Sherlock Holmes and the Nine-Dragon Sigil- Tim Symonds

   Firstly, I’m not a raving fan of the fictitious Sherlock Holmes, though I’m certainly an admirer of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I read several Sherlock books in my younger years enjoying their adventure and appreciated their cleverly weaved plots, even if it was other works of Doyle that really grabbed me. Professor Challenger, who first appeared in ‘The Lost World’ has always been my favourite character. So a weak amateur fan of the original books though I am, I couldn’t but enjoy how genuine this read felt. I could have easily been fooled into thinking that this was the writing of the great man himself, even though this is as much historical fiction as the team once of Baker Street. Further, once embroiled in unmasking the sinister, even the plot was worthy of the Sherlock Holmes stamp.

  This book is not only brilliantly written, it is exceedingly well researched. I enjoyed the detail in the history every bit as much as the story itself. The historical fiction is as clever as the stylistically accurate incorporation of by far the two most famous characters of Doyle’s huge imagination—two characters as famous as any in literary fiction.

   I very much enjoyed the ‘glossary’ at the end of the book, which gave depth to so much of the period detail. This additional information doesn’t add to, or subtract from, the story itself, but certainly gives readers such as I, ignorant of Chinese history, a much needed and speedy education. All the detail is self-explanatory enough in the run of the story, however, the additional information rounds off this reading experience quite delightfully.

   I recommend this book to fans of Sherlock Holmes, lovers of historical fiction and to all those that like a wide variety of well-written fiction. I will be looking to read further books from Tim Symonds’ pen.

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