Mrs. Hudson and the Malabar Rose

Many post Conan Doyle Holmes stories are unsatisfying; either they're too self-conscious or the mysteries are less than mysterious. Up until now, my favorite was the movie "Without a Clue" in which Dr. Watson was the brains behind Michael Caine's bumbling Holmes. My new favorite is Martin Davies' new take on the brains behind the great detective; the inimitable Mrs. Hudson and her sidekick, the housemaid Flotsam. It's great! Mrs. Hudson and the Malabar Rose hits all the right notes. The domestic details are cozy and credible, the mystery is truly puzzling, and the characters are fun without being precious. Mrs. Hudson sets about solving the disappearance of a clerk which is not an important enough case for the Great Detective to bother with, being employed by the Home Office to protect a fabulous ruby called The Malabar Rose. Flotsam has her own mystery, the reappearance of a blue-eyed orphan from the orphanage she lived in until being rescued by Mrs. Hudson. All three cases are tied together most ingeniously, and make this a wonderful Holmes tribute. Thank you, Mr. Davies, for this very satisfying book. More, please.

Great fun, and the first book in ages I've read at a single sitting. Mrs Hudson is brilliant as the real brains behind the "downstairs" Baker Street operation, solving everything while Holmes and Watson potter about as usual. Told by Flotsam, the Baker Street maid, this is the story of the Malabar Rose, a large ruby being presented to the English nation by an Indian maharajah, on condition that it be shown to the admiring public. Unfortunately, the showing coincides with the appearance next door of a world-famous illusionist, who has a disturbing habit of always being on hand when famous jewels go missing... The government, of course, are worried, and recruit Holmes to help guard the jewel. Mrs Hudson, on the other hand, is rather more interested in a disappearance of another kind - a missing husband, who vanished from an impossible locked-room situation just a few days earlier... Obviously the two problems must be linked somehow, but who will work out the connection first: Holmes, the reader or Mrs Hudson? One of the problems with whodunits is that you can often work out quite early on what crime is to be committed, and how, and so forth; you sit there reading your Strand Magazine facsimile, or watching the endless TV adaptations, and wonder just how stupid people must have been back in Victorian days that they can't solve some of the cases in ten minutes flat. I was delighted, therefore, to find that Mrs Hudson seems to share my attitude, though she never actually says so! While Holmes and Watson go through the usual Doylesque inductive processes, making sure the ruby is sealed so securely that it can't possibly be stolen, Mrs Hudson (like us, the readers) is already miles ahead of them. Rather than insulting our intelligence, this is a whodunit that moves at a good pace, where it's clear that Mrs Hudson is just as sensible and up-to-speed as the reader, and that even so, there's still plenty of room for puzzles and trying to solve mysteries. For example: How exactly does the pantomime horse fit into things? Who sent the tickets? When and how will the minister's butterfly collecting become relevant? I'm not usually one for reading non-Doyle Holmes stories, apart from The Seven Per Cent Solution of course, but this one seemed just intriguing enough to get me interested, and besides, it's not about Holmes - though he appears, along with Watson and Lestrade - so much as Flotsam and Mrs Hudson. Putting aside my usual prejudices, I was delighted to find that reading this book was sheer joy, and once I started I just kept going right through to the end. Of course, I'd worked out almost at once how the crime was committed, where the jewel was hidden, and so forth, but even so there were still surprises and loose ends aplenty to keep me entertained to the very end, when everything came together in a really satisfying conclusion. A really enjoyable book (the author's second featuring Mrs Hudson, the first being "Mrs Hudson and the Spirits' Curse

In spite of freezing snowy December weather, Londoners are excited over the arrival of the Malabar Rose, a ruby given by a Maharajah from India to the Queen. Adding to the excitement of the ruby's arrival is that master magician and illustrious illusionist the Great Salmanazar comes to town. Though he puts on quite a show, the fact is that wherever he appeared in Europe, precious jewelry were stolen, but his show always served as his alibi. Many anticipate his performance to coincide with perhaps the theft of the Malabar Rose. Whitehall Street sends an emissary to seek Holmes out so he can check the precautions in place to keep the gifted ruby safe, but he and Watson are away. However, as many expected while the Great Salmanazar performed, someone steals the Malabar Rose under the nose of Scotland Yard and other guards. Holmes' housekeeper Mrs. Hudson heeding her employer's advice to first look at the obvious figures like Salmanazar who she believes pulled a sleight of the hand, but to confirm it and recover the gem will take an even greater illusion on her part as waiting for Holmes and Watson to come home will prove too late. The latest Mrs. Hudson novel is a fabulous Victorian mystery that grips the audience with its spirited picturesque moving portrait of the era. The story line focuses on Mrs. Hudson's efforts to verify her theory that the Great Salmanazar used a magician's ruse to trick Scotland Yard while stealing the precious jewel. As with its prequel, MRS. HUDSON AND THE SPIRITS' CURSE, the Baker Street crowd will enjoy this fine amateur sleuth historical starring the Great detective's housekeeper, who obviously picked up a few pointers from her employer. Harriet Klausner