This book fails both as a Sherlock Holmes pastiche and as an adventure. The story is narrated by Watson, but the pro­tag­o­nist neither sounds nor acts much like Watson. Holmes is elsewhere for much of the book and he is very annoying when present. The plot is a pre­pos­ter­ous mashup of steampunk and occult magick.

As in The Sher­lock­ian, this author does not have the skill to write a convincing Holmes–Wat­son novel. I deducted another half star for the shoddy editing and the comma splices.

In The Locked Room, Martin Beck, recovering from being shot, in­ves­ti­gates the death of a man, who has been found shot in a locked room with no gun. Meanwhile, some of his former colleagues, now serving on a special task force, are trying to deal with an epidemic of bank robberies. The latter is a comedy of errors, with the police con­sis­tent­ly messing up.

The authors are severely critical of the growth of Swedish police powers in the decade before this book was written. They also write harshly of …continue.

A student is found murdered on the grounds of Trinity College Dublin. Sergeant Matt Minogue, newly back on duty after serious injuries, in­ves­ti­gates and eventually finds links to the violence then roiling Northern Ireland.

A slow-moving but thoughtful police procedural. Minogue may be trau­ma­tized by earlier injuries, but he is not the cynical, hard-drinking policeman so typical of fiction, but rather a happily married father with a nose for the truth.

Six people arrange to meet in Venice for Carnival, masked and costumed as their true selves. Not knowing how the others are costumed, each makes very dif­fer­en­t—and wrong—as­sump­tions. Brian, husband of Sally and lover of Jean-Pierre, is found dead. Surely one of the group is the killer. An effete local, Count Michele Zanon, takes an interest in the affair.

A strange novel whose plot hinges on mis­com­mu­ni­ca­tion, mistaken identities, and incorrect as­sump­tions, as the seven pro­tag­o­nists rush around Venice, seeking or hiding from each other.

A quirky novella about Com­mis­sario Montalbano of the Italian Polizia. A series of “ac­ci­dents” have been happening at con­struc­tion sites. Montalbano receives an anonymous letter warning that another “accident” will happen, too late to prevent it. He attempts to cover it up, while still in­ves­ti­gat­ing, and realizes that he's infringing on the carib­inieri's ju­ris­dic­tion, a no-no.

Moderately en­ter­tain­ing.

Pinkerton agent Frederick Chase arrives at Re­ichen­bach Falls just after Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty have plunged to their deaths. With Inspector Athelney Jones of Scotland Yard—­sure­ly one of Holmes's most ardent stu­dents—he travels to London on the trail of an American master criminal, Clarence Devereaux. De­v­ereaux's gang is moving quickly and ruthlessly to seize control of the vacuum left by Moriarty. But not all is it appears and the American gang receive bloody setbacks. Could Moriarty be alive after all?

While I mostly enjoyed the book, I was ex­as­per­at­ed …continue.

New Orleans, 1834. Benjamin January is a free man of color and a Paris-trained surgeon who must support himself as a musician. His sister Olympe, a voodooi­enne, and another woman, Célie, are accused of murdering Célie's husband, and Ben must save them from hanging. As a pro­fes­sion­al musician and a colored man, Ben moves between the high society of the old French in­hab­i­tants and the new American merchants, the poor white areas of town, the many slaves, and the small free black middle class. Hambly adeptly explores slavery, the uneasy crossover between French and American …continue.

A body has washed up in the canals of Venice, that of an American soldier from the nearby US base at Vicenza. Com­mis­sario Guido Brunetti doesn't believe that it's a mugging gone wrong, especially when he sees the fear in the eyes of the female army doctor who's sent to identify the body. He digs and finds corruption among the rich and powerful, in a toxic coverup.

Brunetti is a decent and honorable family man, whose sense of justice is undi­min­ished by working for an in­com­pe­tent func­tionary …continue.

London, January 1381. John of Gaunt's regency is in trouble, unrest abounds throughout the land, and uprisings are being plotted. Brother Athelstan and his friend the Coroner are invited to a per­for­mance by Gaunt's players, the Straw Men, at the Tower of London. When a murder occurs during the play, Athelstan is required to in­ves­ti­gate. Several more murders happen before he finds the culprit.

Doherty pulls off both an intricate plot and a satisfying historical novel.

Recently married, Lord Peter Wimsey and the former Harriet Vane take up residence at their townhouse. When the beautiful wife of an ac­quain­tance is murdered, Peter becomes involved in the in­ves­ti­ga­tion. Meanwhile, Harriet is coming to terms with having "married up", after fending off Peter's wooing for several years. Should she continue her career as a mystery novelist, now that she no longer needs the income, or do what is expected by some: have babies and give up writing. All of this is against the …continue.