What do you think?
Rate this book
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Titan Books #21
The Monster of the Mere
When Watson's holiday in the Lake District takes a sinister twist, he and Holmes must uncover the truth hidden by superstitious locals, folklore and rumours of prehistorical monsters far away from the familiar streets of London...
A serene walking holiday in the Lake District becomes a far more sinister excursion for Dr Watson when disappearances and murders start occurring in the small town of Wermeholt.
Local legends, rumours of large slithering reptiles and spooked palaeontologists have the denizens paranoid and terrified, so it is up to Watson and his inbound companion Sherlock Holmes to uncover the truth and discover what is really lurking in the lake…
A serene walking holiday in the Lake District becomes a far more sinister excursion for Dr Watson when disappearances and murders start occurring in the small town of Wermeholt.
Local legends, rumours of large slithering reptiles and spooked palaeontologists have the denizens paranoid and terrified, so it is up to Watson and his inbound companion Sherlock Holmes to uncover the truth and discover what is really lurking in the lake…
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 9, 2023
11 people are currently reading
122 people want to read
About the author
Philip Purser-Hallard
44 books52 followersPhilip Purser-Hallard is a widely published and occasionally acclaimed author, editor and critic. He has written four Sherlock Holmes novels for Titan Books, all favourably reviewed in Publishers Weekly, and the Devices trilogy of urban fantasy thrillers for Snowbooks, as well as a plethora of shorter fiction. He is a founding editor of and frequent contributor to the Black Archive, a series of critical monographs about individual Doctor Who stories.
From his webpage:
"In my writing I like to reimagine and question established cultural icons, hence my four Sherlock Holmes novels for Titan Books. Writing dialogue between Holmes and Lady Bracknell, from Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, may be the high point of my career. The Devices trilogy, published between 2013 and 2016, considers some of the icons of British mythology that I loved as a child, and how they relate to the political reality of Britain in the 21st century."
From his webpage:
"In my writing I like to reimagine and question established cultural icons, hence my four Sherlock Holmes novels for Titan Books. Writing dialogue between Holmes and Lady Bracknell, from Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, may be the high point of my career. The Devices trilogy, published between 2013 and 2016, considers some of the icons of British mythology that I loved as a child, and how they relate to the political reality of Britain in the 21st century."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 13, 2024
A bus man's holiday for Doctor Watson in 1899 in backward village in the lake district, with a legendary Hagworm. But soon turns into a walking holiday with difference when a man is torn to bits.
Palaeontologists and creepy old Gods Holmes has his worst nightmare to deal with. Based on famous 1970s movie with Christopher Lee which I am not naming because of spoilers but you will work it out unless you are an idiot.
Palaeontologists and creepy old Gods Holmes has his worst nightmare to deal with. Based on famous 1970s movie with Christopher Lee which I am not naming because of spoilers but you will work it out unless you are an idiot.
September 13, 2023
While Watson is on a relaxing walking holiday in the Lake District, the body of a visiting scientist is found with what looks like signs of a predator attack.
Is the legend of Mere true, or is someone playing a deadly game?
This was a slow burner to begin with, but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless.
Is the legend of Mere true, or is someone playing a deadly game?
This was a slow burner to begin with, but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless.
August 10, 2023
CAWPILE 6.71 3.5 STARS
Read for Final Book Support Group Round 8 Prompt- Borrow a Book
This is a library borrow- I've read a few of the Titan Sherlock series which introduced me to George Mann and James Lovegrove whose writing I adore and I have gone on to read more of their back catalogues. I have read from Pursur Hallard before but I hadn't remembered it until I looked on my Goodreads history (my memory is getting worse I swear!) As a northerner I loved the lake district setting and the accent was quite amusing. I didn't foresee the twist in this which I won't spoil for anyone reading but this was a surprisingly eerie read. My only wish was that it was longer!
Read for Final Book Support Group Round 8 Prompt- Borrow a Book
This is a library borrow- I've read a few of the Titan Sherlock series which introduced me to George Mann and James Lovegrove whose writing I adore and I have gone on to read more of their back catalogues. I have read from Pursur Hallard before but I hadn't remembered it until I looked on my Goodreads history (my memory is getting worse I swear!) As a northerner I loved the lake district setting and the accent was quite amusing. I didn't foresee the twist in this which I won't spoil for anyone reading but this was a surprisingly eerie read. My only wish was that it was longer!
August 27, 2023
Watson’s plan for a leisurely walking holiday goes awry. His brief stopover in a small lakeside town is disrupted by the brutal murder of a member of a scientific expedition. After some cursory investigation he summons Holmes to join him. They soon learn that the answers to modern day intrigues lie in the past but the past doesn’t always lie buried; sometimes it is very much alive in the present.
Read
June 3, 2023Watson's attempt at a Lake District hiking holiday comes unstuck when, stopping off at an unwelcoming village, another visitor dies gruesomely, apparently killed by the Nessie-esque Hagworm which local legend insists lives in the lake. Introducing another Conan Doyle character suggests which way the story is pointed, but doesn't wholly give away the ensuing genre mash-up, which picks up on themes that were very much animating the late Victorian mind (comparative religion and folklore; evolution and the discovery of deep time), but which the original stories tended to address at most glancingly, as in the deeply wonky Creeping Man. Or at least, they do in the ones I know, which isn't all of them, so my apologies if I've missed one where Holmes either teams up with or unmasks TH Huxley.
It takes the man himself a while to show up, and by sheer happenstance it was during that first, shorn of Sherlock section that I listened to the new John Finnemore, containing a brilliantly mean sketch where someone is far more excited to meet Watson than his preening associate. But despite that priming, once he arrives Purser-Hallard's Holmes as ever passes the Brett test, and soon seizes control of proceedings as they mount towards a finale I could only picture as staged by Hammer. The catch being, that also made me realise how much more streamlined their version would have been. Titan's Holmes novels seem to come in around 250 pages as standard, or about as long as Conan Doyle's first two full-length outings for the great detective combined. In something like Purser-Hallard's earlier Spider's Web, the richness of the set-up merited that, but while he certainly gives us some memorable characters here, I also felt like a few of the suspicious rustics and learned disquisitions could have been trimmed, and there's one geek in-joke that never quite pays off. Still fun, but, like Watson at the end, I'm hoping for London next time.
It takes the man himself a while to show up, and by sheer happenstance it was during that first, shorn of Sherlock section that I listened to the new John Finnemore, containing a brilliantly mean sketch where someone is far more excited to meet Watson than his preening associate. But despite that priming, once he arrives Purser-Hallard's Holmes as ever passes the Brett test, and soon seizes control of proceedings as they mount towards a finale I could only picture as staged by Hammer. The catch being, that also made me realise how much more streamlined their version would have been. Titan's Holmes novels seem to come in around 250 pages as standard, or about as long as Conan Doyle's first two full-length outings for the great detective combined. In something like Purser-Hallard's earlier Spider's Web, the richness of the set-up merited that, but while he certainly gives us some memorable characters here, I also felt like a few of the suspicious rustics and learned disquisitions could have been trimmed, and there's one geek in-joke that never quite pays off. Still fun, but, like Watson at the end, I'm hoping for London next time.
May 21, 2024
I think I’d actually rate this 3.5. I do have a rather severe snake phobia, so reading this was a challenge. The Ancient Greek mythology tie was interesting. The sideline plot suggesting another possible heir was intriguing, but went nowhere. Yeah, I might read a few more in the series, if the library offers them.
Watson decides to go hiking about the Lakes district. Holmes has no inclination to join him. However, Watson ends up in a very isolated village where someone is killed in mysterious circumstances that seem to involve a gigantic reptile attacking him. The whole village is creepy. There is some powerfully old lady with an estate full of reptiles that folks are forbidden from visiting is intriguing.
Watson decides to go hiking about the Lakes district. Holmes has no inclination to join him. However, Watson ends up in a very isolated village where someone is killed in mysterious circumstances that seem to involve a gigantic reptile attacking him. The whole village is creepy. There is some powerfully old lady with an estate full of reptiles that folks are forbidden from visiting is intriguing.
August 24, 2023
What a ride this one was, even before I got my hands upon my own copy of this book. (I actually had it pre-ordered on BookDepository of late memory, which, yeah, didn't bode well in the end.) I was looking forward to reading this since it had been announced, and I was not left disappointed.
I like this story's interpretation of Watson, he was true to his character as I perceive him. More so, Holmes' absence for the first quarter of the book really made him shine. The presence of Professor Summerlee from Doyle's The Lost World was a welcome addition - together with Holmes and Watson he formed quite a formidable trio of investigators. It was most enjoyable.
The atmosphere was eerily foreboding and constricting up to the unveiling of the mystery - then it turned into uncomfortable and unnerving. .
With the expected hint at the very end, this proved to be more than a decent, traditional pastiche.
I like this story's interpretation of Watson, he was true to his character as I perceive him. More so, Holmes' absence for the first quarter of the book really made him shine. The presence of Professor Summerlee from Doyle's The Lost World was a welcome addition - together with Holmes and Watson he formed quite a formidable trio of investigators. It was most enjoyable.
The atmosphere was eerily foreboding and constricting up to the unveiling of the mystery - then it turned into uncomfortable and unnerving. .
With the expected hint at the very end, this proved to be more than a decent, traditional pastiche.
December 28, 2023
While a few things were obvious this was still a solid SH tale and I am a fan.
2nd Yule/Xmas book read from 2023.
2nd Yule/Xmas book read from 2023.
September 29, 2023
As I've mentioned in numerous reviews, I'm a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes - both the original Arthur Conan Doyle canon and the numerous pastiches that have been written by other authors over the years. That includes the Titan Books series, of which this is one.
The reality is that some of the pastiches I read are so good they easily could pass as one of Conan Doyle's creations. Others, however, just don't capture the voice, feel, plot, setting, etc. of the original canon works.
Like his "The Vanishing Man," "The Spider's Web," and "Masters of Lies," this effort by Philip Purser-Hallard falls somewhere in between...albeit closer to being canon worthy than most pastiches.
As was the case with his previous efforts, the author did a terrific job of capturing the voice, feel, and setting of Conan Doyle's original canon. For me, how a pastiche presents Holmes' and Watson's dialogue goes a long way in determining how good it is. And that dialogue was spot on throughout this pastiche. In fact, he may be the best modern pastiche author in terms of capturing Holmes' and Watson's voices.
But as was also the case with his previous efforts, the one area that DIDN'T ring true was the plot. As you know, I never go into plot details in these reviews to avoid spoilers. However, I will say that the novel's plot was once again exceptionally complicated - well beyond anything Conan Doyle wrote. It wasn't AS complicated and hard to follow as that of "The Vanishing Man" or "The Spider's Web," but I still struggled at times to keep track of the myriad characters and their contributions to the overall plot.
Despite this flaw, the book was an entertaining read. I enjoyed it immensely, and I hope that Mr Purser-Hallard continues to write other pastiches. If he does, I definitely will read them - because he is rapidly becoming one of my favorite pastiche authors.
The reality is that some of the pastiches I read are so good they easily could pass as one of Conan Doyle's creations. Others, however, just don't capture the voice, feel, plot, setting, etc. of the original canon works.
Like his "The Vanishing Man," "The Spider's Web," and "Masters of Lies," this effort by Philip Purser-Hallard falls somewhere in between...albeit closer to being canon worthy than most pastiches.
As was the case with his previous efforts, the author did a terrific job of capturing the voice, feel, and setting of Conan Doyle's original canon. For me, how a pastiche presents Holmes' and Watson's dialogue goes a long way in determining how good it is. And that dialogue was spot on throughout this pastiche. In fact, he may be the best modern pastiche author in terms of capturing Holmes' and Watson's voices.
But as was also the case with his previous efforts, the one area that DIDN'T ring true was the plot. As you know, I never go into plot details in these reviews to avoid spoilers. However, I will say that the novel's plot was once again exceptionally complicated - well beyond anything Conan Doyle wrote. It wasn't AS complicated and hard to follow as that of "The Vanishing Man" or "The Spider's Web," but I still struggled at times to keep track of the myriad characters and their contributions to the overall plot.
Despite this flaw, the book was an entertaining read. I enjoyed it immensely, and I hope that Mr Purser-Hallard continues to write other pastiches. If he does, I definitely will read them - because he is rapidly becoming one of my favorite pastiche authors.
July 7, 2023
I noticed some of the other reviews were maybe a bit lower than my 5 starts, but I really did enjoy this book. For one thing, it was a bit of a different type case for our duo as opposed to the usual murder or thefts they are normally tasked. But this read has its share of dead bodies.
It seemed really well researched too. With the ancient folklore and mystical aspects.
I would recommend it to followers of the sleuths.
It seemed really well researched too. With the ancient folklore and mystical aspects.
I would recommend it to followers of the sleuths.
February 5, 2024
A slow-going and atmospheric investigation which quickly but rather naturally speeds up into a pretty exciting albeit not all that original adventure.
I enjoyed much of the book, including the characters and especially the atmosphere. The mystery itself was a bit underwhelming, though it had a somewhat clever explanation. The adventure and worldbuilding aspects were more interesting.
Overall a very enjoyable read.
I enjoyed much of the book, including the characters and especially the atmosphere. The mystery itself was a bit underwhelming, though it had a somewhat clever explanation. The adventure and worldbuilding aspects were more interesting.
Overall a very enjoyable read.
September 2, 2023
Three and a half stars. Above average mystery involving the possibility of dinosaurs existing in the Victorian era, pagan worship, and even a character from Doyle’s The Lost World. If you’re a fan of this series you’ll like this one.
November 26, 2023
If you can get through the ponderous language that the author uses to make authentic the timeframe the story is worth the effort. Although hidden beneath layers of characterisation it does well in emulating the true sense of a Holmes mystery. I give it a 2.5 rating rounded up to 3.
August 24, 2023
Holmes doesn't arrive until 92 pages in, but the book moves quickly, the bad guys are rampant, and the conclusion points out that today's dragon is tomorrow's house pet
August 31, 2023
I loved how the question of whether the main threat was
September 22, 2025
Not a bad story, although I do prefer Holmes in London.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews