The Star of India: A Novel of Sherlock Holmes

I own and have read many holmes pastiches. This is, by far, one of the best. Ms.Bugge weaves an exciting adventure and gives us rewarding psychological insight into the great detective. Holmes humanity and compassion shine as he and Doctor Watson come to the aid of a young street urchine who becomes mixed up in the main case under investigation. Ms. Bugge artfully reminds the reader of the great disparity in social classes of Victorian England and the plight of cast-off children in this time period. Our favorite Victorian knights ride high in this adventure. Ms. Bugge also provides the best interaction with the menacing Moriarty that I have yet to read short of that provided by Doyle himself. Moriarty's evil is palpable in one of his short exchanges with Dr. Watson in a latter chapter of this book. Bravo, Ms. Bugge!

My quote is on the jacket copy, but I want to add that I've been reading Holmes pastiches for a long time, have published and commissioned them, and in my opinion, Carole Bugge is one of the handful of authors who deserve to be bracketed with Watson himself. Pastiche is a curiously selfless art, however .. to appreciate Ms. Bugge's astonishing scope as a sensitive, highly poetic writer, one must also read her non-Holmes mystery novel, "Who Killed Blanche DuBois?" about to be published by Berkley Books.

I really enjoyed the Star Of India, it is a nice well paced book with an interesting plot; the return of Moriarity, who did not die at the Falls either. The book has lots of action, rather than those dry old 'locked room' mysteries that so pervade Holmes writings but does not let deduction and thinking fall by the wayside. What I enjoy most about Ms. Bugge's book is her very human characters, starting with the Great Detective himself, too often portrayed as an emotionless know it all. There is an interesting theme underlying the plot as Holmes begins to think how little difference there is between himself and the good Professor. Happily, Mycroft is there to see the danger and warn Watson to keep watch on his friend. It is a nice touch and a surprisingly clever twist on their usual relationship. I heartily recommend this book, it's well worth your time.

All I can add to the other comments is that this book is like meeting an old friend you have not seen in a long time. It's as if no time has passed at all and you are the same old friends, who simply pick-up where you left off. What a delight!

I just read this book, and I must say that it is highly enjoyable from start to finish. The characters of Holmes and Watson remain intact from the original stories. The action is very fast paced; incidents seem to happen one after the other. What I thought was an outstanding feature was the conflict between good and evil, as in Holmes vs. Moriarty. Moriarty set an evil plan in motion, and it took Holmes to stop it. Overall a great choice!