Baker Street Phantom

Singleton & Trelawney #1

by Fabrice Bourland, Morag Young (Translator)

In the spring of 1932, with Londoners terrorised by a series of brutal murders, the private detective agency of Messrs. Singleton and Trelawney quietly opens its doors in Bloomsbury. The first person to call on their services is a worried Lady Arthur Conan Doyle. She tells of mysterious events at 221 Baker Street - and a premonition that the London murders signal terrible danger for mankind. Their investigation will take our intrepid heroes into a world of seances and spirits. Aided by the most famous detective of all time, they must draw on their knowledge of the imaginary to find the perpetrators of some very real and bloody crimes before they strike again

Genres: Mystery, France, Fantasy, Ghosts, Detective, Historical Fiction, Fiction

185 pages, Paperback

First published January 17, 2008

About the author

Aka Clément Destroit

Fabrice Bourland has worked extensively in the magazine and publishing world and is a great admirer of Edgar Allan Poe.

Reviews

[Eva Müller · Rating 2 out of 5]

It almost has to be admired how the author takes an awesome idea and tells it in almost the most boring way imaginable. Because of magic characters from famous Victorian novels appear on the streets of London. There is Sherlock Holmes - which is very cool - and there are Dorian Gray, Mr. Hyde, Dracula, and Jack the Ripper (it makes sense in context even though he is not a character from a novel) -which is less cool because they just continue what they did in the novels: kill people.
How do you mess such a great idea up? Easily: you take out any conflict and therefore, any excitement. The majority of the murders have already been committed by the time the novel starts and Singleton, our hero, just reads about them in the newspaper. (Conveniently all the murders are summed up in one article, despite there being huge differences in the MO). Since the paper also mentions where the murders have been committed he immediately makes the connection between that an 'all these places are mentioned in Dracula, Dorian Gray etc.'
Of course, that does not mean that he immediately goes 'clearly novel characters have been going round murdering people' but it doesn't take him long to get there. Shortly afterwards he attends a séance, despite not believing in the spiritual things and that one séance is enough to change his opinion on everything. Mediums are not all fake. A connection to the afterworld is possible. And not much later: the killer was probably Dracula.
And everything in the book is like this. There never is time for you to worry if the characters will get out of a dangerous situation/get somewhere in time because those are all resolved as quickly as the characters change their minds on long-held beliefs.
Talking about characters: they also couldn't save it. They remained so colourless that I could barely remember their names while reading the book.

[Melisende · Rating 3 out of 5]

The world of 19th century spiritualism collides with the modern world of the early 20th century. Here two men undertake a journey to investigate the appearance of a ghost at the abode of a famous fictional detective, and encounter more than they bargain for when murder, mysticism and make-believe take centre stage.

[Zarina · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a book pretending to mimic classic Sherlock Holmes stories it's a very poor imitation. While the writing style certainly suggests the same general storyline and manages to realistically depict London midway the 1930's The Baker Street Phantom ended up being utterly unrealistic. I normally don't mind paranormal situations or science fiction in a novel when one expects it, however this book is clearly trying to bank in on the still famous dectective stories by Arthur Conan Doyle and because of the giant leap into the supernatural fails miserably doing so. Up until the very end I was hoping the detectives central in this book would Scooby-Doo their way out of the mystery, but they sadly never did.

[Clarabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrew Singleton et James Trelawney viennent d'ouvrir leur agence de détectives dans Montague Street et ont déjà du pain sur la planche : lady Conan Doyle est venue en personne solliciter leur assistance pour dissiper les rumeurs entourant la maison du major Hipwood, soit le 221 à Baker Street, qu'on dit hantée par le souvenir de l'écrivain et son personnage fétiche.
Singleton et Trelawney commencent par infiltrer une séance de spiritisme et assistent à l'impensable. Comme réaliser que tout a déjà été écrit dans les romans et que leurs héros (Dracula, Dorian Gray, Mr Hyde) s'en seraient échappés pour vivre dans le monde réel !

Ce premier tome ouvre les portes de l'étrange et du fantastique, avec une curieuse enquête qui suit les traces de Sherlock Holmes, mais en rappelant aussi toute la richesse de la littérature victorienne et ses monstres sacrés.
On va de décors fascinants en détails pointilleux, d'indices savants en allégories abondantes. L'enquête frétille mais enchante davantage par son champ des possibles. C'est en effet une plongée exceptionnelle dans la Littérature de l'imaginaire - avec deux jeunots qui rêveraient d'entrer au Panthéon... En tout cas, Singleton et Trelawney ne manquent pas de potentiel !

[Romain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ce roman met en scène deux jeunes détectives aux profils bien opposés. Le premier, James Trelawney, est un athlète plutôt du genre coureur de jupons. Le second, Andrew Singleton, est un féru de littérature. Etrangement, lors de cette aventure, ce n'est pas la force qui sera le plus grand atout de ce duo mais bien l'érudition du jeune Andrew. Cette connaissance lui sera précieuse lorsqu'il tentera de dénouer le mystère entourant une série de meurtres reproduisant à l'identique ceux perpétrés par des personnages restés dans les mémoires: Jack l'éventreur, Dorian Gray, Dr Jekyll / Mr Hyde et même le comte Dracula. Est-ce là le forfait d'un admirateur ou, comme le titre nous le laisse supposer, est-ce les revenants qui ont décidé de reproduire leurs méfaits des années après ?

C'est un véritable hommage à la littérature de l'époque victorienne. On visualise, dès les premiers chapitres, les rues de Londres humides et embrumées faiblement éclairées par la lueur blafarde des lampadaires. Ce roman reprend d'ailleurs tous les ingrédients qui ont fait le succès de cette littérature. L'auteur est manifestement un grand connaisseur de cette période et a mis beaucoup de soins à la retranscrire. Le vocabulaire a été choisi avec soin et l'usage d'un imparfait du subjonctif au coeur de Witechapel nous met irrémédiablement dans l'ambiance. Le style employé nous leurre à tel point que l'on a l'impression de se trouver dans un roman de Conan Doyle. Le deuxième chapitre m'a d'ailleurs rappelé le Signe des Quatre. J'ai revécu la scène durant laquelle Watson et Holmes, devisant de l'art de la déduction, reçoivent, à l'étage de leur pension, la visite d'une jeune femme qui ne laissera pas Watson indifférent. Dans le roman de Fabrice Bourland, la jeune femme n'est autre que la veuve d'Arthur Conan Doyle ! On apprend beaucoup en lisant ce livre même si je n'ai pas été passionné par l'intrigue. Les connaisseurs se régaleront des nombreuses références aux romans qu'ils chérissent, les autres feront de belles découvertes et se laisseront peut-être tenter par les oeuvres des illustres prédécesseurs de Fabrice Bourland: Stevenson, Wells, Wilde, Stoker et bien sur Conan Doyle. Je conseille aux amateurs du genre la lecture de la très bonne série de bandes dessinées Professeur Bell de Joann Sfar.
Enfin, je profite de ce billet pour vous informer que les aventures de Sherlock Holmes, comme le Signe des quatre, sont disponibles gratuitement, en anglais, sous forme de livres audio sur le site de Librivox. Librivox est un projet visant à rendre disponible au format audio les livres tombés dans le domaine public. Le livres en français sont plutôt rares. Je participerais bien, mais je doute que l'accent toulousain rencontre un succès international :-]. http://www.aubonroman.com/2008/03/le-...

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Mr. Hyde, Dorian Gray, Dracula...we are drowning in fiction!" It is the spring of 1932 when Messrs. Singleton and Trelawney open their private detective agency in London, hoping to follow in the deductive footsteps of their hero, Sherlock Holmes. Imagine their surprise and delight when, after a slow start, their first client is none other than the widow of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. She tells them of a series of disturbing events and hauntings at 221 Baker Street, a premonition that a recent rash of murders portended terrible danger for humanity, and a frightening tale of her husband's last hours, in which he was heard arguing with a voice in his room that was not his own and left behind a cryptic note--"the lodger is in the box and there he must stay!" In their inquiries at Baker Street, they soon make the acquaintance of several prominent spiritualists who purport to have made contact with the ghost of Sherlock Holmes. Though skeptical of the spiritualists' claims of the beyond, Singleton and Trelawney are soon forced to confront and challenge their notions of reality and fiction as they come much closer to their idol than they ever thought possible.

And so the game is afoot!

I really enjoyed this charming and whimsical love letter to Victorian fiction and to Conan Doyle. Fans of Sherlock Holmes expecting a hard-edged detective story may be disappointed, however. Logic is king in Conan Doyle's stories; events that appeared supernatural are almost always revealed to be grounded in the mundane. Not so in The Baker Street Phantom/. Is it possible that the murders that first appear to mimic the crimes of Dracula, Dorian Gray, Mr. Hyde, and Jack the Ripper are not imitations but the real thing? The answer lies in the power of the imagination and in the ability of fiction to captivate us, the ability of authors to create characters so vivid that they take on lives of their own in the hearts and minds of their readers. (Fanfiction, anyone...?) The writing style is pitch-perfect (no small thanks are due, I'm sure, to the translator--originally this was written in French) and Singleton and Trelawney make an engaging dynamic duo. (Which one is meant to be Holmes and which is Watson is ambiguous, though.

"A literary crime...supernatural powers...spiritualist séances going wrong," Singleton laments. What more could you want? I'll definitely check out some of the other books in the series.

[Carole · Rating 4 out of 5]

The year is 1932 and Andrew Singleton and James Trelawney decide to move from Boston, USA to London, England to set up their detective agency.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's widow is their first client and when she starts telling them of strange ghostly disturbances at 221 Baker Street and of how she fears a premonition of something terrible about to occur they are not in agreement as to what to do next. Singleton, the narrator, who doesn't believe in ghosts, says to his colleague (after the widow had left)'If someone had told me that I would travel from Boston to London to hear such nonsense!' ......... and from Lady Conan Doyle no less!'

Trelawney states 'The way I see it .................. is that we finally have a case to get our teeth into. That's good enough for me!'

Of course, they decide to take the case and are then plunged into the world of the supernatural while attending a seance and summoning up the ghost of Sherlock Holmes. At the same time many grisly murders are being committed on the streets of London and which seem to be recreations of murders from classic Victorian novels.

Can this be a co-incidence, is there a copycat killer/s or are the killers 'not of this world'? Could Sherlock Holmes really help them? This is what our intrepid heroes attempt to find out.

I really enjoyed this book, I especially liked the friendly interaction between the two detectives who were both very likeable characters. The story had just the right amount of pace as the suspense built up.

This is an excellent translated version of Fabrice Bourland's novel which was very readable, the words flowed quickly and easily. It was interesting to read the author's blurb on the back of the book which read "My writing is a combination of detective and fantasy fiction. I am reviving a subgenre of crime fiction that was very popular in the past, that of detectives of 'the strange' or 'the occult'. I think his words sum up this book very nicely. This is his first book in the 'Singleton and Trelawney' series and I shall be watching out for his others.

[Helen Albert · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a fan of traditional detective fiction from the likes of Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, and Dorothy L. Sayers including of course Arthur Conan Doyle, I was expecting to enjoy this book. Unfortunately I found it rather disappointing. Admittedly I’m always a bit sceptical of fiction that includes characters from other books, as it’s a difficult trick to pull off well and one that did not succeed here.

The general story of the two young detectives Singleton and Trelawney setting up as detectives in London was OK, and even meeting Lady Conan Doyle could have been feasible, but I found the explanation for the fictional characters manifesting themselves as ‘ghosts’ flimsy to say the least. It might have worked if Bourland had stuck to one fictional character or had a more fantastical setting, such as in the film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or The Looking Glass Wars books by Frank Beddor, but sadly he did not.

The lack of any real scepticism by any of the main characters about the physical manifestation of fictional characters, let alone ghosts, also did not ring true and the whole book had an overly farcical tone.

I doubt I’ll be recommending this book to anyone or reading any further titles in the series.

[Keith Toulson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading the back cover of this book filled me with anticipation. In this particular it is true to say that you cannot judge the book by it's cover.
The idea was intriguing enough, two young men travel to London in search of adventure, to open up their own detective agency in the footsteps of the most famous detective of all time. Then bringing in the added layer of the supernatural did seem to add a bit of a twist to the proceedings. However, I think the inclusion of so many fictional characters from classics past, and seeming to squash them all into a, what can only be classed as a short story, was a bit too ambitious.
I think the writer should have maybe utilised the ghost of Holmes to aid in hunting down only one of the spectral murderers, maybe Jack the Ripper, would have given the story more focus, it seemed to be a bit of a mish mash of ideas.
This idea could have been expanded over several different stories and more meat put into each volume. this book seemed too hurried as if the author were trying to get all of his ideas into one outing.
Pity really, hopefully he will learn from this and try to concentrate on one story at a time in future.

[Magda · Rating 1 out of 5]

The more "Sherlock" stories I pick up from post-Doyle authors the more I'm convinced I really should give up. I do realize his writing was very specific and not everyone likes it, but you have to admit it was still pretty damn good and interesting.

This books simply lacked that. The idea might've been fine, but the delivery method was... boring? I tried few times to pick this book up and finish, but failed and I can honestly say I will not bother anymore.

The author tried to make it all supernatural adding some ghosts of the famous characters, like Hyde, Dracula, etc and starting it all with a spiritual seance after which two detectives must solve some mysteries. To be honest, I don't really remember what the mysteries were by now, but it's been few good months since I've last tried to read it, soo... well, let's just say it's simply not a book I liked or would be willing to recommend. Sorry, I tried. Even few times.


I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

[Mazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Londres, 1932.

Depuis que la municipalité a attribué à la maison du major Hipwood le n° 221 à Baker Street, le salon du premier étage semble hanté.

S'agit-il d'un esprit, comme le prétendent certains ?

Existe-t-il un lien entre ces manifestations et la série de crimes qui ensanglante Whitechapel et les beaux quartiers du West End ?

Motivée par un funeste pressentiment, lady Conan Doyle, la veuve de l'écrivain, sollicite l'aide de deux détectives amateurs, Andrew Singleton et James Trelawney.

Lors d'une séance de spiritisme organisée à Baker Street, ces derniers découvrent avec effarement l'identité du fantôme.

Et quand ils comprennent que les meurtres à la une des journaux imitent ceux commis par Jack l'Eventreur, Dracula, Mr Hyde et Dorian Gray, nos jeunes enquêteurs sont entraînés dans une aventure qu'ils ne sont pas près d'oublier.

Un hymne enflammé à la littérature victorienne et à ses monstres sacrés !

[Sue Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

The baker street phantom by fabrice bourland is a mystery and thriller read. And is available to purchase now. In the spring of 1932, with London erst terrorised by a series of brutal murders, the private detective agency of Messrs, singleton and trelawney quietly opens its doors in Bloomsbury. Fantastic read. I love sherlock Holmes. I knew this would be a great read. Simply unputdownable. Devoured in a few hours. Very cleverly written. Had me gripped from start to finish. There was nothing I disliked about this book. Highly recommended. Definitely worth more than 5*. thanks to netgalley for the arc to review.

[Sela Still]

Singleton and Trelawney are a pair of young investigators who move their practise to London in 1932. Their first serious client is the widow of Arthur Conan Doyle whose problem leads them into a series of fantastic adventures involving the ghosts of Jack the Ripper, Dorian Gray, Mr Hyde and, inevitably, Sherlock Holmes.
If you like your detective fiction light and witty a la Simon Brett/M.C. Beaton and phantastical a la Jasper Fforde and are not offended by liberties being taken with the grand-daddy of detective fiction, this well-researched and fast-paced book is for you.

[Sela Still · Rating 3 out of 5]

Singleton and Trelawney are a pair of young investigators who move their practice to London in 1932. Their first serious client is the widow of Arthur Conan Doyle whose problem leads them into a series of fantastic adventures involving the ghosts of Jack the Ripper, Dorian Gray, Mr Hyde and, inevitably, Sherlock Holmes.
If you like your fiction light and witty a l Simon Brett/M.C. Beaton and phantastical a la Jasper Fforde and are not offended by liberties being taken with the grand-daddy of detective fiction, this well-researched and fast-paced book is for you.

[Anne-Laure · Rating 3 out of 5]

L'ambiance du livre est intéressante, mais les histoires de fantômes...

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Kimberlee · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://www.girllostinabook.com/2015/1...

[Linda Brue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Translated from French by Morag Young. Set in London in 1932, during a time when London is besieged with unexplained murders, horrific crimes that defy imagination. Andrew Singleton and James Trelawney have just opened their private detective business, one that is struggling to stay afloat until Lady Arthur Conan Doyle comes to see them. Lady Doyle is extremely worried about an all-consuming feeling she has of impending doom for mankind, as well as mysterious events occurring at 221 Baker Street. Solving this mystery will require great bravery and an open mind. Do spirits really exist?

I confess I totally enjoyed this excursion into spirits, séances, and unseen forces. While I'm not certain if I would want to read an entire series, I am definitely going to try the second one, THE DREAM KILLER OF PARIS. Apparently, these are the only two written.

[Crittermom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just last week, I reviewed Art in the Blood, a novel featuring the iconic characters of Holmes and Watson. Fabrice Bourland's novel, The Baker Street Phantom is a different kind of tribute, unique and enticing.

It is known that in later years, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was fascinated by spiritualism, and was an active part of the movement. This plays a central role in Bourland's novel, and was the inspiration behind the story. A central tenet of spiritualism is the continuation of the soul after death, and its ability to interact psychically with the physical plane. What if, belief gives reality to a spirit? Undoubtedly Holmes and other unforgettable characters may have an existence on the psychic plane.

Lady Arthur Conan Doyle, the widow of the illustrious writer, approaches Messrs. Singleton and Trelawney, private detectives, to investigate a series of bizarre occurrences at 221 Baker Street. The owners of the building are hearing noises, furniture is being moved – but there is no evidence of who or what is causing the disturbance. At the same time, London is beset by a number of murders mimicking those committed by fiends of Victorian literature. Singleton and Trelawney are drawn into a world of spirits and séances – where the impossible may not be so impossible after all.

The Baker Street Phantom is a wonderful novel, and the translation from French to English is superb. I liked how Bourland integrated spiritualism in the mystery and made it possible for two living detectives to receive the assistance of the world's greatest fictional detective. While not everyone will enjoy the paranormal element, I found it a unique addition. There are many new adventures being written for the characters of Holmes and Watson, but in few of these are they portrayed as fictional characters.
Bourland reminds us how stories, fictional creations impact our lives and beliefs.

I highly recommend The Baker Street Phantom to anyone who loves Sherlock Holmes or paranormal mysteries.

5/5

I received a copy of The Baker Street Phantom from netgalley.com and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

Fiction comes to life in The Baker Street Phantom
http://muttcafe.com/2015/10/the-baker...

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

'The Baker Street Phantom' by Fabrice Bourland and translated by Morag Young is the first in the Singleton and Trelawney mystery series. The mystery is an interesting one, but doesn't live up to the name it's using as a title.

Trelawney and Singleton move to London to start their detective business. The book takes place in the 1930s and one of their first clients is the widow of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Weird things are happening at 221b Baker Street. When a seance reveals a visitor who really shouldn't be there, the detectives are skeptical. When a series of brutal murders starts happening around London and they seem to mimic ones in literary fiction, they know something really bizarre is going on. With some unusual help, will they be able to stop what is happening?

It's not remotely like a Sherlock Holmes story, even though it takes place in the same areas. It has a bit of history around the creation of the character and the life of it's creator. It has footnotes to show that the author did seem to do some interesting research along the way. It feels more like a cross between historical fiction, a supernatural thriller, and a mystery, but the mystery feels like the most pasted on element of the story. I liked the historical fiction parts the best and could have done without the supernatural elements.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Gallic Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

[Susan Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes a book will be based on a truly fascinating premise. This is one such book that get the reader thinking and ensnared..
What if thinking something made it real so that fictional characters actually lived in a netherworld. What if one of these characters was strong enough to break through embryo between the real and fantastical worlds. What if by doing so it allowed other creatures less benign and more malicious to escape into our world to perpetrate heinous crimes.
Such a thought would never have occurred to our hero who dismissed the spiritual world in youthful rebellion against his father, only to have his beliefs challenged and then shattered after the widow of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle knocks on his door.
London has been terrorized by a series of brutal crimes and no one seems to be able to solve them. In his attempt to assist the widow, he is drawn into the world of seances and spirits and things that go bump in the night.
Let your imagination go and immerse yourself in an entertaining book that will tickle your fancy as well as make you think.
A definite recommendation for fans of horror, Sherlock Holmes, mysteries set in London and so many other genres.
I am so glad that it has been republished.

[Philip B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Du fantastique qui ne se prend pas trop au sérieux. Bourland est manifestement un féru de littérature britannique car il met en scène 2 détectives basé sur les personnages de Sherlock Holmes et son loyal Watson en quête de résoudre un mystère mettant en scène le fantôme de Holmes contre ceux des plus grands assassins de l'époque (Jack l’Éventreur, Docteur Hyde, etc.) dans les années 30 à Londres (on y apprécie d'ailleurs la description historique de l'Ouest aisé contre l'Est populaire et dangereux (c'est toujours le cas aujourd'hui même si moins prononcé)).

Ça n'a pas l'air captivant dit comme ça mais l'écriture enthousiaste de Bourland est plutôt communicative plus on avance dans le livre. Le rythme est également très anglo-saxon; il a manifestement voulu imiter Arthur Conan Doyle (sa femme fait une apparition importante dans l'ouvrage ndlr) et c'est plutôt réussi.

Bon après, si les histoires de fantômes ça vous gonfle il vaut mieux effectivement faire l'impasse...

[Davide · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, fast read and a good start for a series about paranormal detectives Singleton & Trelawney.
In the early '30s, in a suitably rainy, foggy London, the two detectives are called to solve a mysterious haunting in what's NOT Sherlock Holmes apartment. Because of course Holmes is a fictional character... or is he?
The plot mixes nicely historical fact (Conan Doyle's late years obsession with spiritualist practices) and characters, literary references (all the classic Victorian bad guys of literature are co-opted for the grand finale) and pure fantasy, to build a highly entertaining, cultured and literate mix.
The ending is a little abrupt - but it sets the scene for the next installment.
Recommended.

[Thomas Tanggaard · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Trelawney, selvudråbt mesterdetektiv og ven af den canadiskfødte forfatteraspirant, Andrew Singleton, keder sig i Boston, hvor der er langt mellem de spændende opgaver. Men da makkerparret rejser til London og slår sig ned kun få gader fra Sherlock Holmes' velkendte Baker Street-bopæl, hvirvles de ind i et sindrigt spind af løgne, spøgelser og seancer. Franske Bourlands kærlighed til Sir Arthur Conan Doyles udødelige mesterdetektiv skinner tydeligt igennem uden at fremstå som et decideret plagiat. The Baker Street Phantom er vittig, spændende, næsegrus begejstret for Englands tågede gader og indeholder et mysterium med et væld af overnaturlige toner, der aldrig klinger hult, men som heller ikke er helt mesterligt som den legendariske detektiv.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A who done it with books characters come to life.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle widow's reaches out to Singleton and Trelanwney who moved to London to become private investigators. She informs them of a ghost at 221 Baker Street which she feels might be connected to the recent murders. They decide to take the case. Singleton who doesn't believe in ghost will quickly changes his view in the story as he witnesses certain out of this world events.

The book is not what I expected. I liked the story but, I didn't love it. I just felt Singleton was converted to quickly to believe in ghost. There are some that will enjoy this story but it wasn't my cup of tea.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would not say this book was really a novel. It was more like a short story, with a list of ideas that had some potential, unfortunately they were never really fully explored. There are also a plethora of plot holes throughout. I would have rated The Baker Street Phantom at 2 stars, but it gets 3, because of the writers potential. I hold out some hope for the future works of Fabrice Bourland and the Singleton and Trelawny series. Perhaps the authors stories would benefit from a little more fleshing out in the future.

[J.P. Paradise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trips along quite merrily but I struggle with the concept. One keeps expecting the spiritualism and ghost aspects of the story to suddenly be discovered as clever fakery, but I was disappointed that it was all real plot elements. I say 'disappointed' because I could never imagine Holmes being anything other than a rational man of science so the very idea seems to fly in the face of all that is expected of the Baker Street bloodhound.

Yes, I know writers play with ideas and you have to expect the unexpected but, for me at least, this one just didn't work.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the idea of this, ghosts of literature characters coming back and 're-enacting their crimes.
This could have been a better book though, it felt like it took itself a tad seriously, when actually it should have been a good romp. Jack the ripper felt completely out of place to me,because he's not a work of fiction....but other than Dracula, the other guys weren't up to much murder were they?
Nicely atmospheric at Highgate cemetery, but there was no need to throw in all the other names.
I'm not complaining too much, entertained me a while.

[Eileen Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in 1932 the private investigators Singleton and Trelawney are visited by the wife of Sir Arthour Conan Doyle.
Lady Doyle tells them of mysterious goings on and a premonition that something terrible is going to happen.
This is a most enjoyable tale with Sherlock Holmes, spiritualism, tableknockers etc.
They must solve this mystery before the perpetrators who have previously committed heinous crimes strike again.
I was given a cigital copy of this novel by the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.

[Hayley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is just incompetent. I really wanted to like this, but Bourland sort of sabotages his own book in the eyes of the fanbase that he is attempting to attract. The whole allure of Holmes is that everything is so logical and rational in its solution: for The Baker Street Phantom to essentially flip the bird at that is very annoying. While there's nothing truly offensive about it, it is pretty much devoid of anything good.