Sherlock Holmes and the Red Demon (Sherlock Holmes Mysteries (Penguin))

The book is overshadowed by Holmes' failure to stop a massive fire that kills hundred of people. While this may seem to give away part of the story, it is plainly revealed in the blurb, broadly hinted at in the introduction, and the extent of the fire is shown on a map before the novel begins!

Instead, the reader gets to watch Holmes seeking to discover who is behind the impending disaster. So, while Millett's depiction of Holmes' deductive activity is fine. Most of the clues Holmes relies upon are in plain sight of the reader, which is not always the case in a Holmes' story, so perhaps some readers can enjoy matching withs with the Great Detective.

I found Millett's portrayl of Holmes a little off-key, and this is highlighted by Watson maiking references to Holmes' unusual behaviour. Not being from Minnesota (or even America!) I cannot comment of the depiction of the area and its people, but for a foreigner they seemed quite natural.

Millett has written two further Holmes novels - "Sherlock Holmes and the Ice Palace Murder (hinted at in the closing pages of this book) and "Sherlock Holmes and the Runestone Mystery" - both of which I believe are also set in Minnesota. Based on this book, I believe they are likely to be worth a read..


Not as good as I would have liked   September 2, 1999
The problem with some of these "new" Sherlock Holmes stories is that, with a wide variety of authors writing them, only some of them are well done. The characters are great, but, if mishandled, the imitation can grate.

While Nicholas Meyer really has a way with Holmes and Watson, Millet is what I would describe as close but occasionally off the mark. Millet does what I dislike about some Holmes interpretations: he makes Holmes look smart by making Watson look stupid.

Millet has Watson - an educated doctor and worldly man - missing the point to some rather obvious scenes (that I won't describe) and needing Holmes to explain the significance of them to him. Millet may have merely used this as a device to explain things to his reader, but the device was completely unnecesary in some of these cases and bordered on Millet inadvertently condescending to the reader.

In the end, Sherlock Holmes & The Red Demon was an all right read, but I wish I'd had someone of my tastes around to tell me that they thought some of the characterization was off the mark.


Solid   July 24, 1999
This is part of the whole cottage industry which produces riffs upon and spin-offs of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic Sherlock Holmes stories. The author is actually listed as "John Watson, M.D." and Millett is listed as the "editor" in order to preserve the total illusion that this is a "lost" manuscript only recently recovered and edited, complete with footnotes of explanation. This premise, although hokey in one sense, was actually quite effective in getting me into the spirit of the book. This book alleges to account for some of the missing time of the dynamic duo by placing them in Minnesota in 1894. I confess to being a neophyte to the Holmes canon, having read only a few stories and been mostly exposed to it via the excellent British television productions. Thus, I am in no position to comment on the books faithfulness, or lack thereof, to the details of the series, or to the replication of writing style. However, it is a fun read. Based on a great deal of historical research, the book has Holmes and Watson hired by a rail baron to solve the mystery of a mysterious outbreak of arson attacks on his line. The mystery itself isn't too tricky, but a rousing conclusion more than makes up for any other deficiencies. A must for Holmes fans, and a good period mystery even if you're not a big Holmes reader.


Excellent Conan-Doyle redux   May 22, 1999
As an ardent,purist Holmes fan I was pleasantly surprised by Larry Millet's grasp of the Conan-Doyle style of writing. Bravo! I look forward to the sequels.


An interesting and exciting story   March 14, 1999
Perhaps 'Sherlock Holmes and the red demon' can be claimed as one of the best Sherlock Holmes stories apart from the original canon. Although some of the details might seem inconcievable in terms of common-sense, especially if you have a very strict standard for scientific investigation, this story is still quite reasonable on the whole. The best part of this story, if it is not the heroic side of Holems, then it has to be the picturesque description of Minnesota.