Robertson, Michael. The Baker Street Letters.I've enjoyed a lot of Sherlock Holme's take-offs, so the title interested me. Reggie Heath, a London solicitor, leases office space at 221B Baker Street only to discover that written into the lease is the obligation to manage and respond (by form letter) to all correspondence addressed to Sherlock Holmes.
Reggie's brother Nigel, in charge of this chore, comes across some recent letters relating to a letter written 20 years earlier from an eight-year-old girl. A theft, a murder, and Nigel's unplanned flight to Los Angeles, all lead to Reggie's following his brother to find out what is going on.
This novel is the first in a planned series, but has a way to go before being able to sufficiently capture faithful readers. An interesting premise, but ... the mystery has several scenes that feel repetitious and is average in characterization and narrative.
Will I try the next one? Yes, many series take some time to warm up, and I'm hoping that will be the case here.
Fiction. Mystery. 2009. 277 pages.
I was intrigued by the premise of this one as well and I'm sorry to hear that it didn't live up to expectations. I might give it a go as well all the same though! Like you, I tend to be fairly forgiving with the early installments in a series.
ReplyDeleteI like Sherlock Holmes. I'll wait and see how future installments in the series turn out before I start it. Besides I like that a character is named Nigel.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds interesting, but I think I will wait until it gets going before deciding if I want to try it or not.
ReplyDeleteAw, that's too bad - it sounded promising. I hope it does get better!
ReplyDeleteKate S. - It is always nice to see a series go uphill rather than down! It wasn't awful, just that I'd hoped for more.
ReplyDeleteFramed - I like that one is named Nigel, too, mostly because of Frazier. :)
Kailana - Not a bad idea! I like starting a series that has several books already published so that you can dive into the next one instead of waiting.
Nymeth - I hope so, too. All the letters written to Sherlock Holmes over the years...that alone is interesting!