Prompt – A book set in a city that hosted the Olympics – London!
Medium – Book
About the book – Flotsam, a poor street girl, gets taken in by Mrs Hudson, the famous housekeeper of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. Mrs H, it turns out, is something of a detective herself, and has many high societal connections from sorting out their ‘little problems’. One night, Holmes and Watson are visited by a man who claims to be the victim of a Spirit’s Curse – brought on as he disrespected the gods in Sumatra. Flottie and Mrs H work together with Holmes and Watson to try and solve the mystery – before more people die…
My Rating – 8/10. First book of the quarantine – feels like since my last blog post the world has gone rather to pot. But books are still here, which makes me happy. I really enjoyed this book for a number of reasons. The first (and most important, I think) is that I am a MASSIVE Holmes and Watson fan. Huge. Like, writing fan fiction and going to escape rooms dressed as them huge. I loved the slightly more vulnerable Holmes, and the relationship between him and Watson, although Watson was slightly on the more stupid side for me.
I also really liked the character of Flottie and thought she was a great addition to the cast of characters – she was gutsy and wasn’t afraid to go off and do her own thing, which was great. Mrs Hudson’s character I also really liked – it was a different Mrs Hudson to the one I have always pictured, but that isn’t a bad thing. The main criticisms I have are the slight modern turns of phrase, and then the mistakes with the canon. I don’t mind the big changes that he suggests (things like Holmes and Watson already knowing and working with each other before moving to Baker Street), but it is the little things which just feel under-researched or mis-edited – like calling Lestrade ‘Lestrange’. I think the bigger changes feel like plot points, the small ones just feel like mistakes.
Would I read it again? I think so – I do have the second one to read at some point (possibly sooner rather than later if we are stuck inside for the rest of the year!)
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