Warlock Holmes - A Study in Brimstone by G.S. DenningMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I laughed so hard the whole way through this book.
As someone who is obsessed with all things Sherlock Holmes, from the original Conan Doyle stories to Basil The Great Mouse Detective, when I saw Warlock Holmes: A Study In Brimstone I knew I had to read it.
The cover itself is striking and gives you a hint about the madness that may lay inside and it is all things good! There are four of the stories re-imagined inside here now entitled: A Study In Brimstone, The Adventures of the Resident Sacrifice, The Case of the Cardboard... Case, The Adventure of the Yellow Bastard, The Adventure of the _eckled _and, and finally Charles Augustus Milverton: Soulbinder.
Each of these tales were charmingly familiar to the original stories, but with an added hint of wackiness that I could only compare to Douglas Adams. John Watson still serves as the voice of the adventures and the insight into what is happening. It's just that this time he happens to be the only humans with whom we interact, so it makes seeing all of the supernatural things through his eyes all the more believable because he is just like the reader. Well to be fair he handles things a lot more calmly than I would and is much better at solving crimes.
Warlock Holmes as a character is ridiculous and lovely and manages to parody everything about Sherlock Holmes that is quite frankly ridiculous when you examine it, but in Warlock he gets away with it because he has such a charming air about him. Even while he was dragging you along into misadventure I feel you couldn't help but like him. It makes sense that John goes along with it.
My stand out character though (and I hope to see more of him) is Vladislav Lestrade. Vampire. Nihilist Vampire. I adored him. I've had a soft spot for the detective since he was re-imagined in the BBC's adaptation of Sherlock, but in this book he also really jumps off the pages for me. None of the bumbling detective from the start this Lestrade prowls, is unnerving and also the perfect gentleman despite his blood drinking habits. LOVE HIM.
I don't want to give too much away with this review, because I am going to be waving this book at every single person that I can and making them read it, but all I am going to say is that ending has me mourning that it isn't May 2017 yet. Bring on The Battle of Baskerville Hall.
As a final note I would say that I'm often disappointed by Sherlock Holmes parodies. They show no love or affection for the original stories and just purely make a mockery, which is all good and fine in its place. However, I call this book a triumph and far superior to that. The neatness of the writing, the references and the obvious good time that the author had with this book? It's all led to an utter success of a novel in my eyes.
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