting. He lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest, where he's hard at work on his next novel... and fighting off sparkly vampires.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 9, 2021
4 STARS
February 19, 2023
This is a 3.5 🌟 read rounded ⬆️ to 4 🌟.
March 3, 2019
Dr Thorpe is found slashed by an animal. Caroline Pennybrook was the last to see him. A werewolf, even though based in myth, is suspected! Author Rains’ Sherlock sagas continue with this clever and well-researched thriller, written in the vein of Doyle. Watson and Holmes are tossed into the strange world of Miss Pennybrook and a strange hanger-on, one Grumpy Mr. Harold Kemp. This is the second adventure I’ve read, and I’m still astounded how close to Doyle this author writes. Every effort is made to develop location, character and atmosphere inherent to 19th Century London. This is a short novel, but qualitative in content.
May 26, 2025
As I suspected, J. R. Rain and Chanel Smith are far more at home in the realm of creatures that go bump in the night than in proper Victorian London. The addition of a supernatural element gives them the latitude needed to flaunt their speculative expertise.
Watson is summoned to Soho to examine a man most horribly wounded. His wife, Mary, wonders at his being called out in the middle of the night to the district adjacent to his own. Watson posits that the Soho doctor may be indisposed, never imagining that the victim of the brutal attack is the good doctor himself, Doctor Albert Thorpe.
Miss Caroline Pennybrook approaches Sherlock Holmes with a story that defies both the possible and probable, yet Holmes is intrigued. Miss Pennybrook claims to be a werewolf. Holmes studies the history of the lycanthrope myth and determines that there is a kernel of truth to be found. He also finds that werewolves tend to be male, so a female lycan is most unusual. The petite Miss Pennybrook explains that, unlike traditional werewolves driven by bloodlust, her desires are more carnal in nature.
Miss Pennybrook and Doctor Thorpe spend the evening in a pub, drinking sherry, on the night the doctor is ravaged.
Throughout Sherlock Holmes and the Werewolf of West End Watson remains skeptic, insisting that werewolves don't exist, while Holmes, ever the rationalist, keeps an open mind. Despite his disbelief, Watson is determined to find the perpetrator responsible for wounds unlike any he witnessed in Crimea.
As I read the myriad pastiches written about Sherlock Holmes, I find myself comparing the Holmes and Watson dynamic to the mysteries penned by more modern authors — think Poirot and Hastings, or Chief Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis. The deliberate pairing of the observant and logical with the more mundane and plodding ensures investigative success. Rain and Smith have used the Poirot-style ending to enumerate all the steps that lead to the successful conclusion of the case.
Sherlock Holmes and the Werewolf of West End has been my favorite in this series so far. As a long-time collector of vampire books, I look forward to the fourth, and final, book in The Watson Files series.
Watson is summoned to Soho to examine a man most horribly wounded. His wife, Mary, wonders at his being called out in the middle of the night to the district adjacent to his own. Watson posits that the Soho doctor may be indisposed, never imagining that the victim of the brutal attack is the good doctor himself, Doctor Albert Thorpe.
Miss Caroline Pennybrook approaches Sherlock Holmes with a story that defies both the possible and probable, yet Holmes is intrigued. Miss Pennybrook claims to be a werewolf. Holmes studies the history of the lycanthrope myth and determines that there is a kernel of truth to be found. He also finds that werewolves tend to be male, so a female lycan is most unusual. The petite Miss Pennybrook explains that, unlike traditional werewolves driven by bloodlust, her desires are more carnal in nature.
Miss Pennybrook and Doctor Thorpe spend the evening in a pub, drinking sherry, on the night the doctor is ravaged.
Throughout Sherlock Holmes and the Werewolf of West End Watson remains skeptic, insisting that werewolves don't exist, while Holmes, ever the rationalist, keeps an open mind. Despite his disbelief, Watson is determined to find the perpetrator responsible for wounds unlike any he witnessed in Crimea.
As I read the myriad pastiches written about Sherlock Holmes, I find myself comparing the Holmes and Watson dynamic to the mysteries penned by more modern authors — think Poirot and Hastings, or Chief Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis. The deliberate pairing of the observant and logical with the more mundane and plodding ensures investigative success. Rain and Smith have used the Poirot-style ending to enumerate all the steps that lead to the successful conclusion of the case.
Sherlock Holmes and the Werewolf of West End has been my favorite in this series so far. As a long-time collector of vampire books, I look forward to the fourth, and final, book in The Watson Files series.
January 19, 2025
Caroline Pennybrook, who claims to be a werewolf, approaches Sherlock Holmes with an unusual problem. On the previous evening, the night of a full moon, she had a pleasant conversation with Dr. Albert Thorpe in a Soho pub. She remembers leaving the pub with Thorpe, then going back to the pub a few minutes later to retrieve her bag and shawl, but she doesn't remember what happened after that. In particular, she doesn't know whether she is responsible for murdering Thorpe, who was mauled to death by some wild creature.
Holmes and John Watson don't know what to think about Pennybrook's story. Surely there is no such thing as a werewolf, but how else can Thorpe's brutal murder be explained? They need more data, and for that they must wait for the next full moon.
Holmes and John Watson don't know what to think about Pennybrook's story. Surely there is no such thing as a werewolf, but how else can Thorpe's brutal murder be explained? They need more data, and for that they must wait for the next full moon.
May 20, 2024
This is the third of a four-part series written by this duo. The stories are set in those few years between Watson’s marriage and Holmes’s disappearance.
I have to admit, I a mostly a purest when it comes to Holmes and Watson stories. Adding an element of the supernatural is tolerated when the plot ends like a Scooby-Do cartoon where the monster is revealed to be Old Man Cummings. This story had a similar vibe, yet it was well told, and the reader was carried along with Watson’s doubts about what is real, and what is not.
I have to admit, I a mostly a purest when it comes to Holmes and Watson stories. Adding an element of the supernatural is tolerated when the plot ends like a Scooby-Do cartoon where the monster is revealed to be Old Man Cummings. This story had a similar vibe, yet it was well told, and the reader was carried along with Watson’s doubts about what is real, and what is not.
January 7, 2021
Excellent entertaining
Another very will written Sherlock Holmes mystery in the series. The characters are interesting and will developed. The story line is entertaining and complicated leading to the unexpected conclusion. I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys will written mysteries. Enjoy reading 2020😈
Another very will written Sherlock Holmes mystery in the series. The characters are interesting and will developed. The story line is entertaining and complicated leading to the unexpected conclusion. I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys will written mysteries. Enjoy reading 2020😈
September 17, 2018
I couldn’t help imagining the characters played as those in the BBC original Sherlock. I believe this is a testament of Rain’s ability to bring characters to life!
November 7, 2023
Quiet good :)
June 21, 2025
This book was a real treat. All in the style of Sherlock of old. D
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews