Nicholas Meyer (1) (1945–)

Maybe it's my familiarity with Meyer's version of Sherlock now, maybe I've just read too many of them in relatively quick succession, but I'm finding I'm getting less and less enjoyment from them as I go. This is easily my least favourite of the bunch.

Meyer follows his typical pattern of pulling Holmes and Watson away from their usual haunts, inserts some cameos with varying degrees of success, mentions some popular novels/music/plays of the time period, brings in a pretty woman, then wraps up the mystery.

It's feeling a touch formulaic at this point. I'd love to see Meyer just dig in and give us one that's closer to the Doyle playbook.… (more)

I'm still mostly enjoying these books, though I do find with each successive installment in the series, I seem to be getting less out of each one.

Yes, I know Meyer isn't Arthur Conan Doyle, nor will he ever be. As such, the stories are paced differently, yet still they're done quite well. However, there's still that thing that kind of bugs me, and I really was at a lost as to why.

So, as I went through this one, I tried to determine why that is, and I think it comes down to two things.

Meyer's obviously a Hollywood guy. He's worked on a lot of movies and shows. I think the two things that get to me are the two things Meyer either can't help doing, or feels he must do.

The first is all the damn cameos. Every single one of his adventures has cameos. Freud. Oscar Wilde. Gilbert and Sullivan. And on and on and on. The odd drop in would be fine, a fun little Easter egg. But Meyer packs them in as though he's being paid by the appearance, and it does begin to wear after a bit.

The second Hollywood thing that Meyer likes to do is take Sherlock completely out of his element. That could be physically, emotionally, or mentally, depending on which book you're reading. I think this may be a safety thing for Meyer, so if he has Holmes do something uncharacteristically (such as the gun trick in this one), he can blame it on the stress of being out of his element.

Again, if this is the exception to the rule, then it's a fun experiment, however when it's in every single Meyer pastiche, it quickly begins to lose its appeal.

Overall, this is not a bad story, despite the liberties Meyer takes with Holmes. And it talks to a real world issue that, unfortunately comes up again and again and again.

But overall, these particular Holmes stories are beginning to wear. I know there's a new one to be published this year, but for now, I have one more to go. We'll see how I feel about that one before deciding if I read any future installments.… (more)

I quite enjoyed this one, and all the cameos Meyer dropped in. The story was enjoyable and did feel mostly like a quite authentic Conan Doyle tale.

I do also like that Meyer is willing to take chances and also push the boundaries of Sherlock's universe, but not too much. Sherlock doesn't meet Cthulhu or Batman or Donald Trump, so these are good things.

I do, however, think that it does go a touch too Hollywood. The cameos are fun, but in a slim volume, it does begin to feel a touch claustrophobic, a touch overstuffed.

Still, with no new Doyle yarns, Meyer is, at least for now, still my favourite go-to for the further adventures of Holmes and Watson.… (more)