By: Caleb Carr
Published: 2005
Audiobook Read by: Simon Prebble
My rating: Interesting
This one caught my interest right off since I am a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes.
Holmes and Watson find themselves summoned to Scotland by Mycroft Holmes. It appears there is a ghost going about doing all kinds of nasty things and Mycroft would like the matter cleared up posthaste! One complicating factor is the location of these hauntings; the Royal Palace of Holyrood! Holmes and Watson are only too happy to assist their Queen, so they set out to solve these bizarre happenings and end up in the middle of an adventure that very nearly is their last!
As I said, I am a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes and was excited to find this authorized continuation of his adventures. I was a little disappointed though. The story was very engaging but it just didn't capture that flair that Doyle put in his works. As a general mystery tale it was pretty good, but as a Holmes mystery it wasn't up to snuff. The writing is great and the plot flows along quite nicely. The mystery itself was fairly well thought out and the characters are pretty well developed. I guess being in the shadow of a master raises the bar to much greater heights!
I listened to the audiobook read by Simon Prebble. Simon had an excellent voice for the part of Holmes. I love it when a narrator's voice fits my mental image of the character! He did an amazing job with the entire book and I very much enjoyed his performance!
Overall this is a fine mystery novel and has a lot of appeal of it's own. However, if you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes, don't approach it with too high expectations.
