2 September 2022.
ISBN: 978-1-80055735-2 (PB)
The story is told in the viewpoint of Doctor Stamford, who was Holmes’ companion in his early adventures before he teamed up with Watson. The stories are set in the early years of Holmes’ career when he and Stamford were both students at Barts Hospital. Stamford was unable to report on his adventures with Holmes at the time they occurred but, many years later, in 1924, he is able to write his memoirs and describe Holmes’ earliest cases.
After Stamford was assaulted when assisting Holmes in his previous case, the young student doctor has decided that he needs to learn to defend himself and accompanies his friend, George Luckhurst, to the gymnasium, which is situated above the King Henry public house. The gymnasium is run by retired boxing champion Professor Logan and the public house is managed by Logan’s non-fighting brother, Shem, and Shem’s wife, who does not approve of boxing. Although Stamford, an essentially peaceable young man, will never be a skilled boxer, the lesson goes well and Stamford is very impressed by Professor Logan.
Stamford and Luckhurst decide to go to a boxing exhibition at the Royal Agricultural Hall. Outside the venue, they encounter three veiled ladies who are handing out handbills that protest about the danger and barbarity of boxing.
Inside the hall, in the first event, Professor Logan offers to give five pounds to any man who can last three rounds with him, which the Marquis of Queensbury will raise to twenty pounds. Just as it seems nobody will risk taking this challenge, a man steps forward and, to his horror, Stamford realises it is his friend, Sherlock Holmes. The next event on the programme is a demonstration bout. Jim Jones is a young, dark skinned man from Cornwall, who has come up to London to challenge a fighter called Bill Summers for a purse of fifty pounds. However, tonight Jones is taking part in a sparring bout with an older fighter called John Bowman. Because this is a demonstration bout nobody is expected to be injured but, a short way through, Bowman collapses and dies. In these circumstances, Holmes and Stamford become involved in another investigation.
Following Bowman’s death, the ladies who protest against boxing want Jones charged with murder. While not agreeing with them, Holmes and Stamford feel sympathy for them when they realise that one of the ladies, Mrs Arroway, was widowed after her husband was injured in a prizefight. It transpires that Arroway’s death was never adequately investigated because of the intervention of a doctor who supported prize fighting. Doctor Wrothby had treated injured boxers and had sold them strengthening tonics. It seems unlikely that the truth behind Arroway’s mortal injury will ever be discovered because Wrothby is now dead and, Lunn, the fighter who was pitted against Arroway has disappeared.
Bill Summers is a superstitious man and he is scared of fighting Jones because Jones possesses a small statue that is referred to as an ebony idol. Summers believes this gives Jones special powers. Soon after Bowman’s death, Summers is discovered dead in Jones’ room at the King Henry public house where they are both lodging, and the police arrest Jones for murder.
Holmes uncovers some of the less salubrious secrets of the sport he loves as he investigates the three boxing related deaths. He intends to discover the truth behind Arroway’s fatal injury in the boxing ring, which may give some measure of closure to the man’s widow. However, his main efforts must be directed to investigating the death of Bill Summers. Even in his youth a supremely logical man, Holmes does not believe in the power of the ebony idol to vanquish Jones’ opponents, but he is aware of its effect upon superstitious people, and he is determined to prevent the young boxer from falling victim to careless police work and ignorant prejudice.
Sherlock Holmes and the Ebony Idol is the third book in this series featuring the adventures of the youthful Sherlock Holmes, narrated by Doctor Stamford. This is a series that gets stronger and more compelling all the time. The plot is interesting and well balanced, and the author’s exceptional knowledge of the Victorian period adds authenticity without slowing the action. Stamford makes an engaging narrator, modest about his own abilities but always rising to the occasion when it is needed. The Holmes that Stamford portrays is described with affection and is easily recognisable as the Holmes of the original stories, as when, without consulting Stamford’s convenience, he casually annexes his friend’s modest lodgings to interview prospective clients.
Sherlock Holmes and the Ebony Idol is a page turner, which I wholeheartedly recommend.
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Reviewer: Carol Westron
Linda Stratmann was born in Leicester in 1948 and first started scribbling stories and poems at the age of six. She became interested in true crime when watching Edgar Lustgarten on TV in the 1950s. Linda attended Wyggeston Girls Grammar School, trained to be a chemist’s dispenser, and later studied at Newcastle University where she obtained a first in Psychology. She then spent 27 years in the civil service before leaving to devote her time to writing. Linda loves spending time in libraries and archives and really enjoys giving talks on her subject.
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