≡ Read Sherlock Holmes and the Element of Surprise The Wormwood Scrubs Enigma James Andrew Taylor 9781780922683 Books

Sherlock Holmes and the Element of Surprise The Wormwood Scrubs Enigma James Andrew Taylor 9781780922683 Books

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Sherlock Holmes and the Element of Surprise The Wormwood Scrubs Enigma James Andrew Taylor 9781780922683 Books

First off, I enjoyed this book tremendously. I was impressed with how Mr. Taylor immersed me in the time and the place. He really knows his Sherlockian world. The suspense and mystery kept me reading, following Sherlock and Watson as they unravel what's really going on.

That said, I have to admit I gave four stars instead of five because Mr. Taylor badly needed a proofreader. At first I thought it might just be the difference between British and American punctuation. But then I began to realize that often the punctuation was missing entirely. I would be into a paragraph before realizing it was actually dialogue; there were no quotation marks. Sometimes a comma was missing, more often it seemed to have been inserted for no reason except to confuse the reader. This happened on nearly every page. For such an enjoyable book, it was tragic that I was constantly distracted by typos and bad or missing punctuation.

I think it is perfectly understandable that Mr. Taylor was approved by the Conan Doyle estate as far as his wonderful story and vivid recreation of the characters and setting. I just wish they'd loaned him a proofreader before it was thrown up for sale.


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Sherlock Holmes and the Element of Surprise The Wormwood Scrubs Enigma James Andrew Taylor 9781780922683 Books Reviews

Short, sweet, and thoroughly engaging! There is something special when an author adds Inspector Lestrade to the case. It always reminds me of the old Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, and Dennis Hoey by-play in those movies.
I have to confess that I always wanted to be as brilliant as Sherlock Holmes. The way he could put observations together always made me so envious of him. I wanted to have the same mental capacity. The mystery in this book was quite interesting and almost seemed unsolvable (as most Holmes mysteries are).

Like all Sherlock Holmes stories, there are subtle clues that are placed throughout the novel so the reader can try to figure out how the murder occurred and who the killer is. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure this one out at all. A positive aspect of this book is that the language and atmosphere seemed relatively accurate, but unfortunately, the novel was missing the original spark that Arthur Conan Doyle's works had. The clues almost seemed too subtle and the end result was almost completely out of left field.

This book was good for what it was, but unfortunately at parts I thought it was trying too hard to match the originals. However, I still found it enjoyable.
Sherlock Holmes and the Element of Surprise by J. Andrew Taylor

Holmes has been missing for a fortnight. Lestrade is beside himself, as there have been two murders with elements of the impossible.

Two guards from the prison of Wormwood Scrubs have been discovered minus their heads in the snow. However; there are no tracks in the snow except their own and the people who discovered the bodies.

Holmes returns as suddenly as he vanished. Now Watson, Lestrade, and Holmes travel to the Wormwood Scrubs area to view the crime scenes.

*** Possible Spoilers***

It is as it has been reported. The tracks show that the attack could not have came from any of the four directions; North, East, South, or West. The attack could not have come from beneath. When the impossible is eliminated, whatever remains, however improbable, must be true. The attack had to come from the air…

There were witnesses to the crimes, even though they saw or heard strange things. The little girl of the giant woodsman who found one body heard “fairy voices” in the sky above her and the sound of their wings. He dog also reacted to these “fairies,” which means there was something there.

The son of the local innkeeper was out getting drunk with his buddies when they saw a “flying elephant” go silently overhead, blotting out the stars for a moment. Strange as it may be; Holmes believes them, since the attacks had to come from the air. And a prisoner at Wormwoods scrubs now claims he is not himself…

This was a fair story, and the solution will make Holmes have to believe in something that as far as he knows doesn’t exist. This is the days before aircraft. Hot-air balloons do exist, but the lack of a light in the sky makes that so unlikely. What killed the men with decapitations so clean that they could have been guillotined?

I like this one, but it does lack a little depth. Four stars…

Quoth the Raven…
Anyone who can't see that a flying machine is being used by the murderers halfway through the story must be brain dead. It is a very complicated plot for a simple jailbreak, and the "death from the air" aspect of the book is just plain silly.
What is it with these Sherlock pastiches from MX Publishing? Full of misspellings, improper use of words, horrible grammar and lack of punctuation (see my review of "The Case of the Edinburgh Haunting"), they nevertheless contain some great Sherlockian entertainment.

In this tale, Holmes and Watson must deal with headless bodies, fairy voices in the air, even a flying elephant! Still, Holmes's healthy sense of skepticism as to all things metaphysical and his methodical investigative techniques win the day.

However, I must say that the tale's last sentence is totally unforgivable (no, I won't spoil the surprise.) Enjoy!
First off, I enjoyed this book tremendously. I was impressed with how Mr. Taylor immersed me in the time and the place. He really knows his Sherlockian world. The suspense and mystery kept me reading, following Sherlock and Watson as they unravel what's really going on.

That said, I have to admit I gave four stars instead of five because Mr. Taylor badly needed a proofreader. At first I thought it might just be the difference between British and American punctuation. But then I began to realize that often the punctuation was missing entirely. I would be into a paragraph before realizing it was actually dialogue; there were no quotation marks. Sometimes a comma was missing, more often it seemed to have been inserted for no reason except to confuse the reader. This happened on nearly every page. For such an enjoyable book, it was tragic that I was constantly distracted by typos and bad or missing punctuation.

I think it is perfectly understandable that Mr. Taylor was approved by the Conan Doyle estate as far as his wonderful story and vivid recreation of the characters and setting. I just wish they'd loaned him a proofreader before it was thrown up for sale.