Black Butler Volume X

This was a Sherlock Holmes mystery.  I think I read nearly the same one in the last collection I read.  So I had a pretty fair idea of where this was going.  As a result, this story was very different from the others in this series.  It was less about the human condition and more about the story.  In a weird way, it felt like filler until it was time to go back to the demonic Ciel.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes

The resounding feeling I got from this collection was that Sherlock Holmes is a dick.  He frightened poor Watson and thought nothing of it.  The only friend he has was not important enough to find and tell that he wasn't dead.

The other interesting part of this collection is that Holmes is pulling away from being the main character.  He gives many tasks to Watson and just sweeps in at the end to confirm all suspicions.  Conan Doyle really was getting tired of the character at this point but must have been getting too much money to consider not writing him anymore.

Death Note Volumes 3 & 4

I couldn't find the regular editions of Death Note so ended up with this combo volume.  No matter, it got me further ahead in the story.  Ohba and Obata are really good at conveying Light's emotions as L gets closer to finding out the truth.  The second carrier of a death note has bought him a little time but not that much. 

Having read this right after The Psychopath Test was an interesting juxtaposition.  I found myself referencing the check list to confirm Light's status.  His use of Amane clearly points to him lacking empathy.  He's a strong contender for the psychopath label.

Death Note Volume 2

In the first book I could feel some empathy for Light.  He's just doing this to rid the world of evil.  I get where he's coming from even though I didn't agree with how he was doing it.  Here, he starts to attack those that would stop him and he becomes more villainous.  He's still very ingenious and that's why it's hard to put down.

Death Note Volume 1: Boredom

I can't believe that I actually like the protagonist of this series. He's a serial killer! But he is very clever, and that has to be admired. I wasn't sure when I first started this but as I continued reading I found myself appreciating the lengths that Light was going to to protect his identity and how he was manipulating those after him. I'm very curious as to L's identity. The decision to not reveal him to the readers as well is interesting. It really does make Light the hero even though what he's doing is very wrong.

Hound of the Baskervilles

This novel was quite different from the other Sherlock Holmes novels I've read, and from the short stories.  Holmes was hardly in it.  He sent Watson to do all the investigating and showed up for the climax to tell Watson that he already knew what was going on.  Plus, he had the final pieces to solve the mystery.

Not that the reader could quite solve this one.  It hinged on a portrait that we couldn't see and wasn't described by Conan Doyle.  Some of the behaviour of the villain might have given it away but he was already pegged as an eccentric so it didn't seem that unusual for him.  I did know that the hound was not a demon, and whomever was using it to scare the Baskervilles was stealing boots to give it the scent.  However, I would not have guessed at the love triangle between Baskerville and the Stapletons.  Or that Lyons was in any way important to solving the mystery unless she out and out told them what she knew.

I felt that the subplot with the convict was an unnecessary distraction.  It felt like padding the word count to give Watson something to do while he waited for Holmes to arrive and solve everything.  It gave him an excuse to be out on the moor to see Holmes in shadow but again, I didn't feel it moved the plot along to have the poor man killed.

There's apparently some suggestion that since this was written after Holmes' apparent death in The Final Problem this story does not have the real Sherlock Holmes in it.  The theory attempts to explain why Watson takes a more prominent role in this novel than he has previously.  To me, it's obvious that it's an earlier adventure of Holmes.  He and Watson are still living together at Baker Street and there is no mention of Mrs. Watson or his flourishing private practice.  It seems more likely that Conan Doyle was simply trying something new.  It's documented that he was tired of writing stories of Sherlock Holmes and had intended the character to mock skeptics.  When it became popular he felt his hand was forced to continue.  Even after purposefully killing the character so he wouldn't have to write it anymore.

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

The short stories in this volume are all over the place.  Some happen while Holmes and Watson are living at Baker Street, some happen while Watson has left to live with his wide, some even happen before Watson ever met Sherlock Holmes.  I think that Conan Doyle is trying to build a narrative, a description of Holmes that Watson has conceived, but I'm not sure. 

The final story is supposed to be the final story.  I get the feeling that Conan Doyle was just tired of writing about this one detective.  I've seen the climatic battle between Holmes and Moriarty portrayed before but the reading was anticlimactic.  The end begins with Watson receiving a completely bogus medical emergency.  I can see it's bogus, Holmes can see it's bogus but apparently Watson didn't get the message.  When he returns he cannot find his friend.  So he pulls a Prince Humperdink and is able to reenact the entire battle between the two foes.  All that's left is for him to read the three page letter that Holmes left him.  It seems that Moriarty is a gentleman and lent Holmes pen and paper to let him friend know what befell him.

I've read that (since there are more volumes after this one) that Conan Doyle had to (eventually) write how Holmes faked his death.  If it involves the whole thing being a scam by Holmes I would not be surprise.  No one but him sees Moriarty the whole story so his greatest villain may be a figment of his imagination.  The whole flight across the continent a ruse for Watson.  Maybe Sherlock Holmes really is a giant dick.

Blacksad

Hard-boiled detective stories with a anthropomorphic animals.  It's odd but it totally works.  Guarnido is able to give the characters very human expressions while still retaining their animal characteristics.  Wherever Blacksad starts a fight it looks like he's just going to tear into them tooth and claw.  There are three stories in this volume.  I liked them all and they left me wanting for more.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

I have the free Kindle classic for this one and my only complaint on that is that the special symbols (French accents and the British pound symbol) don't work in this edition.  It's still readable, just a little off in a few places.

I was expecting this to be in more chronological order than it is.  One story mentions the case of another story that I hadn't read yet.  In some ways it makes the volume more organic - as if Watson were presenting his notes from each case but collected in the way he found most interesting.  In other ways it was a little jarring as I didn't know what the characters were talking about until I had read further in the volume.

The stories are all enjoyable though, some more formulaic than others and some easier solved (if only because the answers have become very cliched).

The Sign of the Four

I'm classing this one as a mystery because it's Sherlock Holmes and there is a crime committed and a case solved but it's really more of a romance.

First, I'm not really sure what the case is. Holmes and Watson are asked to accompany a young woman to a meeting where she hopes to learn more of her father. That turns into a murder.

Second, I don't know how anyone but Holmes could have solved this case. Doyle certainly doesn't lay a trail of clues for the reader to follow. Most of the detecting happens off screen while Watson moons over the lady.

And that's why it's a romance. Watson is very sweet in his affections and he's almost rooting for Holmes to fail. If they never find the murderer then she never gets her fortune and remains within his means.

A Study in Scarlet

I've been meaning to read Sherlock Holmes for a long time. I've read The Hound of the Baskervilles but when I saw the movie it reminded me that these classics have been on my "to do" list for a while.

A Study in Scarlet is the introduction of the character. While I don't usually enjoy first person perspetive I do like Watson's voice. Doyle is able to keep the story moving at a brisk pace, as well as dropping little hints to come to the same conclusions as Holmes.

The second part of the book made little sense when I first started it. They'd just captured the murderer and Holmes was about to reveal how he got the man to appear in 221b Baker Street when suddenly the narrative switches to third person and in America. However, this was Doyle building motive for the murder. I suppose it was better than having the suspect reveal all but I found it jarring.

In the end, only Holmes could have deduced the crime. Not only because of his skill, but also because Doyle chooses not to reveal a telling clue. And that seems a little unfair.

Smoke and Mirrors

Smoke and Mirrors is an anthology from Neil Gaiman. I find I enjoy anthologies because they usually contain a wide variety of stories. Gaiman is one of my favourite authors so it's a treat to read him trying out various themes and genres.

The group starts out strong with "Chivalry". A story about the Holy Grail. It illustrates one of the things I really enjoy about Gaiman's work, taking the fantastical and making it ordinary. That the Holy Grail could be found in a thrift shop gives me the same feeling as when I looked for magical lands in closets when I was a child.

It also ends strong in "Snow, Glass, Apples" which is a story of Snow White. If only Mirror Mirror been half as good. I don't normally enjoy stories written in first perspective but I think it was very effective in this story.

That's not to say that I liked everything that was in this volume. Some of it was OK ("One Life, Furnished in Early Moorcock") and some I just didn't like ("When We Went to See the End of the World by Dawnie Morningside, Age 11 1/4") but the good far outweighs the bad.