I didnt realize Sherlock had a clear beginning. Lol! The beginning narrative is very good. We are introduced to Watson and Holmes. We get to know their habits and characters and a certain personal background. We learn how they meet and end up living together and how they end up solving crimes. All of it is precious background I didn't even know was out there, so it was very much appreciated and enjoyed.
What I DIDN'T like was book II. WTF? Here I am very much into who killed these men and how they did it and hurray, Sherlock tricks and captures a cabbie and just when I am the most invested and at the edge of my seat waiting for the explanation........BAM! We begin Book II and start a whole new narrative somewhere in buttville Utah with characters I don't know or care about! This painful Drabble goes on for 3 whole chapters! I was so confused. I had to google it and make sure I was still reading the right story. Maybe if the point of view would have shifted earlier on, kind of like how some modern authors, switch between the antagonist and protagonist or between the past and present from the beginning it would have made it more palatable and easier to follow.
As it was, for me, it came out of left field, and even though it explained a lot as to WHY these murders were committed, I could have done without it. I'm still mad I had to read it! We get it. Revenge. Move on!!!!!
Grrr! The other major thing I took exception to, was when we FINALLY get back to our story and it's regular narrative, by now I don't really care and I've lost interest for the why (even tho we are STILL tortured with another in-depth narrative) and want to know the how. How did Sherlock solve it? Well, by the time we get to the last 3 pages that has the answer, I read it more just to read it than because I'm actually interested.
I'm pretty critical, but I try not to sugar coat it. I still give it 4 out of 5 and I do take into account that the book was not originally published as a full novel, but as snippets in a magazine, also that it is Doyles first book, so all in all, not bad. I did enjoy the story (most of it anyway) and am looking forward to The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, which thankfully, is back to short stories.
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