This collection of short mysteries by the international-bestselling author of Dust and Shadow “belongs on the top shelf with the very best of Doyle’s” (Nicholas Meyer, author of The Seven-Per-Cent Solution). Inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, Edgar Award-finalist Lyndsay Faye has masterfully woven these quintessential characters into her own works of … characters into her own works of fiction–from her acclaimed debut novel, Dust and Shadow, to a series of short stories for the Strand Magazine, whose predecessor published the first Sherlock Holmes story in 1892.
The best of Faye’s Sherlockian tales, including two new works, are brought together in a collection that spans the character’s career, from self-taught upstart to lauded detective, both before and after he faked his own death over a Swiss waterfall in 1894. In “The Lowther Park Mystery,” the unsociable Holmes is forced to attend a garden party at the request of his politician brother and improvises a bit of theater to foil a conspiracy against the government. “The Adventure of the Thames Tunnel” brings Holmes’s attention to the murder of a jewel thief in the middle of an underground railway passage.
With Holmes and Watson encountering all manner of ungrateful relatives, phony psychologists, wronged wives, outright villains, and even a peculiar species of deadly red leech, The Whole Art of Detection is a must-read for any fan of historical crime fiction.
“If Lyndsay Faye’s byline weren’t on the cover, readers might deduce that the Sherlock Holmes mysteries in The Whole Art of Detection actually came from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.” –David Martindale, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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I am SO impressed by Lyndsay Faye’s ability to write Sherlock Holmes in a spot-on Conan Doyle voice… I absolutely loved her first book to do so (Dust and Shadow) and have been eagerly awaiting the next. When I saw this one come up on NetGalley, I could not wait to request it. I was so excited, I didn’t even notice that it was a book of short stories and not another novel… Oh dear. As a general rule I do not like short stories. I find them frustrating, lacking the depth of character and plot development that draws me in to a book. The original Holmes stories are some of the rare exceptions to this rule, but even the best short stories are, to my mind, often less interesting than even weaker novels.
This set of stories feels EXACTLY like you’d want a series of Holmes stories to feel – the voice is authentic, the characters are true, the stories play out like you expect them to (that’s not to call them predictable, my any means, but rather to make the point that they are written so true-to-form that they feel like original Holmes rather than a 21st century addition to the genre). The problem for me is that they’re short stories – not the stories themselves. I just cannot get into a whole book of short stories, even when they’re as well developed and presented as these. Even the original stories can only be taken in short doses for me; these were much the same. At this time, I haven’t even finished them all (to be perfectly honest), because I have to intersperse shorts with “real” longer stories or I find myself losing interest – even when the stories are masterfully handled, as these are.
So, if you like the original Holmes short stories – which were, of course, the majority of what Conan Doyle wrote – you should most definitely pick this set up. If you haven’t read any of the originals yet, I would suggest starting there mostly for backstory, although you probably don’t really *need* to in order to read these, since Holmesiana is so much a part of the popular imagination…
An Anthology by Lyndsay Faye
Arthur Conan Doyle’s great hero, Sherlock Holmes, came to us from a world much different from the one we inhabit. It was a place where honor, gentlemanly conduct, patriotism, and noblesse oblige meant something to men in polite society.
With Lyndsay Faye’s “The Whole Art of Detection; Lost Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes” we are given a new window into that time and community. Included are stories that span the great consulting detective’s life from “Before Baker Street” to “The Later Years.” Each “Mystery” has all the things you expect from a Sherlock Holmes story; acute observations, precise deductive reasoning, Watson’s loyalty and the foibles of a mind on the edge of dissolution. But there is more:. There is humor, sometimes a bit outrageous in nature; There is witty repartee between the two principals. You may even wink out a lovely quote, or two, that will highlight and accentuate Holmes’ well-known chauvinism, if you wish. And all of this accomplished without obscenity, profanity or even much in the way of bloodshed.
I thoroughly enjoyed this anthology and look forward to reading more of Ms. Faye‘s “Lost Mysteries . . .” But, be forewarned, this is a book that will not grab you by the throat; its flavors are more subtle and better fitted to a slow reading.
I received a digital copy of this novel from The Mysterious Press and NetGalley in exchange for this review.