Sherlock Book Review - The Six Thirteen From Fairfield Junction and Other Cases of Sherlock Holmes
Posted by Steve Emecz on
Sherlock Holmes Society of London
Not a month goes by without a new title being added to the surfeit of pastiche, but Denis O. Smith has a command of Watsonian style and tone that, bar the occasional misstep, has his titles rising above the generic. After an unpromising start with a title case that is somewhat over-burdened with technical details and a tad overlong, the other stories in this latest collection are far more enjoyable.
In ‘The Hungarian Doctor’, Smith captures the tension of a classic Conan Doyle gothic with a riff on ‘The Greek Interpreter’ and ‘The Engineer’s Thumb’ that has a nice sense of threat and gloom. ‘The Von Strauffhausen Papers’ is an affectionate play on the Holmesian diplomatic tales, principally ‘The Second Stain’ and ‘The Naval Treaty’, in which an inventive twist on the purloined letter plotline provides new material. The last two tales fill in the gaps surrounding the Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa and the Amateur Mendicant Society. The author sails perhaps too close to the source material at times, reinventing the rose speech from ‘The Naval Treaty’ for example, but Smith has a lightness of touch that allows these mysteries to unfold without being overworked, making for a diverting afternoon’s entertainment.
Sherlockian pasticheurs (myself included) often forget that Conan Doyle’s primary purpose in the Canon was to exhibit his detective’s skills in observation and deduction. Assuredly, Denis O. Smith is not among them. Each of the five cases in his new collection is a flawlessly constructed chain of logical analysis, in which (as Watson put it elsewhere) every link rings true.
There is commendable variety among them: two are obviously inspired by canonical stories; another is an “untold tale.” A whimsical offering about a stolen artifact gives way to grimmer sagas of international conspiracy, thwarted love, and murder. Smith perfectly captures Watson’s voice, employing narrative and emotional restraint worthy of the original Literary Agent. His portraits of Holmes and Watson never impose “modern” effects upon Sir Arthur’s characters, and his obvious comfort with the Victorian Era lends his stories seamless authenticity. In short, these five pastiches from Denis O. Smith are as close to the originals as it is possible to come. I only wish there had been more of them!
The Six Thirteen From Fairfield Junction and Other Cases of Sherlock Holmes is available from this site and also;
The latest collection of Sherlock Holmes stories by well-known author, Denis O. Smith, provides a variety of puzzling and tangled mysteries for the great detective to unravel.
What is the explanation for the train which arrives at its destination with not a soul on board? What lies behind the sudden, shocking death of one of the members at an exclusive London club? These cases require all of Holmes’s unique investigative skills if the truth is to be uncovered.
From Westminster, in the very centre of London, through the English countryside, to the far north of Scotland, follow the exploits of the world’s first and only consulting detective.