Sherlock in Love

Sherlock In Love is one of the best Sherlock Holmes homages~pastiches I've read. This intelligent, thought provoking, and moving story of an unknown love in Holmes' life takes place two years after his supposed death. Watson, melancholy and lonely since Holmes' death, decides to start writing Sherlock's biography. Watson, through a series of anonymous threats, is let known in no uncertain terms he must not write the biography. Through an investigation of the present events, and unpublished past cases, Watson is drawn into a shocking secret from Holmes' past, one that tears apart everything Watson thought he knew of his beloved friend as well as resurrecting a failed case with disturbing new clarity. The author's suppositions are intriguing, emotionally written and humanizes the brilliant sleuth known for his dislike of women, making Watson and the reader wonder if Holmes' dislike stemmed from a much more painful source than once realized. Be forewarned-Sherlockian "purists" who are devout in their belief that Holmes was non-romantic to the point of asexuality will not like this book. I'm a unapologetic romantic who likes her Holmes of the "Jeremy Brett" variety, so this story was right up my alley. Finally if you are like me, and like to delve into pastiches simply for the fun and novelty of revisiting Holmes/Watson, then give this short story a go. 4 stars-Recommended!

I love both Sena Jeter Naslund's other work, namely Ahab's Wife, and Arthur Conan Doyle's original Sherlock Holmes stories. So I'm rather shocked by the vitriol with which some people condemned this book. I don't think that any Holmes fan should go into any of the modern homage novels expecting it to be a genuine addition to Doyle's canon of wonderful and entertaining tales. But Naslund successfully imitates his writing style, so well in fact that it colors over the discrepancies in character and plot from the original stories. I do not believe she could have created such a lovely imitation stylistically if she had not had great respect for and enjoyment of Sherlock Holmes (though her other work does prove her to be a great author in her own right). That said, the Holmes in Naslund's book does not always behave or think like Doyle's Holmes. This quick read is an entertaining, tongue-in-cheek perspective on great literature, but if you are such a Holmes purist that you can't enjoy that type of homage, then this book is not for you. For anyone who can accept the differences, I advise picking this book up; it is very enjoyable, if not as thought provoking as Naslund's other work.

This is good writing. Better by far than what Caleb Carr, Mitch Cullin or Michael Chabon have recently done with Sherlock.

I just got this book yesterday at the bookstore. I thought of putting it back at first. I'm a devoted sherlockian, and I always saw those new Sherlock Holmes books as pathetic, even sacreligious (I know i get carried away, but I once saw one called "Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula." Get my drift?). But I got this anyway, and I must admit it's quite good. Sure, it's not Doyle, but one of the better ones. But, it's still a little to modernly feminist and bizzare.

A theme I'd like to see tackled more often. Although this effort is an entirely successful book, I could hope that more were made of the possibilities it opened up.