Rasputin's Revenge (An Auguste Lupa Novel)

I picked up this book at a book exhange coffe house south in Nicaragua, and it turned out to be just what I was looking for. First of all, it's extremely well written. The background being the russian revolution gives it something extra, and for me it really contributed to the book. It was something new, and different. There is a serial killer on the loose, seemingly killing all that are close to the tsar. The tsar is taking it particulary hard, as his wife the tsarina is drifting closer and closer to the magnetic, yet oddly behaving munk Rapsutin. Even though the book it a bit slow in the beginng, it dosn't matter to much because the author uses these pages to set a tone and an amazingly accurate and intresting background for the story. And for thoose not that impressed with the original idea of placing the mystery in the middle of the revolution, the book picks up speed and delivers a suprising, fun and well written mystery.

I did not read "Son of Holmes" the first book that featured the Frenchman Jules Giraud and Auguste Lupa (the brilliant son of Sherlock Holmes) solving a mystery. At the very beginning of "Rasputin's Revenge" I was uncertain if reading the first book was necessary, as the story was a little slow in evolving, but once events were set in motion, no prior knowledge was needed. "Rasputin's Revenge" is an interesting if not necessarily believable intermingling of Sherlock Holmes and the Russian Revolution. When Jules Giraud finds himself sent to Russia, he believes it is only to seek out a sort of treaty with Czar Nicholas to save France and Russia until a possible Allied entrance by the U.S. into the war would save them both. Yet when he encounters his friend Auguste Lupa, he quickly learns that he was sent for quite another reason. For several close intimates of the czar have been murdered, and if these two do not get to the bottom of the matter quickly, the whole future of the Romanov family and the Russian empire are at risk. Complicating their task is the role that Rasputin plays within the czarina's circle, his influence extending to matters both personal and political, and the duo finds themselves caught up in a deadly web of intrigue that puts them in the gravest of danger. "Rasputin's Revenge" is a relatively engaging, if easily solved mystery, once the pace picks up after the first few chapters. John Lescroat succinctly mixes fact with fiction, although sometimes this intermingling is a little forced. Yet he does a commendable job with the appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Watson towards the end of the tale, their manner and conversation in accord with Doyle's original creation.