I’m delighted to be taking part in the publication day blog blitz for Sherlock Holmes & the Singular Affair by M. K. Wiseman. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to take part and to the author for my digital review copy. Do check out the posts by the other book bloggers taking part in today’s blitz.
About the Book
Before Baker Street, there was Montague.
Before partnership with a former army doctor recently returned from Afghanistan, Sherlock Holmes had but the quiet company of his own great intellect. Solitary he might be but, living as he did for the thrill of the chase, it was enough.
For a little while, at the least, it was enough.
That is, until a client arrives at his door with a desperate plea and an invitation into a world of societal scandal and stage door dandies. Thrust deep in an all-consuming role and charged with the safe-keeping of another, Holmes must own to his limits or risk danger to others besides himself in this the case of the aluminium crutch.
Format: Hardcover (192 pages ) Publisher:
Publication date: 7th December 2021 Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Crime, Mystery
Find Sherlock Holmes & the Singular Affair on Goodreads
Purchase links
Hive | Amazon UK
Links provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme
My Review
Effectively a prequel (and a homage) to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories, the Sherlock Holmes of the author’s imagining has all the observational and deductive skills we have come to expect. This is demonstrated when he identifies a character as a violin player purely from a mark on his right index finger. Okay, he’s a bit of a show-off. However he also has a cabbie’s in-depth knowledge of London and demonstrates a remarkable facility for disguise.
Fans of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories will have fun spotting the occasional allusions to the original series, including to those ‘untold stories’ often mentioned in passing at the beginning of cases. The aluminium crutch that features in this book is a case in point. Clearly the author has an encyclopeadic of the Sherlock Holmes stories as there are references to both well-known characters from the original, such as Inspector Lestrade, and to less well-known ones, such as Langdale Pike. I’m sure there were other allusions I missed but my favourite was the name of the alter ego Sherlock Holmes adopts in order to pursue his investigation – Ormond Secker. I’ll pause while you go and search online for that… Are you back? Clever, isn’t it?
Even if you’re not familiar with the original stories, Sherlock Holmes & the Singular Affair is an entertaining historical crime mystery which has moments of melodrama and moments when you might be justified in wondering just how on earth Holmes is going to make sense of everything. Since most of us lack the impressive deductive abilities of Sherlock Holmes, I suggest you just sit back and enjoy the ride.
In three words: Lively, engaging, ingenious
Try something similar: The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis
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About the Author
M. K. Wiseman has degrees in Interarts & Technology and Library & Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her office, therefore, is a curious mix of storyboards and reference materials. Both help immensely in the writing of historical novels. She currently resides in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
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