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Lindsay Faye, Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009.
ISBN 978-1-4165-8330-1.
Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper. Is there anyone who doesn’t love that matchup? Don’t think so. Several authors have tackled this theme with varying degrees of success, but this is a remarkably good effort. Sherlockians will appreciate the authentic “tone” of the story: neither Holmes nor his biographer do anything markedly out of character. And Ripperologists will appreciate the reasonably accurate depiction of the murders; however, the author engages in some slight tinkering with the facts for dramatic purposes. (There are a couple of things that you will think are errors, but turn out not to be.)
The plot and pacing are very well handled indeed and we get to meet, fictionally at least, people that we only know by name, such as Dr Llewellyn and Mary Ann Monk. No less an author than Caleb Carr says in a blurb on the dust jacket: “At long last, an author of rare talent combines a thorough, enthusiastic knowledge of the Sherlock Holmes canon with truly rigorous research into, and respect for, the Jack the Ripper killings.”
You might want to keep an eye out for this one.
ISBN 978-1-4165-8330-1.
Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper. Is there anyone who doesn’t love that matchup? Don’t think so. Several authors have tackled this theme with varying degrees of success, but this is a remarkably good effort. Sherlockians will appreciate the authentic “tone” of the story: neither Holmes nor his biographer do anything markedly out of character. And Ripperologists will appreciate the reasonably accurate depiction of the murders; however, the author engages in some slight tinkering with the facts for dramatic purposes. (There are a couple of things that you will think are errors, but turn out not to be.)
The plot and pacing are very well handled indeed and we get to meet, fictionally at least, people that we only know by name, such as Dr Llewellyn and Mary Ann Monk. No less an author than Caleb Carr says in a blurb on the dust jacket: “At long last, an author of rare talent combines a thorough, enthusiastic knowledge of the Sherlock Holmes canon with truly rigorous research into, and respect for, the Jack the Ripper killings.”
You might want to keep an eye out for this one.
In fact I have many if not most of the Holmes|Ripper crossovers. Always fun to see who the author suspects and how they go about having Holmes prove it!
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