Mostly subpar Holmes homage

2:12 pm 20 June 2014
A Study in Sherlock: Stories inspired by the Holmes canon - Leslie S. Klinger, Jacqueline Winspear, Laurie R. King, Michael Dirda, Gayle Lynds, Laura Lippman, Phillip Margolin, Margaret Maron, S.J. Rozan, Thomas Perry, Jan Burke, Colin Cotterill, Dana Stabenow, Alan Bradley, John Sheldon, Tony Broadbent, Lionel Chetwynd, Jerry Mar

A decidedly "bleh" homage to Sherlock Holmes, which reaches a nadir of unreadability with "The Startling Events in the Electrified City." I couldn't finish the story and thought of giving up on the collection entirely.

I persevered, however, and the remaining stories weren't too bad. Just not "too good."

Except for one story, "The Last of Sheila Locke-Holmes," which has nothing to do with Holmes but is about a young girl dealing with her parents' marital problems, and quite good.

And I will mention one more story - "The Adventure of the Concert Pianist" - to say that it shamelessly steals the murder plot from Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, except there's no insane monk.