The Cthulhu Casebooks - Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows: 1 Hardcover – 15 Nov. 2016

This is a bold and clever storyline that interweaves two classic narratives. The first is obviously drawn from the Sherlock Holmes canon, but the second takes its storylines from HP Lovecraft. It is helpful if you know a little about Lovecraftian worlds as it makes more sense of the strange creatures we encounter. I used bold at the start because the author in effect rewrites much of what Doyle wrote about. There are several instances in all three books where Watson is effectively telling us that he lied in the original series of stories and 'this is what really happened'. It changes how we see Doyle's Holmes and what his version of Holmes believes in etc. I am not sure I like this idea, but if you see this series as a stand-alone set and almost throw-away storylines at the end of the reading, it serves to bring credulity to these three. If you a purest then the angle the author takes will just annoy you. Enjoy these stories for what they are but don't get hung up on the fact that they change what we thought we knew about the original Holmes.

I have and always will be a massive Sherlock Holmes fan and, sadly, I do and always will think that H.P Lovecraft had about as much talent as a block of wood. The man had wonderful ideas, ideas far ahead of his time. Sadly, he just possessed a writing style so dreadfully boring that his ideas were destined never to be done justice by his pen. So, when seeing a Sherlock novel/series featuring the ideas of Lovecraft I hopped onto it. My reasoning being that I loved Sherlock and the Christmas Demon and fully expected a talented writer would be able to give Lovecraft’s ideas the treatment they deserved.The basis of this trilogy is that most everything we thought we knew about Dr Watson’s works based on Sherlock’s cases are lies. This series shows how major characters were ‘really’ introduced. After all, he couldn’t very well tell the public about the cosmic horrors lurking in and around their great nation, could he?The book itself starts off with a foreword by the author (which is worth reading as it adds to the story in its own little way) and a bit from Dr Watson himself as he sits down in his old age to recount the tales he thought he would be taking to his grave. The parts where Dr Watson is an old man are charming in their own way and add a nice little dimension onto the novel.The Shadwell Shadows shows us a very different set of circumstances that led to Dr Watson’s origin in the army and his subsequent return home. It also shows us a different meeting between he and Sherlock (not to mention many other major players in the Sherlock universe). Said major players being involved really add to the world Lovegrove is creating and make it feel like a Conan-Doyle novel due to their presence. Even though certain characters like Mrs Hudson and Lestrade are not huge parts of the novel. Simply their being there just adds layers that need to be there.It starts off very Conan-Doyle-esque and takes a little while to stray from good old-fashioned Sherlock into full on Lovecraft Cosmic Horror. I’ll admit that when it does go full cosmic horror, I found it hard to suspend my disbelief at times. I am used to Sherlock looking down at a man who believes in ghosts as though he was a simpleton. To have the great consulting detective readily leap into the murky waters of the supernatural and accept it as readily as their air he breathes was a bit strange for me. It is why having those underlying characters adding those Doyle-esque layers helps so much. As a reader it kind of helped to anchor me in the Holmes universe. Otherwise it might have been easy to stray away and think I was reading something entirely different.Lovecraft’s pacing is just what you’d expect from a Holmes novel and Dr Watson is written just as fans of Conan Doyle’s original classics would remember. As I mentioned above, the cosmic horror aspect of it did make it hard to suspend my disbelief at times but, overall, I really enjoyed this book and I will be carrying on with the others at some point. The way it ended had me curious about how things would pan out going forward so I’m looking forward to discovering what comes next.I will say, however, that if you love Holmes but are not a fan of cosmic horror or the supernatural in general, this probably isn’t the book for you as there is very little traditional Holmes in this as far as case subject matter goes. Otherwise, those with a more open mind will find this a nice little jaunt through a world they loved … and then a strange trip through a world they never knew existed.

I wasn’t sure about this when I bought it as being a fan of both holmes and lovecraft I wasn’t sure that it was for me. But what a fabulously entertaining read! It was a great mash up of the two genres and a real page turner. I can’t wait to read the other two now

Lots of talk with not much action.

I love the characters of Holmes and Watson. During the trials of this pandemic i needed some reassurance that we would endure.What better hope than through the logic of Holmes and the heart of Watson we would triumph. This story is of course not by Conan Doyle, but he too had flights of fantastic fancy. Without giving anything away, it's the first of a trilogy and sure as good will triumph over evil i would recommend it as a chance to forgot our troubles and trust that Holmes and Watson will prevail.

An excellent novel written in the form of the 'true' story of Sherlock Holmes. The style is very appropriate for an account which Dr Watson is alleged to have written (the original Conan Doyle novels are extremely stuffy in places and this is replicated quite well) and the general story fits in really well with the Cthulhu mythos. I particularly enjoy the references to the 'faked' previously published accounts and how we find out what really happened in this book. A particularly good example is the introduction of Watson and Holmes via Stamford and the subsequent implied explanation about why Stamford was never mentioned again in the previously published accounts. I suspect that both Lovecraft and Conan Doyle would have approved of this novel.

It's a great yarn and holds interest throughout.There are the odd moments when the language feels a tad off but , on the whole Holmes and Watson are exactly as you'd expect them to be.My only niggle, and it's a personal one, is that I take a bit of umbrage when authors re-write canon to serve their story. I've read stories where it transpires that Holmes was a woman in disguise or Holmes and Moriarty were in fact clones from the future, these passed muster because they never re-wrote Conan Doyle's canon to suit their ends. But that's a personal thing, as I say, and others may feel I should get a life !!

I do love a Sherlock Holmes story.The author gets it. But I would have been much happier with a more conventional tale.I do understand why, but I'm to old for such silliness.