Farewell to Baker Street - Review part 3
Yes it's the latest part of my drawn out review of Farewell to Baker Street.
The only story I have left to review is The Trimingham Escapade which is a good deal longer than the other stories in the book. It takes place in the 1920s with Holmes retired (let's hope the ACD Estate does not pursue the author over this....). It has a His Last Bow feel to it which I won't elaborate on for fear of impacting your enjoyment of the story.
As with the other stories in this collection, the atmosphere is well drawn by the author but, as with some of the other stories, the beginning and middle have good pace with the end rather rushed and many of the loose ends tied up by a convenient (and rather long) letter which Holmes comes across.
I've been trying to find an analogy for this unusual pacing and the best comparison I can think of is with the Ronald Howard TV series of the 1950s. The episodes were a little less than thirty minutes long with all the deductions and resolution usually packed into the last five minutes.
I personally feel that this is what we have here.
On the upside I will say that Mark Mower has one of the better Watsonian voices. Nothing that he writes strikes me as un-Watson-like. He draws his scenes well and he presents one of the better Holmes and Watson pairings. I just feel he needs to avoid rushing to the conclusion after such well paced lead-ups.
Written by Alistair Duncan
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The only story I have left to review is The Trimingham Escapade which is a good deal longer than the other stories in the book. It takes place in the 1920s with Holmes retired (let's hope the ACD Estate does not pursue the author over this....). It has a His Last Bow feel to it which I won't elaborate on for fear of impacting your enjoyment of the story.
As with the other stories in this collection, the atmosphere is well drawn by the author but, as with some of the other stories, the beginning and middle have good pace with the end rather rushed and many of the loose ends tied up by a convenient (and rather long) letter which Holmes comes across.I've been trying to find an analogy for this unusual pacing and the best comparison I can think of is with the Ronald Howard TV series of the 1950s. The episodes were a little less than thirty minutes long with all the deductions and resolution usually packed into the last five minutes.
I personally feel that this is what we have here.
On the upside I will say that Mark Mower has one of the better Watsonian voices. Nothing that he writes strikes me as un-Watson-like. He draws his scenes well and he presents one of the better Holmes and Watson pairings. I just feel he needs to avoid rushing to the conclusion after such well paced lead-ups.
Written by Alistair Duncan
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