Sherlock Holmes: Death Cloud

 Sherlock Holmes: Death Cloud (2010) by Andrew Lane

Meet the young Sherlock Holmes--who, by the way, bears very little resemblance to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes. It's possible he's the teenage version of Robert Downey Jr's Holmes. Yeah, I'm more likely to believe that one.

So 1868...Sherlock has been at the Deepdene School for Boys. It's the summer holidays and he's waiting for his father to take him home--only Father isn't coming (he's been sent off to India) and Mycroft has come to take his brother to their uncle's house--an uncle and aunt that he's never met in an area of England that's he's never been. It's going to be lovely--the relatives are distant and there's a housekeeper who seems to be some sort of Mrs. Danvers (from Rebecca) proto-type. On the plus side, he makes friends with another boy, Matty Arnatt, and he winds up with a pretty cool tutor, Mr. Amyus Crowe. And...he finds himself in the middle of his first mystery...

Two men in the Farnham area die mysteriously--covered with angry red welts reminiscent of the plague. Just before the first man is found dead, Matty Arnatt saw what he describes as dark cloud that moved as if it had a mind of its own. The two boys and Sherlock's tutor find themselves in the middle of an evil plot that threatens Britain's safety (because of course it does). And, of course, Sherlock's first adventure pits him (and his friends) against an evil mastermind with hordes of bad guys at his command (Remind you of anyone already in the Holmes canon? But, no, it's not him.)

My thoughts: Where on earth is the early evidence of the brilliant mind of the world's first consulting detective? It's not in young Holmes. Instead, we have Amyus Crowe who has all of the Sherlock Holmes traits and who spouts many of Holmes's famous lines (everything from how to stock the lumber room of your mind to "when you eliminate the impossible..."). Young Holmes, who by the way is fourteen and has only had some boxing in school, seems best fit to beat up on the hordes of bad guys commanded by the evil genius. Yes, folks, the teenage Holmes can fight grown men (some hardened criminals) and come out the victor! Most of the time he seems dumber than a box of rocks, but when it comes to using his brain to figure out clever ways to beat up the baddies then suddenly he's firing on all cylinders. Apologies for the mixed metaphors. I'm not the world's smartest detective, but I figured out long before it was revealed what the "death cloud" was. 

This is not the story I was expecting from a book about the teenage Holmes. Going up against a big criminal organization? Deranged mastermind who wants to bring down the British Empire? Deranged mastermind who can only move around using wires as if he's some kind of life-size marionette? Sounds more like a proto-James Bond versus supervillain to me. And it might have worked out a heck of a lot better (story-wise and interest-wise) if Sherlock actually seemed smarter than average--but he doesn't. Matty is smarter than Sherlock. Matty has to explain so many things to Sherlock. Fans of Sherlock Holmes are used to him being the smartest person on the page. And he's not.

Oh...and one final thing. Why on earth did we introduce the antagonistic Mrs. Danvers-like character. All she does is stand around and glare at Sherlock and whisper things like "You're not welcome here, boy." But she does so to no purpose. Sorry if it's a spoiler--but she has absolutely nothing to do with the plot. Nothing. I have no idea why Lane thought he needed to add this pointless antagonist to the Holmes household. You meet her and think she must have some sort of hold over Sherringford Holmes and/or his wife and that this is going to be relevant to the plot in some way. Nope. Unless Lane plans on carrying this little side story forward and making it relevant later in the series, this was just wasted space on the page. [And for the record--I don't plan on finding out. Not interested enough to go on with the series.]

It would be nice if those in charge of the estates of some of our greatest detective novelists actually seemed to care about the legacy of the work instead of making more money based on their forbears' genius (Christie estate, I'm particularly looking at you). This is "the first teen series endorsed by the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Estate" and one wonders if those in charge have actually read Doyle's work.

★★ , but only because I actually like Amyus Crowe, his daughter Virginia, and Matty. Sherlock is okay--for an average teenager. I just wish he were more Holmes-like. If the rating were based on resemblance to the original Sherlock Holmes, then I'd be tempted to hand out no stars.

First line (Prologue): The first time Matthew Arnatt saw the cloud of death, it was floating out the first-floor window of a house near where he was living.

First lines (1st Chapter): "You there! Come here!"

Last line: Which meant that he could never rest either.
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Deaths = 5 (two natural; three stung to death)