|
 |
 |
|
|
|
** 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 **
Mycroft Memoranda, The (Walsh)
Casebook Message Boards: Ripper Media: Specific Titles:
Fiction :
Mycroft Memoranda, The (Walsh)
Author: Dr. Frederick Walker
Thursday, 19 November 1998 - 07:59 pm |        | Despite the title, this is not a Mycroft Holmes adventure. Sherlock's smarter brother only appears briefly in the last few chapters. The title appears to be a lame imitation of Robert Ludlum, top author at the time.
This is a straightforward Doyle pastiche. Holmes is called in by Major Smith to consult on the Lusk letter, which he pronounces genuine. Walsh is a Sherlockian dabbling in Ripper lore, with predictable results: the Holmes material is convincingly detailed, but the Ripper business is weak. Only 3 suspects are considered, Ostrog, Kosminski and the Man in Heneage Court. At least there are no royals or Freemasons! For the most part, the traditional Holmesian technique is followed. But the ending is influenced by too many bad 70s cop shows. A sudden, unsolicited tip, a hunch that it's genuine, and putting the word out on the street that the hero has already figured it out, to lay a trap for whoever obligingly turns up to kill him. Ripper buffs should be warned that strong witnesses like Schwartz and Lawende are ignored, and the unlikely solution is based on the testimony of non-canonical victim Amelia Farmer.
There is some good writing here. The best scene is in Mitre Square, where Holmes and Watson walk through the Eddowes murder, concluding that the killer needed military expertise. As Tabram was seen with a soldier, perhaps this is a point to ponder. However, this is a first novel, and there are real structural problems. It's only 186 pages long, yet Holmes only takes the case on page 63, and the killer's name is revealed on page 123. The concluding chapters deal exclusively with Sherlock and Mycroft's efforts to cover up the killer's shocking identity -- Holmes frames Druitt!
My own deduction is that this was originally a pretty good short story, stretched into a bad novel so it could be published. |
|
|
|
|
