Reviews

The Whole Art of Detection: Lost Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes by Lyndsay Faye

mwgerard's review against another edition

5.0

Holmes fanatics rejoice! Finally there is a collection of stories that adequately celebrate, and imitate, the original.

I am always suspicious when approaching a book that carries on where the original left off. Death Comes to Pemberley, Rebecca’s Tale, The House of Silk, and The Oriental Casebook of Sherlock Holmes all failed with varying degrees of embarrassment. As a reader, I was left angry, disappointed and frustrated by those titles.

A fatal flaw in those and so many similar books is the temptation to somehow recreate a more formal past. Silk dresses and fancy mansions overshadow a good story with interesting characters.

I’ve often argued that what makes Holmes so good, and so evergreen, is the simplicity. The style of writing is not fanciful and the adventures are varied. The loss of a gem or a horse is found next to dictionary transcription and a quiet child in equal measure.

Please read my full review: http://mwgerard.com/review-the-whole-art-of-detection/

readingfourme's review against another edition

All told in the narrative style of sitting around telling a story. Wasn’t for me. 

nickleby_shepherd's review against another edition

5.0

Simply great. Faye is remarkable at finding Dr. Watson’s voice. There two Mr. Holmes narrated tales that were just as delightful. Some inspired accommodations to Canonical holes. Splendid stories in the spirit of the originals. Great reading for sprints or an enjoy-a-tale put-the-book-awhile-come-back-again-later marathon.

beemini's review against another edition

5.0

Lyndsay Faye is just so good at 19th century mystery. Her Holmes and Watson feel natural and the scene-setting of Victorian London is wonderful. Her writing is superb, effortlessly giving us the flowery prose of Arthur Conan Doyle while imbued with witty asides. The stories penned by Holmes instead of Watson were very entertaining thanks to their distinct style and emotional undercurrents (if you know, you know). Watson's first draft of a story, complete with edits, is another standout. She used the short adventures to flesh out the heroes' emotional lives as well, which updates the appeal of the tales for our modern literary tastes.

rachelmcg2004's review against another edition

5.0

All I gotta say about this book:


*furiously reading "Dust and Shadow" because Lyndsay Faye is the queen of Sherlockiana!

kittykornerlibrarian's review against another edition

5.0

Lyndsay Faye creates one superb Sherlock spinoff after another in this book of Holmes & Watson detective stories. I especially liked how she recognized the different periods of time during the events of the canon.... for example, the first section of the book consists of Holmes telling Watson about early cases in his career before they had met, in the tradition of the Musgrave Ritual and others. She actually succeeds in adding some dimension to these already well-drawn characters, such as when she shows Holmes having regrets for how he handled the conclusion of the Case of Identity (which has always bothered me, too). Holmes and Watson live on in this collection of stories. Well done, Ms. Faye!

thebeardedpoet's review against another edition

4.0

For those who prefer their Sherlock Holmes pastiches as stylistically authentic to Doyle as is humanly possible, this collection by Lyndsay Faye is for you. I'm talking about the sentences and the language here. Faye has pulled off a tremendous job of recreating Doyle's vocabulary and longish Victorian sentences. Never one or two words where five or ten will do! For me, it was unnecessarily arduous reading, at least with the first few stories in the collection. In the two tales that are told through the pages of Holmes own diary, it was such a relief--and amusing too as Holmes pokes fun at Watson's writing style.

Writing style aside, this is an undeniably impressive and engaging collection of Sherlock Holmes tales which beautiful portray the personalities of Holmes and Watson and their unique friendship. The mysteries themselves are worthy of Doyle and of Sherlock Holmes. Faye never loses sight of the pleasure to be had just hanging out with this duo. May Holmes and Watson live forever!

clt677's review against another edition

5.0

It took me a while to get into this book , but not through any fault of the author or subject. Once I was able to devote the time, I couldn't put the book down. I will admit that I think a large part of my interest in Sherlock comes from the tv series starring Benedict Cumberbatch for the subject matter and Ripper Street for the time period. This was a very well written book if you are at all interested in the mystery genre. I enjoyed that it was a collection of short stories within a larger story. It's a fairly easy, fun read.

m_is_for_awesome's review against another edition

4.0

Excellent Holmes stories told in a voice delightfully similar to the original. Can easily imagine these are stories Watson wrote but did not see fit to publish. Craving more!

kpeninger's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Faye's stories are, as ever, excellent and I had a great time revisiting them. The stories themselves are 4 stars. I did not like the audiobook narrator, though. While his Holmes voice and Watson voice were fine, his voices for women were universally kind of bad, and anytime he tried to do a different accent, it was a little cringey. I need audiobook narrators with deeper voices to learn that not all women need to be represented with a high-pitched, fluttery, whispery voice. Please.