7 January 2024.
ISBN: 978-0-85495215-1 (PB
These early stories of Sherlock Holmes are set when Holmes was still a student, before he met Dr Watson, and are narrated by Watson’s predecessor as Homes’ biographer, Arthur Stamford, a student doctor. The stories are the reminiscences of Dr Stamford written down in 1934 after he retired.
The Marquess of Queensbury had met Holmes during a previous investigation and been impressed by his sporting prowess and when injury prevents Queensbury from attending an exclusive sporting weekend, he recommends Sherlock Holmes to take his place. The man hosting the event is Lord Redcar, the Duke of Charlbury, and he has planned a full schedule of sporting activities, one of which is a cricket match between the local village team and a team made up of the gentlemen visitors. Holmes has no knowledge of cricket and suggests that Stamford is invited to take charge of this part of the weekend. Lord Redcar’s main interest is fencing. As Holmes explains to Stamford this is a sport that has exponents of two different styles, the Italian school and the French school. Lord Redcar favours the Italian school, which Holmes describes as more ‘vigorous and direct’ than the more elegant and subtle French school that Holmes prefers. Lord Redcar has invited renowned fencing masters, from both schools to attend the weekend, which as the two men are reputed to be enemies seems to be an unwise, indeed inflammatory, action.
Lord Redcar is a man in his mid-fifties who has been twice married. His daughter by his first wife is married and his young second wife is nearer to his daughter’s age than his own. It is Redcar’s wife who alerts Holmes and Stamford to a more serious threat than two rival advocates of different schools of fencing. Lady Redcar tells them that amongst his guests her husband has invited is Sir Jasper Grey, Duke of Garthorn, a man who is reputed to be a superb swordsman and a licentious womaniser. Lord Redcar blames Grey for sullying the reputation of his married daughter and Lady Redcar fears that he intends to challenge Grey to a duel in which he will kill Grey. Lady Redcar says that her husband believes himself to be a good enough swordsman to defeat Grey and trusts that his high rank will save him from punishment for this illegal act.
The other guests assemble. Although a few are relatively pleasant most of them are entitled and snobbish, which makes the humble born Stamford feel very uncomfortable. Probably the most unpleasant of their number is Lord Redcar’s son-in-law, who has turned up without an invitation and is obviously spoiling for trouble. The first sporting event goes ahead but, in the midst of a run round the estate when all the guests are out of each other’s sight, a violent death occurs and Holmes steps into his accustomed role as an investigator. He is aware that in a situation filled with simmering tension and a house filled with lethal weapons further tragedy is not going to be far away.
Sherlock Holmes and the Duelling Dukes is the sixth book in the series that features Stamford as
Holmes’ early companion and biographer. It is an excellent window into
Victorian life for the privileged classes, which blends beautifully into the
original Conan Doyle series. The core characters are engaging, and the plot is
interesting. This is a very enjoyable read which I 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.
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 5 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.
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