Cat SpiveyBesprekingen

I have never read a Sherlock Holmes retelling, and I did enjoy this book. It was a quick read that kept me interested. Some of the dialogue was a little forced and in the case of the two main characters pranks and rudeness to others, it was just too annoying. Also, as a nurse the paragraph about how could the flue affect your lungs was too much. Ha ha. However the idea of the novel was interesting and the story really captivating. I look forward to the next book in the series. I would have given it a solid 3.5 stars had it been possible.

I haven't read many Sherlock Holmes reimaginings, but I quickly got caught up in this one - while I could see the inspiration peeking through, it definitely had a unique spin on it. The story moves along at a smooth pace, and I loved the "newer versions" of Holmes and Watson. Jacq is observant, inquisitive (perhaps to a fault at times), and a massive pot head (so warning for anyone who doesn't like drugs, but props for the tomato reference). Holly, like Watson is a war veteran, and while she isn't a doctor yet, she's on her way to getting the degree. I did find the aversion to swearing a bit odd, and some of the dialogue didn't flow completely smooth. That said - I truly did enjoy reading this. I love how different Jacq and Holly are, yet they mesh together so well! The time-travel just added to the intrigue, and seeing an original story woven in with an old one was fun. Overall, definitely recommend.

Don’t touch anything until you’ve read everything

At first this felt really disjointed to me and I was puzzled but the deeper I got into the book each chapter turned into quirky vignettes that formed several mysteries that I found highly enjoyable. The latest Sherlockian offshoot involves the college aged descendent of the original Holmes’ older brother and Holly Watts, a wanna be doctor, on their journey through time thanks to quantum physics to solve cases with the original Sherlock.

[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.

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.

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.