Where Various Sherlocks Pursue the Truth

alt.sherlock.holmes: New Visions of the Great Detective by Gini Koch
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I generally love Sherlock Holmes. I go for original stories as well as modern novels based on them, and I also enjoy the movies, the many TV incarnations, the various graphic novels, and the many series that are reinventions (with Sherlock as a woman, or Sherlock as a descendent of the OG Sherlock, or Sherlock as a wizard...) Not *all* of these have worked for me, but I'd say 95% have. This book also sounded like I'd love it, which is what I figured when I got it signed at Phoenix Comicon some time ago, but it ended up, for me, in that small number of misses. Or near miss--3 stars is okay.

Parts of it entertained. And I'm convinced a lot of readers would enjoy this way more than I did. Really, the novellas in this collection are kinda literary-coded. However, that just isn't my thing.

TBH, these all would work better as stories unrelated to Sherlock. The characters in the Depression-era circus were cool and the setting was very real. The investigator in the reality TV story (a female Sherlock who could have been any capable detective) was fine. The 60s gay rights and Black Panther story has a reason to exist on its own. Any of these could be a decent story as a complete original. But for my money, Sherlock was just shoehorned into them. It's a bad fit. He seldom acts like Sherlock or spends much time doing the normal things Sherlock is supposed to do in an investigation. Most of the attention is on the unique framing, the new setting. It all gives about 20% Sherlock, 80% something else entirely, and I didn't love it.

Don't get me wrong--most of the writing is excellent. I'm gonna look up some other things by the authors here, because I might connect with other things a little better. And I supported the themes and (as Dan McClellan would say) the rhetorical goals of these creators, because it was all broad-minded, anti-racist, pro-diversity messaging. I'm right there with you. I want these stories to find their audience--but I didn't enjoy reading it very much.

In brief: lots of great vibes but uninspired detective work. Recommended mostly for those who lean literary. No shade.

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