Cat Spivey

[Disclaimer: I got this book via LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program]
I liked the idea behind the story: a descendant of Sherlock Holmes, with her friend Dr. Watts :-), manages to come back in time to assist her great-granduncle solving a case - actually one from the Canon: the sentences uttered are lifted from the story as told by Conan Doyle. However, I found it difficult to follow the main story: it seems to me that some passage are well hidden, or maybe it's just me that had some problems in understanding the English which was often slangish. (Paradoxically it was easier to read the Victorian text: so much for the results of Italian education!) I believe the book would have benefitted from a tighter integration between the contemporary and the past plot, and the characters could have been developed better, especially Tilly which seems to have been put in by chance.… (meer)

This enjoyable cozy-esque novel combines elements of murder, unusual friendships, mending family relationships, and time travel. Jacq, the primary protagonist, is the several times grand niece of Sherlock Holmes. Through the use of quantum physics she works with Sherlock Holmes to solve a mystery, although this part of the story is told a bit more from the point of view of Holly, a veteran, the second protagonist. However in the first half of the story they are working to solve the mysterious murder of a friend's sorority sister near a U.S. college. While enjoyable, I found the story a bit dis-jointed with the first half focusing on the mystery of the murdered sorority sister and then at about the midpoint, the characters travel to England and investigate the Homes mystery. At the end, the story circles back to the original mystery in the States. Satisfactory endings all around. The book is touted as the first in a series and I look forward to subsequent installments.… (meer)

This is a marvelous science fiction take on the original Holmes and Watson stories. It’s well-written, imaginative, and the characters and dialogue are perfectly done. In the midst of this book are pertinent parts of Doyle’s The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire, skillfully interwoven with Spivey’s book.
There are two more books in the series and I can’t wait to read them. Unfortunately, they won’t be available until July 1st and September 1st of this year.
I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book. I used a Scribe to read the Kindle edition of this book. The formatting, paging, and chapter references were perfect.
… (meer)