shadwellBy James Lovegrove

Titan, out now

The true history of Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Watson and their encounters with malevolent powers revealed at last…

We’ve had plenty of mash-ups involving Sherlock Holmes over the years – taking him into encounters with Fu Manchu, Dracula and numerous other literary figures – but not too many of these manage to be true to both the formats that they’re amalgamating. James Lovegrove’s Sherlock Holmes/H.P. Lovecraft combination is, like Paul Kane’s Hellraiser crossover earlier this year, one of the few that succeeds admirably, not just as a Holmes tale, but also as a contribution to the mythos of the Old Ones. Having edited a collection of tales featuring the latter in recent months, I know how easy it is for writers to latch onto certain elements and not embrace everything that Lovecraft (and his successors) brought to the table. However Lovegrove not only keeps the demonic parts accurate, but also the sense of mounting dread that Lovecraft imbued in his tales. (I’ll take Lovegrove’s claims of relationship to Lovecraft that are mentioned in the introduction with a pillar of salt…)

Lovegrove’s recent Holmes stories have likewise been true to the Conan Doyle canon, in particular the “voices” of Holmes and Watson, and that transfers to this volume, albeit that he takes the Great Detective and his loyal friend into areas that Doyle would probably have deemed inappropriate (Professor Challenger, on the other hand…) This allows Lovegrove to lead the reader into an alternate history of the pair, with recognisable events and characters seen in a new light. I won’t spoil some of the surprises, but you won’t be too shocked at some of the encounters.

Of necessity, there’s a pulpy feel to large sections of this but that’s as it should be. Lovegrove keeps the plot moving rapidly, while allowing the reader to savour the different shades in which he’s painting the central characters.

Verdict: An excellent start to a very different trilogy. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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