Who Killed Sherlock Holmes by Paul Cornell (Shadow Police #3)

Who Killed Sherlock Holmes? by Paul Cornell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Jacket Blurb: 
Someone has murdered the ghost of Sherlock Holmes. As a fictional character remembered by the people of London, Holmes’ ghost walked the city, and now someone has put a ceremonial dagger through his chest. What could be the motive? The small team of Metropolitan Police detectives who have The Sight find themselves pursuing a criminal genius who soon lures them into a Sherlockian maze of too many clues and too much evidence. Ross finds herself drawn to an actor who may or may not be a deity, and goes on a quest to win back her happiness. Lofhouse seeks the answers, finally, about why she brought the team together. Quill battles for his sanity. Costain battles for his soul. And Sefton just wants to bring his team back together, even if that takes him to the edge of death.



Read for September book group.

Book three in the Shadow Police series, and of the three to date so far, not my favorite.

Premise of the book is, someone or something killed Sherlock Holmes, and is now repeating murders taken from Conan Doyle's books. Quill has gone of the rails with the threat of Hell looming over anyone who has ever lived in London, a threat he feels he can't share with anyone. Costain is trying to make amends to Ross. Ross is fighting to get her happiness back. Sefton just wants everyone to start working together again and confronts their boss, Lofthouse for the secrets she's carrying. Lofthouse wants to rid her Husband of the thing that's holding him - them - hostage.

There is a lot going on in this book, and all the separate plot lines became rather garbled which gave me me the impression of character frantic-ness rather than characters solving a mystery. Quill is going insane, and the group just keeps shrugging and plugging along. Ross is sidetracked with romance and her quest to get her happiness back. Costain is obsessing about Ross. Sefton is kinda lost in the muddle of the other plots. Lofthouse is working on her own mystery.

So...where's the mystery? The info is up on the ops board at the portakabin, the group is one step behind the murders, then BAM! Everything comes together in a lightening bolt of clarity and resolution complete with bright shiny bows. Which left me feeling kinda annoyed.

The other thing that I had to wonder about, was this book the product of inspiration from the current popularity of the PBS Sherlock and Elementary? Did Mr. Cornell attempt to incorporate a well known actor much like he incorporated Neil Gaiman in the previous book? I kinda got that impression.
I did enjoy the idea that London "remembers", that people create the ghosts, that the ghosts are a 'remembering' of all [Sherlocks], not just the current one.  And this is really, the premise behind Quill's team.  

Ultimately, an interesting read that just didn't grab me with as much novelty as the previous two books. Recommended if you've been reading the series. Not mean to be a stand-alone.



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