Sherlock Holmes: Strange Events

Both of these stories are well written and quite interesting. The author never succumbs to the typical trap of other writers attempting to imitate Doyle with all sorts of the typical Holmesian deductions based on scant evidence. Normally this comes across as fairly cloying and I am glad this author stuck to creating interesting and believable characters with fairly realistic, authentic dialogue combined with well-plotted action.The only real issue I have has to do with dating these stories when comparing them to the official Canon. In the first story Holmes is mentioned as completing a crossword puzzle. Crossword puzzles first made their appearance in 1913 in New York. In the second story a character has a motor car which would date the story near the same period. Both Watson and Holmes still reside at 221B Baker Street and both Watson and Holmes are still working in their chosen professions. However in the Canon by this time both men are retired with Holmes living elsewhere. That is the only real issue. The stories are very well written other wise.

This is my first association with this author’s work. There are two novellas in this one volume. The first is what decided the two star rating. An established character, like Sherlock Holmes, has a certain profile which, in developing a pastiche, should be respected. The omnibus novel read more like a police procedural with Holmes not quite in his own groove. There were also an unusual number of anachronism in speech including some definitely post-1920, terms. Since there is no indication as to the year when this was set, I can’t say much more about that. The second novella brought Holmes to the forefront a bit more and the language was a bit more consistent. I’m still trying to understand why two characters were sending messages by messenger within the city two or three times yet in another instance they picked up the phone and placed a call!The second novella on its own is three stars. The overall ‘book’ however merits two.

Lynn McConchie is an inhabitant of New Zealand who has become an overwhelmingly prolific author, writing in almost every possible genre of fiction, including science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and even westerns. This particular example contains two very long stories in which Holmes and Watson tackle tedious cases that mainly involve procedural police investigations, with almost zero opportunity for Holmes to do his unique bit. Apart from some horrific plot deficiencies, here are some of the other things that may turn away prospective readers: (1) the stories take place in a timeless limbo which is full of anachronisms and never connects to times or stories in the Canon. Instead, all the extraneous characters that appear (almost always pointlessly) are characters that appeared previously in other "adventures" of Holmes written by this author. Particularly offensive in the first tale is a fortune teller(!) who gives Holmes "valuable" information based on "visions"! (2) Progress toward a solution to the main mystery, in both cases, is glacially slow, and the reader's patience will be severely tried as he or she plows through page after page of what can only be described as "filler," completely irrelevant to the pursuit of a solution.What made me decide never to read another Holmes adventure by McConchie was the last story in the volume, where Holmes is attempting to discover what happened to a middle-aged woman who suddenly vanished after supposedly telling one of two daughters that she needed a vacation. It's clear from the beginning that the woman has been done away with, but where is the body? When Holmes finally reveals the "murder method," it is so utterly preposterous, and involves so many loose ends (the actual murderer, for example, is never known to Holmes and no one seems at all interested in discovering or arresting her) that almost any reader will be feeling as cheated as it's possible for a reader to feel.Based on these two examples, McConchie is pretty much a loser at crafting a plausible and satisfying adventure of Holmes and Watson. I will studiously avoid any further books she has written about that immortal pair.

The two stories are well written with complex plots that take time to develop and initially pose numerous questions, while leading toward ultimate conclusions. Nothing is "elementary" to start with. Although some criticisms as to timelines (in accordance with Doyle's and other Sherlockian writers' observances of the canon) seem justified, the author makes up for these flaws with thorough research into investigative techniques et al (the tramps' rough sleeping methods in the first story is suggestive of either wide research or personal bush crafting experience). The fact that the revolver packing Dr Watson has to front a coronial inquest is also a first. The numerous villains who experience his deadly shooting skills in other stories seems to attract little interest from relevant authorities! The stories are all concluded with details of the characters' fates and readers are not left in suspense as is so often the case with other Sherlockian writers.

Unfortunately I found the two stories overly wordy which detracted from the flow of the novel. Also the use of words that are little used in Holmes day let alone the present! The story lines were good save for words for words sake and would be very enjoyable if this were not so.