James Lovegrove is the author of new Sherlock Holmes adventures, the Lovecraft/Doyle inspired Cthulhu Casebooks, and tie-in fiction for the Firefly TV series and movie, along with other novels. His latest, Sherlock Holmes and the Beast of the Stapletons, is a clever, satisfying follow-up to The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Spoiler alert if you haven’t read The Hound of the Baskervilles: In 1889, Sherlock Holmes shot and killed a monstrous hound with phosphorus eyes just as it attacked Sir Henry Baskerville. The dog’s owner, naturalist Jack Stapleton, was a Baskerville descendent who hoped to inherit the Baskerville fortune and estate. Instead, he ended up dying, lost in Great Grimpen Mire.

End spoiler.

Almost five years after the events that still haunt Dr. John Watson, a friend of Sir Henry Baskerville’s shows up at 221B Baker Street, asking for Holmes’ help. Corporal Benjamin Grier was a Buffalo Soldier who knows Baskerville as a fellow Freemason. He reports that Sir Henry happily married, and now has a three-year-old son named Harry. But, Sir Henry’s wife was attacked and killed on the moors one night by a beast that drained her blood. Now, Baskerville is once again half-mad about the family curse, determined to fend off all visitors with his rifle, in order to keep Harry safe. He ordered Grier away from the house, which is why Grier came to seek Holmes’ assistance.

Terrified of dogs after the previous encounter in Dartmoor, Dr. Watson refuses to accompany Holmes. Sherlock Holmes returns to London to relate the entire story to his friend, in his methodical step-by-step manner. But, something about the solution to the case troubles Holmes. And, he’s right. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson will have to return to the scene of the crime before they can successfully solve the case of Sherlock Holmes and the Beast of the Stapletons.

Lovegrove’s solutions to this story are satisfying enough for causal fans of the Sherlock Holmes canon. Although I’ve read all of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, I never studied them to know if true students of the works will be happy with this pastiche. However, for the casual reader, the pacing, the atmosphere, and the characters work beautifully. The summary of The Hound of the Baskerville story, necessary to carry on to the next step, was well-done. I have one complaint, and it’s a personal grievance. This is the third Holmes pastiche I’ve read in which there is a long sea voyage to South America. What is it about South America that draws writers of these books?

James Lovegrove’s website is www.jameslovegrove.com

Sherlock Holmes and the Beast of the Stapletons by James Lovegrove. Titan Books, 2020. ISBN 9781789094695 (trade paperback), 384p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a .pdf to review for a journal.