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** This is an archived, static copy of the Casebook messages boards dating from 1998 to 2003. These threads cannot be replied to here. If you want to participate in our current forums please go to https://forum.casebook.org **
Whitechapel Horrors: A Sherlock Holmes Novel, The (Hanna)
Casebook Message Boards: Ripper Media: Specific Titles:
Fiction :
Whitechapel Horrors: A Sherlock Holmes Novel, The (Hanna)
Author: Cyranna Eco
Thursday, 19 November 1998 - 08:04 pm |        | *Spoiler*
Not being a die-hard Sherlock Holmes fan, I wasn't overly excited at the prospect of a "new" Holmes book which would tie in to the Jack the Ripper slayings. My attitude soon changed, however, right from the first few pages.
I've read enough Holmes to know the basics of his character, and to the best of my admittedly limited knowledge, Hanna stuck with it extremely well. All the intrigue, the mystery, the simplistic deduction, and the inevitable conceit of Holmes are present and revealed with flying colors throughout the novel.
Holmes fans will no doubt adore the links Hanna makes between this case and other Holmesian cases (such as Hound of the Baskervilles) as well as the ubiquitous quotes from various other Holmes mysteries at the onset of each chapter. The Holmes fans will also enjoy Hanna's explanation for Holmes' disappearance between 1891 and 1894.
But how does it rank as a "Ripper" fiction? That depends on what you look for in a work like this. Admittedly, this is the first "Ripper" fiction I've allowed myself to read, for (like our friend Holmes) I've always tried to shy away from any information which could cloud the true facts of the case -- a feat such books undoubtedly suceed in. But, regardless of my shallow experience in such works, I must say it was quite an enjoyable and thought-provoking read.
All the facts of the case (though admittedly some were incorrect, such as the fictitious rings of Chapman and the "decoration" of Kelly's room with her entrails) are present and skillfully weaved into the plot. Characters such as Abberline and Warren are given voices one can deem consistent with the facts we have about their characters. Kudos to Hanna as well for his incorporation of the Underground passageways as a possible escape route for the Ripper.
The suspects are weaved just as skillfully, and names such as Sir William Gull, John Pizer, Prince "Eddy," even Churchill are thrown about into the equation. The climax is thrilling and causes the reader to flip through the final pages like a scurrying lunatic, jumping from one suspect to another, each more promising than the next. The conclusion, perhaps the only fitting Holmesian conclusion, remains tucked away in the mind of our favorite detective, and the reader is left on the final page wondering whether or not Holmes really did know the Ripper's identity.
Highly recommended from this reader -- so much so that it's driven me to abandon my previous ban on "Ripper" fiction. |
Author: tom alessandri
Saturday, 02 December 2000 - 05:39 pm | | I very much concur with C. Eco's assessment of Hanna's marvelous book. I have been collecting and reading Holmes for the past 40 years, and this is one of the best pastiches ever done. I can only hope that Hanna does more on the Holmesian side, though I think he has exhausted what he can do re: saucy jack.
There would appear to be something inherently apt in considering the "meeting" of these two minds: the Great Detective and the Great Menace. Another Holmes pastiche (I believe THE LAST SHERLOCK HOLMES STORY--title may be wrong) actually tried to posit that Holmes himself was the Ripper--and suffering from a schizoid splitting that Watson comes to diagnose to his horror.
Again, this Hanna novel is a must for ANY Holmesian and any follower of the Jack stories. |
Author: David M. Radka
Saturday, 02 December 2000 - 10:58 pm | | I bought this book when it first came out, and didn't think much of it. Lots of times Hanna doesn't bother to embed enough authentic cultural pixels in his descriptions of 1888 Whitechapel--I was able to spot fairly easily where a man of the 1990s was making believe he was a man of the 1880s. Too many swish pans for this camper. Not a bad story line, though.
David
(Not that I claim to be able to comprehend the Brits.) |
Author: Graham Sheehan
Sunday, 03 December 2000 - 04:59 pm | | | I'll have to track down this novel; sounds like it may be pretty good. Fans of Holmes pastiche with an authentic flavour should check out The Giant Rat of Sumatra by Richard L Boyer, quite probably the best non-canonical piece ever written. Not Jack related, but excellent nonetheless. |
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