Review – The Back to Front Murder by Tim Major
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Back to Front Murder
I’m a big fan of new stories added to the Sherlock Holmes canon. Particularly those that invoke the characters, ambiance and most importantly the crime in the style of Conan Doyle. Not everyone gets it right, sometime the plot is off, the characterisation a little askew and the writing style just wrong.
That was not the case here. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson’s friendship was fittingly established from the first page, which boded well. “As Lestrade had so cannily observed, we were sometimes able to ‘communicate with our eyebrows’, as might any old friends.”
The Back to Front Murder is a typical type of crime that Holmes is drawn to, intriguing because of the opaqueness. For those with lesser skills of deduction it was baffling, then straightforward, followed by complex in the conclusion.
Which is exactly what I hoped for, if I’m not confounded on a number of occasions when reading a Sherlock Holmes novel, then I would feel hard done by.
Sherlock Holmes is suitably imperious and self possessed. Striking out on a tangent of an idea and leaving Watson twiddling his thumbs at Baker Street more often than not. Dr Watson was as usual pompous and overly fond of reminding others of Sherlock’s prowess as a detective.
It occurred to me that he might not understand that he was speaking to Sherlock Holmes, or perhaps even that he had no knowledge of Holmes’s importance to the police. This latter possibility filled me with discomfort. I had assumed that my accounts of Holmes’s investigations had reached far enough to secure his reputation.
Dr Watson
True to form, his comic dismay at what he perceived as unladylike behaviour was amusing to behold. Yes it’s judgemental and sexist but very much of it’s
Something about Abigail Moone’s manner recalled a beast in its lair– lascivious and lazy, prepared to wait until its prey wandered near before striking.
Dr Watson
Yet they worked well in tandem, adding their skills to the case to bring clarity to the mystery at hand.
I would have liked to find out more about Abigail Moone whose innocence, the duo were doing their utmost prove. However, her background shrouded in secrecy added a je ne sais quoi element, a subtle contrast to the level of detail provided for the period and locations. The Back to Front Murder is a great addition to the casebook.
My thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for a copy of this book in return for a candid review.
3 Stars - Liked It
