Author: Loren D. Estleman
Publisher: Titan Books
Plot: Pretty much you get in the title – the world’s most famous detective faces off against the world’s most famous monster.
Review: There’s practically a sub-genre being built around Sherlock Holmes cross-over fiction, with the further reading list at the beginning of the book including Holmes meeting Dr. Jekyll, the Ripper, zombies, Martians and traveling on the Titanic. Not that it’s a bad thing, but it errs dangerously close to the horrifying world of fan-fiction. Except, you know…good.
It’s a slim volume, barely clocking over the 200 page mark, but like the original Holmes serials and short stories it is pulp and it’s enjoyable pulp. What sets it above the standard is the way that Estleman weaves his original story between the pages of the Stoker’s Dracula. The prologue begins in the present day with a collector trying to uncover Watson’s lost records and coming across an account of Holmes and Watson battling the Count. It explains that a conflict with Van Helsing led to omissions from the ‘official’ story.
The end result is an engaging tale of Holmes racing to uncover the secret behind the Demeter running aground with a dead crew and then rescuing Watson’s wife from his clutches as the nefarious vampire tries to make his escape from England. There are plenty of red herrings and action sequences to keep the pace up and Estleman does an admirable job of replicating Doyle’s writing style. If you’re looking for Holmes with a twist this is worth picking up.
