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nicolastorgato's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
Sherlock contro Dracula, fantastico 🦇
vsbedford's review against another edition
3.0
This is a quick, smooth read and a good time; fair warning that this is probably not one of the top Doyle and Holmes homages but it is pretty serviceable. Would recommend for fans who wanted the Hound to be a demon from beyond the grave.
I received an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
markyon's review
4.0
And now I pass on to another thread which I have extricated out of the tangled skein, the mystery of the sobs in the night, of the tear-stained face of Mrs. Barrymore, of the secret journey of the butler to the western lattice window. (The Hound of the Baskervilles, Chapter 9)
It is the autumn of 1888. Following the successful conclusion of the investigation into the affair of the Hound of the Baskervilles, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson have returned from Dartmoor, little realising that fate will see them back in Devon before the year is out.
At Baker Street Holmes receives a potentially lethal package, the first strand in ‘the tangled skein’, which he will need to unravel before this new adventure is resolved. There is a threat to Holmes' life and strange murders on Hampstead Heath which lead Holmes and Watson into the most dangerous investigation they have ever undertaken. As part of their investigations of the Hampstead Heath deaths they meet Professor Van Helsing, who is in town visiting the Royal Society to discuss the phenomenon of vampires.
Though sceptical, Holmes and Watson are convinced by their meeting with van Helsing and their encounter with a strange phantom lady on Hampstead Heath to return to Devon and the bleak terrain of Dartmoor.
The nightmare that is the tangled skein is now in full force. Their investigation will bring them to the true embodiment of evil, the most powerful vampire of all - Count Dracula, the Lord of the Undead.
This is a great find to start my Halloween reads this year. First published in 1995, this meeting of the world’s most famous detective and the world’s most famous vampire manages to combine the Victorian murk of gaslit streets and foggy bogs with the Gothic chill of the undead.
Although it is short – at 170-ish pages, more of a novella than a novel – it has the feel of a Conan Doyle story, but with a little something extra. It probably helps that it is written by David Stuart Davies, who is regarded as one of Britain’s leading experts on Sherlock Holmes. He uses his knowledge to embody the tone and style of a tale written by Arthur Conan Doyle.
There’s lots of little touches that feel real – the description of the detective, the dialogue, Holmes’ actions and mannerisms, even down to the descriptions of food and places that he and Watson encounter, for example. It also helps that the story builds on the original timeline created by Sir Arthur by setting the tale immediately after The Hound of the Baskervilles. Not only is this a return to one of Sir Arthur’s most famous stories, which readers will appreciate, but it is also relevant to this story.
The big lure, of course, is that Davies manages to show us what would happen when the principal of rational, clinical analysis meets something that is decidedly un-rational. What would the master of criminal investigation make of something – or someone - that defies logic? It is something that clearly affects Holmes and the author is careful to show that events here do not have a simple solution, nor leave the detective unchanged. The skill of the writer is that he makes Holmes’ response feel correct, and that all of the characters react and respond as readers of Conan Doyle’s original tales would expect them to.
At the same time, Davies’ reinterpretation of Bram Stoker’s main creation is also closer to Stoker’s version than that of Hammer Horror’s Christopher Lee – although I must admit that the iconic image of Mr. Lee as the titular Count still appeared in my imagination whilst reading. Dracula is undoubtedly evil but also intelligent, if arrogant, and it is this that is his undoing in the end. Some readers may be a little disappointed that Van Helsing has a minor role in the novella, perhaps less than I expected, though it is important. However, it makes sense – could Holmes share the spotlight with someone else? Davies makes the right decision to move van Helsing away from the action once his experience has been used by Holmes and Watson.
Whilst Sherlock Holmes and the Tangled Skein is obviously an homage to the original tales, a pastiche written in honour of the original author and his characters, it is not a minor effort. Instead, it is one of quality, written with knowledge, skill and love. This is a story that manages to generate the odd chill along the way, and the detail of what could happen when two literary icons meet is worth the time with this story alone.
It is a great start to my Halloween reads this year.
It is the autumn of 1888. Following the successful conclusion of the investigation into the affair of the Hound of the Baskervilles, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson have returned from Dartmoor, little realising that fate will see them back in Devon before the year is out.
At Baker Street Holmes receives a potentially lethal package, the first strand in ‘the tangled skein’, which he will need to unravel before this new adventure is resolved. There is a threat to Holmes' life and strange murders on Hampstead Heath which lead Holmes and Watson into the most dangerous investigation they have ever undertaken. As part of their investigations of the Hampstead Heath deaths they meet Professor Van Helsing, who is in town visiting the Royal Society to discuss the phenomenon of vampires.
Though sceptical, Holmes and Watson are convinced by their meeting with van Helsing and their encounter with a strange phantom lady on Hampstead Heath to return to Devon and the bleak terrain of Dartmoor.
The nightmare that is the tangled skein is now in full force. Their investigation will bring them to the true embodiment of evil, the most powerful vampire of all - Count Dracula, the Lord of the Undead.
This is a great find to start my Halloween reads this year. First published in 1995, this meeting of the world’s most famous detective and the world’s most famous vampire manages to combine the Victorian murk of gaslit streets and foggy bogs with the Gothic chill of the undead.
Although it is short – at 170-ish pages, more of a novella than a novel – it has the feel of a Conan Doyle story, but with a little something extra. It probably helps that it is written by David Stuart Davies, who is regarded as one of Britain’s leading experts on Sherlock Holmes. He uses his knowledge to embody the tone and style of a tale written by Arthur Conan Doyle.
There’s lots of little touches that feel real – the description of the detective, the dialogue, Holmes’ actions and mannerisms, even down to the descriptions of food and places that he and Watson encounter, for example. It also helps that the story builds on the original timeline created by Sir Arthur by setting the tale immediately after The Hound of the Baskervilles. Not only is this a return to one of Sir Arthur’s most famous stories, which readers will appreciate, but it is also relevant to this story.
The big lure, of course, is that Davies manages to show us what would happen when the principal of rational, clinical analysis meets something that is decidedly un-rational. What would the master of criminal investigation make of something – or someone - that defies logic? It is something that clearly affects Holmes and the author is careful to show that events here do not have a simple solution, nor leave the detective unchanged. The skill of the writer is that he makes Holmes’ response feel correct, and that all of the characters react and respond as readers of Conan Doyle’s original tales would expect them to.
At the same time, Davies’ reinterpretation of Bram Stoker’s main creation is also closer to Stoker’s version than that of Hammer Horror’s Christopher Lee – although I must admit that the iconic image of Mr. Lee as the titular Count still appeared in my imagination whilst reading. Dracula is undoubtedly evil but also intelligent, if arrogant, and it is this that is his undoing in the end. Some readers may be a little disappointed that Van Helsing has a minor role in the novella, perhaps less than I expected, though it is important. However, it makes sense – could Holmes share the spotlight with someone else? Davies makes the right decision to move van Helsing away from the action once his experience has been used by Holmes and Watson.
Whilst Sherlock Holmes and the Tangled Skein is obviously an homage to the original tales, a pastiche written in honour of the original author and his characters, it is not a minor effort. Instead, it is one of quality, written with knowledge, skill and love. This is a story that manages to generate the odd chill along the way, and the detail of what could happen when two literary icons meet is worth the time with this story alone.
It is a great start to my Halloween reads this year.
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