Nice twist on Holmes stories

One of the best Sherlock pastiches I've read in quite a while. No, it doesn't compare to the originals, but then what would? Nice read when you're feeling all Sherlocky.

Some very interesting story concepts, but the execution could have been better. An enjoyable enough read, but experienced Sherlockians will probably think, "meh!' It would probably be a better take-out from a library than a purchase for most other than completists.

I really enjoyed this latest book about Sherlock Holmes. The stories were very good, and kept my interest. I love being a Sherlockian, and this book does us proud..a very good read in old Victorian England ,with in the fog..The game ia afoot!

The book starts off where "The Game of Shadows" was left off i.e. in the mold of more of a action adventure rather than being a mystery. Author himself gets entangled in trying to create the mystery(e.g. Linear code B)and hence, just has to conclude Holmes solved it. Few things make no sense at all( Execution of Holmes - no arrests at all) Miss the basic traits of Sherlock - Watson chemistry.(Instead of being Holmes, you will see many instances, Watson refers to him as Sherlock Holmes)Tries to get into details which irrelevant to the situation and at times looks lost. Sorely lacking in a build up, the writer instead focuses on the approach to solve crime like any other detective would do.Ideas are nice but shouldn't have used them on Holmes. My advice - forget you are reading Sherlock and you might enjoy, however, not one for the purists.

The first story, "The Execution..." was the best. "The ...Peasenhall Murder" was so frustrating, in that Doyle would never have written such an elaborate plot and not have Holmes go after the murderer and address why those two "louts" would have perjured themselves to incriminate Gardiner.

I didn't enjoy this as much as Sherlock Holmes And The Ghosts Of Bly: And Other New Adventures Of The Great Detective. I don't like big-criminal-conspiracy stuff, and 2 of the stories in this title were about Holmes' life-long battle with that type of crime. Won't prevent me from another of the titles, however. They are enjoyable.

If I had not known that Donald Thomas wrote this book, I would swear that Doyle did it himself. Brilliant, true-to-character cases combining the best of The Great Detective's wit, humor, style, and intrigue into a satisfying recreation of the original.

The Execution of Sherlock Holmes
By Donald Thomas

Publisher: Pegasus Books
# of Pages: 348
Age Rating: 13+
My Rating: 4 Stars

Synopsis:

Drugged, manacled, condemned to a dank cell in the depths of London's infamous Newgate prison, the world's greatest literary detective awaits execution by a vengeful crew of formidable enemies. Escape is impossible; death, a certainty. But not for Sherlock Holmes, who, in a stunning display of intellect and derring-do, will elude his hangman's noose and live to fiddle, spy and ratiocinate another day.
Against tremendous odds Holmes will continue to defy his enemies in four more encounters, from cracking German intelligence codes, to going against Scotland Yard and the Crown in proving the innocence of a man condemned to death for the slaying of a pregnant serving girl, to an arsenic-wielding magician, and of course, to a battle of wits with the malevolent Moriarty. Everywhere in these five finely wrought tales, riddles and mystery hover in the air. But they are not beyond the grasp of the incomparable Sherlock Holmes.

Review:
When I first picked this book up, I had read all of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and was a BIG fan of him. I really like it, it was almost the same as the original Sherlock.
Sherlock in this book is a little different somehow, not alot different, just a little. Out of all 5 stories in this book, the 2 I like the most are "The case of the Peasenhall Murder" & "The Execution of Sherlock Holmes".
A few times in this book, it got a little too slow for me, slower then Doyle's books, so that is why my rating is 4, I would have put a 3 but I did really enjoy some of it.

Read this book if you are a Sherlock Holmes fan and want to read more of him & his encounters.

Enjoy! :D:D:D

Donald Thomas did an excellent job of continuing on the deeds of Holmes and Watson in this collection of 5 short stories. Thomas caught the flavor of the times in speech, setting, and social inequities. The author also added an unexpected aspect in that not all mysteries were solved completely.

This collection starts with The Execution of Sherlock Holmes in which several of Holmes enemies join forces, capture him, enact a parody of a lengthy trial, and then plan to end his life. Sherlock, of course, is on his own to escape from this wayward vengeance. I found this to be an interesting story in the collection, but not my favorite. This tale cast Sherlock as something of a Superman, able to memorize, recall, and analyze minutiae without flaw, fight off nightly drugging, and eventually accomplish a physical feat for which I doubt he had much training. Sometimes Holmes is just too good at everything; I like my main characters flawed.

That said, I still found this collection to be engaging. These 5 tales occur in the late 1890s/early 1900s. My favorite involved Holmes sleuthing around to prevent an innocent man from being hanged for the death of a pregnant, unwed lady. I especially enjoyed the comments about how country folk arrange their lives over the rising and setting of the sun (which is so true). Of course, Holmes and Watson had other cases closer to home, such as the charismatic magician, his accomplice, and a sly use of poison. Holmes also gets his chance to match wits with some masters of espionage involving classified info on Britain’s mighty battleships. The final installment in this collection has Holmes going up against a Moriarty in a complicated case of jewelry theft.

It's ok when you're just jonesing for some Sherlock, but it's a bit on the boring side.

This anthology consists of 5 stories, all written by Donald Thomas. The first 4 ranged from good to great and I was willing to give this book 4 stars - but then the last one happened, "The Queen of the Night".

In this short story, Sherlock Holmes went against Col. Moriarty, Prof. Moriarty's brother, unfortunately, it was overly complicated and Watson was made an idiot: Holmes was unwilling to tell Watson what exactly was going on and when Watson reacted, based on his incomplete information, Holmes' reaction was rather venomous and honestly, if I were Watson, I would have told Holmes to go to hell. This story undermined all the pleasure I took from reading the previous 4 stories.

Other than that, the first two stories - "The Execution of Sherlock Holmes" and "The Case of the Greek Key" - felt more like spy stories than mysteries. The first one was very MacGyver like, the second one reminded me of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" because Holmes was trying to find a mole.

In "The Case of the Peasenhall Murder" Holmes wasn't looking for a murderer, he was trying to prove that the accused did not do it; the murder itself remained unsolved.

And "The Case of the Phantom Chamberlain" was interesting only because Watson was allowed to actually do something and used his medical knowledge.