Where Watson Goes to Prison

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - The Improbable Prisoner by Stuart Douglas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a well-plotted, well-written Sherlock Holmes story. It had some flaws, IMO, but I enjoyed it.

The characters are true to form, which I think is important, and though the story is slightly outside the tradition in terms of scale (over months) and location (mostly in prison), I think it works. The ending was somewhat awkward and anticlimactic--really, it had two endings--but it was pretty satisfying, so I'll allow it. :)

Watson gets framed for murder and spends most of the story in prison. Holmes performs his usual miracles to keep him alive (surely no spoiler), though much of his work is only revealed after the fact. It's not quite as fun this way; I want to see Watson out with Holmes, finding clues, making discoveries, but it has its own charm.

Overall, I found it entertaining and well worth reading. It kept climbing to the top of my "now reading" pile ahead of a few others. If you like Sherlock Holmes pastiche, I'm pretty confident this would work for you.

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