13 October 2022.
ISBN: 978-0-00-852128-8 (HB)
It is December 1890 and Doctor Watson’s wife is away visiting family, so he is taking the opportunity to spend a few days staying in his old Baker Street quarters with his friend, Sherlock Holmes. Watson had forgotten the disadvantages of living with Holmes, such as the noxious smells created by his chemical experiments and the bad temper with which Holmes regards the approaching Christmas celebrations. Relief from Holmes’ ill humour presents itself in the form of two new cases, which promise to enliven their boredom. Coincidentally, both cases involve families who are concerned about their sons.
The first case presents itself in a manner that is as unexpected as it is violent: Holmes and Watson are walking along the busy streets when a man knocks a lady over and tries to abduct her young son. Holmes wrenches the child from the would-be kidnapper and passes him to Watson, who ministers to the lady and her child, while Holmes pursues the man until he loses him in the crowds. The child’s mother, Lady Endicott, is grateful and invites them to visit her at her home the next day. When Holmes and Watson do so, she indicates that she wishes Holmes to take on her case and discover who wishes to steal her son, but Lord Endicott intervenes and dismisses Holmes. Lord Endicott has arranged for a young man in his employ to act as the child’s bodyguard and seems to indicate that the danger is not as extreme as everyone else feels it could be. The little boy, Jonathan is a delightful child, who is almost four years old, and it is obvious that his mother is devoted to him and spends an unusual amount of time looking after him in person. Holmes appears to accept Lord Endicott’s dismissal but secretly he ignores it and continues to investigate who is attempting to abduct Jonathan and the reason behind this heinous crime. This quest that takes him and Watson into some dark and heart-rending situations and reveals a more compassionate side to Holmes’ character than he usually allows even his closest friend to see.
The second case comes to them in a more conventional way, when Holmes is visited by the autocratic Marquis of Blandbury whose youngest son has disappeared from the Mayfair flat that the Marquis had bought him. Reginald is a sensitive, charming young man, who is his parents’ favourite child. He has always kept in contact with his mother who is very worried that something disastrous has happened to him. Holmes sets his protege, Heffie O’Malley, to watch Reginald’s flat but it requires Holmes’ analytical brain to interpret what Effie discovers and reveal Reginald’s fate.
What Child is This? is the fifth novel by this author, which relates stories of the investigations of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, narrated by Doctor Watson. These are two interesting stories, based around the Christmas period, both of which explore some disturbing aspects of Victorian society, and show the Christmas hating Holmes in a very different and more sympathetic light. At the heart of both cases are secrets, which have the potential to endanger the two sons of the families who require Holmes’ aid and rely on his unique skills to save two vulnerable young people.
This is an enjoyable read, which
explores new aspects of Holmes’ personality and his relationships with his
helpers and should be popular with readers who enjoy new interpretations of
stories featuring Sherlock Holmes and his trusted biographer and like the warm
Christmas feeling the book contains, despite Holmes’ Scrooge like utterances
regarding the season’s celebrations.
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Reviewer: Carol Westron
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Bonnie MacBird was born 5 November 1951 in San Francisco USA. She is
a produced screenwriter (TRON) and playwright (many plays and musicals) as well
as an accomplished stage actor and writing teacher (UCLA Extension). She holds
degrees from Stanford in music and film, and when she’s not writing Sherlock
Holmes, moonlights as a theatre director and audiobook reader. A long career in
Hollywood include stints as a feature film development executive, and multiple
Emmy winning producer. Bonnie is a member of the London Sherlock Holmes Society
and was recently invested as a member of The Baker Street Irregulars and The
Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes. She divides her time between Los Angeles and
London.
Carol Westron is a successful author and a Creative Writing teacher. Her crime novels are set both in contemporary and Victorian times. Her first book The Terminal Velocity of Cats was published in 2013. Since then, she has since written 6 further mysteries. Carol recently gave an interview to Mystery People. To read the interview click on the link below.
https://promotingcrime.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/carol-westron.html www.carolwestron.com
http://carolwestron.blogspot.co.uk/
To read a review of Carol latest book click
on the title
The Curse of the Concrete Griffin
Thank you, Carol, for this lovely review. I'm glad you enjoyed WHAT CHILD IS THIS?
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