The Night Calls

I just finished reading this book, and I absolutely LOVED it, I couldn't put it down. Thanks to a friend in Edinburgh who sent me this book, I am now an avid fan of the series, and having never read any Sherlock Holmes novels (I know, shame on me!), not only did this book fascinate me, but it also made me want to read Doyle's works, and learn more about the man. Anyone who loves literary fiction or who is a Holmes fan (obviously), or just likes a good suspenseful horror novel, will LOVE this book!

David Pirie's excellent novel, "The Night Calls," features a young Arthur Doyle, who is a medical student, and his mentor, Dr. Joseph Bell. Bell's sharp powers of observation and clever methods of detection were an inspiration for Doyle's fictional character, Sherlock Holmes. It is the late 1800's in Edinburgh, Scotland. Arthur Doyle and Dr. Joseph Bell combine their resources to investigate a series of grisly assaults on women. Ultimately, Bell fears that the assaults are the work of an unhinged individual whose crimes may soon escalate to murder. It turns out that Bell's fears are well founded. Their antagonist is a sadist who has tremendous intelligence, imagination, cruelty, and daring.With his skilled description and vivid characterizations, Pirie has done a marvelous job of capturing the mood of the times. He tackles several feminist themes, including the discrimination that faced young ladies who wished to attend medical school, and the wretched exploitation of impoverished women who sold their virtue in order to survive. The characters of Bell and Doyle and sharp and well-drawn. Bell's incisive mind, no-nonsense approach, and tenacity when faced with a difficult problem are indeed reminiscent of the great Sherlock Holmes. The central villain of the piece is a vile individual who will make your blood run cold.Pirie includes several intriguing subplots, including one about a chauvinistic and cruel husband and another about an arrogant scientist who believes that the ends of scientific discovery justify unethical means. "The Night Calls" is a chilling, fascinating, and expertly written novel, and I recommend it highly.

Sherlock Holmes. Very few names are as evocative as that one. And yet there are many questions and speculations surrounding the creation of that marvelous fictional detective. It has been said that the only way to gain any true knowledge of Holmes is through his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. David Pirie must subscribe to that train of thought as well and has therefore devised a background for Doyle. In so doing, Pirie gives us an imaginative glimpse into the relationship between the writer and Dr. Joseph Bell, the man credited with being the inspiration for Holmes himself. `The Night Calls' is first and foremost a thoroughly atmospheric, not to mention a completely absorbing, story. Each setting and scene is described in careful detail, which lends the prose a rich density that manages to escape any sense of being cumbersome. The reader is allowed to take to the streets of Edinburgh and London right alongside Doyle and Bell. Yes, those streets are dark and unsavory, but you would never think of turning back. And even though Pirie takes the mystery on a couple of tangent jaunts that may seem unnecessary, the heart of it remains compellingly close and "concludes" in a highly chilling manner. After reading the Historical Note included at the end of the novel, I was surprised to find just how much of Doyle's real life had been snuck into the narrative. Pieces of the man's history that you think must have been part of the fiction turned out to be true and you appreciate the way the story was crafted even more for it. This is the type of novel that makes you want to learn more. More about Doyle himself, about the real-life serial killer that plagues Bell and Doyle throughout, and more about the women's movement that rose up during the time. I thoroughly enjoyed `The Night Calls' and have since purchased `The Patient's Eye' which actually precedes this novel. I am also anticipating the dvd release of `The Murder Rooms', a miniseries upon which the novels were based.

Once again David Pirie has given us a winner: complex plotting, rich detail, characters who are real, beautiful writing. As you follow Doyle and Bell through the misty streets of old Edinburgh, it is quite possible to forget that you are not actually there. In "The Night Calls", Doyle has begun to open the darkest, most frightening of his "Murder Rooms", and the reader is drawn into all the fear, frustration, pain, and failure, as well as the successes, of that awful year in Doyle's life. A warning: "The Night Calls" and "The Patient's Eyes" are intertwined in some ways - a tidbit here, a phrase there - and you may find yourself picking up and enjoying "The Patient's Eyes" once again, as I did the moment I finished "The Night Calls". I hope Pirie intends to open every one of Doyle's "Murder Rooms"!

In 1878 Arthur Conan Doyle studies medicine at the University of Edinburgh under the tutelage of Dr. Joseph Bell. However, Arthur particularly appreciates the deductive reasoning that his mentor brings to solving crimes by turning an investigation into a more scientific approach. Between his studies, the occasional detective work (see THE PATIENT'S EYES) and an intelligent female student, whom the professors treat with gender scorn, Arthur is able to somewhat put aside his family troubles.However, the city is gripped with fear as a killer begins murdering women in brothels leaving behind strange clues such as neatly piled coins "paying" the fee perhaps. Bell believes a new type of culprit has surfaced. This is a clever individual with an obsession that leads him to most likely kill again. As the duo struggles to solve a case with an MO outside their normal methodology, Bell and Doyle try to invent a different approach still using deductive and inductive logic.Doyle as a young man accompanied by his teacher are fun to follow while student Elspeth Scott provides more than a romantic interlude as the audience sees the disdain and prejudice the Victorian Era faculty and her peers bestow on her because of her gender. The historical look is fascinating as the reader observes Doyle before Holmes and Moriarty. However, unlike the first novel in this series, solving the mystery surprisingly is un-Holmes like especially in light of Bell recognizing a whole new category of homicide. Still David Pirie writes a solid tale, but not quite the par excellence of his previous book.Harriet Klausner