Thursday 3 August 2017

From Holmes to Sherlock: A Book Review

As faithful readers of this blog are no doubt aware, I've been busier than a cat at a dog show these days, and the posts have been few and far between.

One of the areas in which I'm staying active, though, is in following up on my duties as mystery & thriller book reviewer for the New York Journal of Books.

As I evolve as a reviewer of other people's work, I find I'm less hesitant to speak up when I don't think a book is very good. In this way, I suppose, a reviewer evolves into a book critic.

Book critics, though, also have an obligation to inform readers about books they judge to be a success. Authors who hit the nail on the head should be celebrated in book reviews for their good work, shouldn't they?

Such an author is Mattias Bostrom, a Swedish writer and veteran Sherlockian who has just published a remarkable work: From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon. As someone with only a passing interest in things Sherlock I selected this book to review with mild enthusiasm at best. I ended up reading it from cover to cover and enjoying it immensely.

What was so darned good about it? Check out my review to find out!