The Sherlockian - Graham Moore

The Sherlockian by Graham Moore

First Paragraph(s):

August 9, 1893

Arthur Conan Doyle curled his brow tightly and thought only of murder.
     'I'm going to kill him,' Conan Doyle said as he folded his arms across his broad frame.  High in the Swiss Alps, the air tickled Arthur's inch-thick mustache and seemed to blow straight through his ears.  Set far back on his head, Arthur's ears always appeared to be perking up, listening to something else, something distant and behind him.  For such a stocky man, he had a nose that was remarkably sharp.  His hair had only recently begun to gray, a process that Arthur couldn't help but wish along.  Though he was but thirty-three years of age, he was already a celebrated author.  An internationally acclaimed man of letters with light ocher hair would not do so well as a wizened one, now, would he?

My Thoughts:

The Sherlockian was the 3rd book I've read to fulfill my mystery group's April theme of Sherlock Holmes.  I listened to this book narrated by James Langton.  The Sherlockian was a different sort of tale.  Told in multiple time periods and taking the reader back and forth between scenes of Arthur Conan Doyle himself and a present day Sherlock enthusiast, it was interesting enough, but this book is probably my least favorite of the three I read for the theme.  Harold White has just been inducted into The Baker Street Irregulars, a society only open by invitation for serious Sherlock scholars.  He has heard about the 'missing diary' of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but never thought he would actually be hunting for it.  Doyle had 'killed' Holmes in print and then brought him back to life a few years later.  This missing diary supposedly reveals the 'why' that so many Sherlock scholars had puzzled over - plus, it would be worth millions in the present day.

I did enjoy the various cameos and mentions of other authors in the late 19th century time period.  Conan Doyle is investigating some crimes himself, along with his friend, Bram Stoker (yes, the creator of Dracula), searching for the murderer of several young women.  Stoker serves as 'Watson' to Doyle's 'Sherlock'.  Each chapter had a quote from a Sherlock story that was a clue for what would transpire within.  And there was a pretty extensive 'Author's Note' explaining more about where Graham Moore got his ideas, what was 'real' and what was not, along with several suggestions for further research.  This was the author's debut book.  He has since written a second book, The Last Days of Night, and he was also the screenwriter for The Imitation Game, about Alan Turing.  I did like that movie and may at some point try Moore's second book.  As for Sherlock, well, I think I've got some great books to share with the group.

Blurb:

In December 1893, Sherlock Holmes-adoring Londoners eagerly opened their Strand magazines, anticipating the detective's next adventure, only to find the unthinkable: his creator, Arthur Conan Doyle, had killed their hero off. London spiraled into mourning-crowds sported black armbands in grief-and railed against Conan Doyle as his assassin.

Then in 1901, just as abruptly as Conan Doyle had "murdered" Holmes in "The Final Problem," he resurrected him. Though the writer kept detailed diaries of his days and work, Conan Doyle never explained this sudden change of heart. After his death, one of his journals from the interim period was discovered to be missing, and in the decades since, has never been found.... Or has it?

When literary researcher Harold White is inducted into the preeminent Sherlock Holmes enthusiast society, The Baker Street Irregulars, he never imagines he's about to be thrust onto the hunt for the holy grail of Holmes-ophiles: the missing diary. But when the world's leading Doylean scholar is found murdered in his hotel room, it is Harold-using wisdom and methods gleaned from countless detective stories-who takes up the search, both for the diary and for the killer.