Sherlock Holmes and The London Particular (Sherlock Holmes and the American Literati)
This is the fifth in the American Literati series by the same author, but it is not necessary to read them in order, or indeed to have read the earlier ones at all.
Sherlock Holmes is up to his old tricks of detecting, deducting, and discovering, all in the traditional pea-souper of a London fog, the “particular” of the title. The book starts with the gruesome discovery of a double murder, complicated by the theft of a valuable diamond necklace. An American writer, Richard Harding-Davis, approaches Sherlock for his help in unravelling the crimes. The usual cast of other characters are also present and correct – Lestrade, Mycroft, et al.
For a fan of chunky literary feasts such as myself, this novella struggled to satisfy. At a mere 149 pages, it was all over way too soon, like an enjoyable but tiny starter dish. The short length meant that for me the novel lacked depth of plot and characterisation. The bodies are discovered, as is the theft of the necklace, Davis tells his tale, Holmes does his stuff, and the dastardly murderer is revealed in a classic denouement scene with all the suspects assembled at The High Table Club, an exclusive and high-class gentlemen’s club.
