Arthur Conan Doyle Books

If the story sounds busy, that's because it is. The various threads seem to coexist without mingling for quite some time. In fact, the serial killer all but disappears for a substantial portion of the second half of the novel. With the standard suspense aspect thusly diminished, the novel becomes more of a combination of a period piece and an exploration into the two men's obsession with supernatural phenomena. The historical aspect of the mystery often works well, though Hjortsberg does seem to revel a bit much in the minutiae of the period, from cigarette brands to characters. The supernatural aspect does not work, as Houdini is clearly the loser; there is never really any doubt but that spirits exist and influence the world. Also, it should be noted that Houdini's character, while heroic, is also decidedly unflattering, especially in his dealings with Isis.

"Nevermore" begins with a great deal of promise but ultimately fails to fulfill that promise as the threads never mesh entirely satisfactorily. While Hjortsberg writes well for the most part, he never truly unites the several threads, and a few of them are left dangling.

this is not a mystery book--this is early science fiction.

and, elizabeth peters is not englihs, she's american, and the mitchell book is about a comanche, on a reservation--definitely NOT english.

you need a better editor here.

The first two stories (both are long ones) features Doyle's famous creation besides Holmes -- hot-tempered genius Professor Challenger. "The Lost World" is narrated by a newsreporter Edward Malone, who seeks for the chance to show before his love Gladys that he also could show the heroism by doing a great thing. So he grabs the opportunity to accampany the exploration team to prove the theory of Professor Challenger that there is a plateau untouched by the modern civilization deep in the South America where extinct animals are still living.

So, there go four characters -- Challenger, Edward Malone, Lord John Roxton (a nice-guy type of sportsman), and Professor Summerlee, who wants to disprove Challenger's theory by his own hand. The adventures themselves including the encounter with dinosaurs or other creatures are written with vivid touch, even though some parts are clearly dated. And some readers may feel uncomfortable when reading some violent scenes.

This story is filmed many times -- most as early as in 1925 -- but the ending is much different. Interestingly, the dinosaurs are not the main feature of the novel (even though Penguin's cover suggests the terrible havoc they do on the city, which is unashamedly borrowed in Steven Spielberg's film of the same title).

"The Lost World" (1912) was written immediately before WWI, and perhaps was the last romance that could depict the heroism in this way, in a remote country, against the exotic background of the Amazon. If you like it, read "King Solomon's Mines" or "She" by H. Rider Haggard, which were written in the late 19th century.

"The Poison Belt" the second "Professor Challenger" tale sounds more apocalyptic, beginning with the newspaper column of the Professor who predicts the mass destruction of the human beings. The story brings back the four characters of the last adventure, and shows how the world ends as Malone et al. see it. Though the story lacks scientific precision (what's "ether"?, you may say) and the final chapter is a huge letdown, the story is full of impact, describing the fear and terror of the people facing death. Some parts of it still look very modern and immediate, as if the scenes from "Dawn of the Dead" or "28 Days Later."

The last two shorts are comparatively weak, but not bad. "The Terror of Blue John Gap" is, as the title suggests, about the terror of the underground while "The Horror of the Heights" could be rephrased as "the horror seen by a daredevil pilot."

The Penguin edition has Philip Gooden's insightful introduction which also tells us the real-life models of the characters. He also provides useful notes, and the book has the original illustrations (the kind of garish drawings capturing the shocking moments of the story), which are pure delight to see. A good read for holidays.

While Doyle came to weary of his association with the world's most famous literary detective, he shared many of Holmes's qualities, including the abilities of observation and deduction learned from Dr. Bell, and he actually did lend his efforts to the consideration of real-life mysteries from his own time.

Howard Engel's novel is a clever tribute to Doyle, his mentor, and his creation. He ingeniously sets his murder mystery not in London, as might be supposed, but in Edinburgh and even more ingeniously (but inevitably, given the pecking order between Doyle and his professor) makes the youthful Doyle play Watson to Bell's Holmes. Gratefully, Bell is a little less brusque with minds less active than his own than is Holmes.

Most ingeniously of all, the murder mystery that Mr. Doyle and Dr. Bell are called upon to solve is based upon a genuinely celebrated murder case from Doyle's mature years that Doyle played a principal role in resolving - though again, in this setting, as a student in the year 1879, he plays an acolyte's role.

Which murder case? I leave it to the reader to see if he recognizes it from the book, if he doesn't recognize it already. Engel himself provides the answer in his afterword.

I am only familiar with one other novel in which this device is used and that would be Bruce Alexander's "Person or Persons Unknown", the fourth in Alexander's Sir John Fielding Series, in which the Jack-the-Ripper slayings are moved backward 100 years in time from the late 19th century to the late 18th century.

Robert Louis Stevenson also makes a few cameo appearances as Doyle's college chum, and Doyle and Bell are also granted an interview with the great Disraeli ("Mr. Dizzy"). There are some annoying diversions that do not contribute to the story, and I assume that these are historical allusions that I failed to recognize. There are certainly a number of allusions to the Sherlock Holmes stories that Doyle will later write that the reader WILL recognize.

I'd like to see more murder mysteries in this vein - though I'm not sure that the world is ready for a story about Oliver Stone, as a precocious fourth-grader (in Donald J. Sobol's "Encyclopedia Brown" vein), solving a mysterious shooting at a presidential motorcade in downtown Fresno during the Eisenhower years.

I also kept getting side-tracked by all the famous (or infamous)personalities that popped up all over the book. For example, in the first chapter Beatrix Potter is despatched from the offices of the Youth's Companion in tears by the boorish behaviour of the soon-to-be-dead editor, Samuel Bassett. And I found to my dismay that I was not really following the plot so much as keeping an eye out for further such personages to creep up!

What I truly liked about this book was the descriptions of London during the winter and the Trafalgar Square Riots of 1886. Ms Rogow not only described this event masterfully but she also provides the reader with an intelligent and informative background to the event. I also found the subtle manner in which she presented class distinctions -- the way in which she portrayed the impact of these riots and what it meant to different people of different classes -- admirable.

This was not a badly written book (especially from a historical point of view); it is just a pity that so many other things got in the way of a more interesting plot that could have saved the book.

However, his anger cools when someone kills Basset. The police feel the odious editor died due to Labour Riots that rock London. Dodgson thinks otherwise. Drafting Doyle to assist him, Dodgson begins to investigate the murder of the evil editor, especially when a second murder occurs and Wilde is the prime suspect.

THE PROBLEM OF THE EVIL EDITOR is an entertaining who-done-it due to the homage paid by Roberta Rogow to her heroes and other artistic giants of the late nineteenth century. Though lacking suspense, the story line remains fun because of the interplay and wit of the cast. Readers who enjoy historical fiction and fans of the two lead protagonists will enjoy the third Doyle-Dodgson collaboration (see THE PROBLEM OF THE MISSING MISS and THE PROBLEM OF THE SPITEFUL SPIRITUALIST).

Harriet Klausner

In 1885 Portsmouth, retired sea captain Arkwright dies from what appears to be natural causes since the elderly gentleman was already deathly ill. However, Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle has some doubts as to the actual cause of death. The daughters of the deceased find Doyle's theories most interesting, and encouraged by their housekeeper, set up a seance to ask their father how he died.

Doyle and a visiting companion, Reverend Charles Dodgson feel as if they are wondering if they are looking through Alice's glasses because the housekeeper dies in the middle of the seance. As the duo works together to uncover a killer, they place themselves in potential danger of being the next victims. Still they strongly feel they must identify the murderer.

THE PROBLEM OF THE SPITEFUL SPIRITUALIST is a finely tuned, extremely original late Victorian mystery that readers of historical who-done-its, Holmes, and Carroll will immensely enjoy. The story line is complex and entertaining. However, the characters own this creative tale as readers gain an authentic feel for the era, especially through the minds of two of literature's superheavyweights. Roberta Rogow is quickly developing a following with her unique style that leaves an enjoyable aftertaste.

Harriet Klausner