Bride of the Book God

I have to say up front that I absolutely loved this book, but also that whenever I picked it up I wanted to eat something savoury, because cheese figures very heavily in the plot of the novel. The main story is set in 1969 when Edward Trencom, purveyor of cheeses and owner of a quite remarkable nose, finds out that his family has been subject to what appears to be a curse for nine generations, going back to the Great Fire of London in 1666. He finds a large box of papers and begins to delve into his family’s past to try and discover how each of his direct forbears met their fates, and why they were obsessed with Constantinople and the Greeks. As Edward’s story goes forward we are presented with vignettes from the lives of said ancestors, usually at the point at which they meet their ends. Can Edward be saved from the same fate by the intervention of his wife, Elizabeth, or will he make the same mistake as those before him?

This is really, really enjoyable stuff, and you pick up quite a bit of knowledge about cheese (and history) along the way. Even though you know from the outset how Edward ends up, you aren’t told how and why until the end, which is very satisfying. I’m already pushing the Book God to read this, and would urge anyone else to give it a try also.

The last of the Holmesian marathon, and a very odd book indeed. The story itself is pretty straightforward and enjoyable; Holmes & Watson are asked to assist Sir James, the nephew of the late Professor Moriarty, who is about to be accused of a terrible crime. Livestock have been mutilated by some apparently demonic force, and now a man has been killed. Superstitious villagers blame Moriarty, and it is only a matter of time before they take matters into their own hands. A significant complication is that young Sir James loathes Holmes for what he has done to the Moriarty name and does not want his help.

Despite what turned out to be an interesting and rather gothic story, I found this book disconcerting. This was largely because of the number of photographs from the Granada TV adaptations starring Jeremy Brett. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed those dramatisations, particularly Edward Hardwick as Watson, but Brett isn’t the image I have in my head when I read a Holmes story (I’ve always been a Rathbone aficionado, despite the dodgy storylines for some of his films), and I found the illustrations more an irritant than anything else.

The book originated from Italy and was obviously meant to be the first in a series, although I haven’t found any of the others in English. Worth having a look at, but not one I think I would pick up again.

The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes by Jamyang Norbu is an attempt to fill in the gap in Holmes’ life between his apparent death at the Reichenbach Falls and his miraculous reappearance in London some two years later. Like many, it claims to be based on a  hidden or forgotten manuscript recently come to light, this time in India. It is narrated by Hurree Chunder Mookerjee, who accompanies Holmes throughout the tale.

I was particularly interested in this book because of a strong recommendation from the Book God, and also because of its Tibetan setting. It gives a flavour of what the country must have been like before the Chinese finally seized total control. It also links rather neatly with Rudyard Kipling’s Kim, sharing as it does some of the same characters (rather like Laurie King’s The Game).

I enjoyed the setting in India and Tibet, and the mystery itself is fascinating but I found the climax of the novel when the supernatural meets Holmesian logic disappointing; I must admit to not being entirely convinced. However, there was a great deal to enjoy along the way, and ultimately it doesn’t spoil a well-written yarn.