Through a Glass Starkly

A Sherlock Holmes Adventure

By: Richard T. Ryan

Narrated by: Luke Barton

Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

After surviving an attempt on his life in Paris, Sherlock Holmes returns to London, where the great detective is almost immediately enlisted by his brother to secure the safety of the delegates at a top-secret peace conference. With Europe a veritable powder keg in the years before World War I, Holmes understands any misstep on his part could prove fatal and possibly plunge the continent into war.

However, after pledging to do his utmost for "King and Country", Holmes suddenly finds himself overwhelmed by an onslaught of cases. An old friend requests his assistance in recovering a priceless manuscript which has gone missing from the British Museum. Accused of accepting bribes from a smuggling ring, Inspector Lestrade, who has been suspended from Scotland Yard, turns to Holmes for help. Add in a beautiful newlywed who claims her husband is trying to murder her, and it is easy to see why Watson compares the tasks confronting his friend to the Labours of Hercules.

From a secret pied-à-terre in the City of Lights, to the Rare Book Room in the British Museum, to the Whispering Gallery in St. Paul's Cathedral, to the waterfront along the Thames, Holmes and Watson find themselves on the trail of an elusive quarry for whom murder is merely another move in an elaborate game of cat and mouse.

©2020 Richard Ryan (P)2020 MX Publishing

Well-constructed Mystery

A mystery worthy of inclusion in the Canon. It is well written and well performed.

not humorous

this book was listed among the humorous books so I bought it hoping for something along the lines of Warlock Holmes or Inspector Hobbs. but it is the usual Sherlock Holmes' style knockoff.

if you want humor I recommend the books that I mentioned. if you just want Sherlock Holmes reimagined, go ahead.

Top-shelf in all respects

This is an exciting and very creative pastiche that stands alone among many modern attempts to keep Sherlock Holmes alive. The story is fantastic and the narration is brilliant. I highly recommend!

A good read

This Sherlock pastiche fills the gap when wanting more Holmes stories. It has an engaging set of mysteries and ticks all the classic Sherlock boxes, and then some….

Another great story by this author!

A great story about international intrigue on the eve of the Great War. Holmes is brought into the mystery by his brother to secure a secret meeting that will be hold in the hopes of avoiding the war that everybody sees coming. The plot is complex and truly engaging, although I was a bit disappointed that I see the trick with all the cases even before than Holmes :P

The telling is really well done, with the plethora of details that is usual in Mr Ryan books and that I enjoy so much :D I loved to see how Lestrade's case was truly important to Holmes, not just another problem to solve. And Wiggings all grown up! *laughs* Yeah, I don't think this Wiggins would be willing to be part of the Yard :P

Having Mycroft vouching for both, Watson and Lestrade's trustworthiness was also lovely. About time, I'd say! *laughs*

Luke Barton's narration was really great and a good part of my enjoyment.

If you want a good, traditional Holmes and Watson story, this is for you :)

On par with Sherlock Holmes!

Sometimes you wonder, with regards to newer written and published Sherlock Holmes mysteries, if the book can live up to what it means to be a Sherlock Holmes mystery. Let's face it, it is a hard boot to step into. But this has been a joy to listen to and lives up to the role it wants to play. Highly Recommend it!

A superb Sherlock Holmes pastiche!

The quality of the writing, and the narration, of the various Sherlock Holmes pastiches I've received free copies of, listened to, and reviewed, varies greatly. Some of them are just not up to scratch. Some authors don't have a good feel for Holmes style stories. Some narrators simply lack the vocabulary to read them properly.

This tale suffers from neither of those problems. First, the mystery itself was well constructed. It felt very Holmesian. In fact, it is what I wished ACD had done with his Holmes novels. One of the things I disliked about the original novels is that half the novel was back story, and did not feature Holmes. And I was reading them to see Holmes in action. Here, it was Holmes, Holmes, Holmes!

I also appreciated the fact that, while Mycroft does appear, he is neither a deus ex machina nor a macguffin. He was involved, but it was definitely Sherlock's mystery to unravel. Actually, make that mysteries, as Holmes goes from a state of ennui to having more cases than he can deal with (or so Watson believes). But being Holmes, he begins to unravel the threads, finding his true adversary, who is definitely a worthy foe.

And now for the narration. It was outstanding! When I heard him read the names of the people and places Holmes visited in France, he utterly nailed the pronunciation, and I knew he would not be one of those who lacked the vocabulary to correctly read a Holmes story. In fact, at one point he pronounced the name of the Russian alphabet (Cyrillic) with a hard 'K' at the beginning. I thought, "That's not right." Then I looked up how the Russians pronounce it, and by jingo, it was with a hard 'K.' So my hat is definitely off to you, dear narrator. I anticipate with great pleasure listening to other Holmes audiobooks you've read for us.

So to sum up, run, don't walk, to get this audio book if you are any sort of fan of new Sherlock Holmes stories.