Sherlock Book Reviews - The Business of Baker Street - William DeFeo
Posted by Steve Emecz on
One of the best aspects of MX Publishing is that it provides an opportunity for enthusiastic new Sherlockian authors to share their work and reach an enthusiastic audience. William DeFeo is the latest to be part of this with his five-story collection, “The Business of Baker Street”. While there are a few hiccups along the way – chronology issues, Watson’s employment at a certain hospital, etc. – that don’t fit with Established Canon and The Great Holmes Tapestry, DeFeo’s enthusiasm is apparent, and his plots are clever, reflecting his legal and educational background. It will be interesting to see what he next pulls from Watson’s Tin Dispatch Box.
The fog, the mystery, the intrigue of 19th Century London, the incomparable team of Holmes and Watson, the brilliant deductions, the twisting plots, and the unimagined solutions - all these elements are accounted for in "The Business of Baker Street," a collection of five new Sherlock Holmes stories. Each tribute tale respects the renowned style of Arthur Conan Doyle, and every story lures the reader into the entrancing world of Sherlock Holmes.
An innocent bank clerk driven to desperation by an ominous death threat, a viciously cruel and calculating barrister, a brilliant but hopelessly drug-addicted scientist, and a heartless woman obsessed with building a personal fortune, and a man torn between the loyalties of his past and the duties of his present - all these characters move across the Baker Street stage, finding peace, or prison, or death. These are new classic Holmes's tales told with abiding respect for the grand originals that enthralled readers for more than a century.
What price a few hours of genuine escape? Enjoy the licit pleasures of the pages and descend into spheres of criminal intrigues, human failings, poignant ironies, and Sherlockian justice.