The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes

I hope Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is resting in peace; should he ever read this novel, he would be aghast. There are so many Holmes’ retellings and adaptations and some of them have merit; this is not one of them.

In 1910, seven years after the death of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson and his son, Dr. John Watson, end up joining Joanna Blalock (Holmes’ daughter with Irene Adler) to investigate the death of Charles Harrelston. His family disputes the ruling of his death as a suicide. As the trio investigates, more deaths occur, all linked to Christopher Moran, whose father was Sherlock Holmes’ enemy.

The majority of characters are the children of the original cast. Besides the three already mentioned, Miss Hudson and Inspector Lestrade are show more the children of Mrs. Hudson and the Scotland Yard inspector respectively. Even a dog has connections to a dog in The Sign of Four?! A grandchild has the same birthmark as his grandfather? And each of the children has exactly the same role as the parent?! Obviously, there are no kudos to the author for originality.

Joanna is supposed to be very observant and intelligent but any astute reader will find the clues obvious and her deductions predictable. The only time the reader cannot make identical deductions is if information is withheld. This woman is unfamiliar with the Star of David (127)? This woman, a nurse who has attended autopsies, doesn’t know about petechiae?

She is not the only character who doesn’t always know what would be expected. Dr. Watson is so dense that he seems to have learned nothing from his time with Sherlock. For example, he keeps being shocked at the fact that murderers come from all walks of life: “’A doctor and a fusilier, and he turns out to be a cold-blooded murderer!’” (61) and “’A distinguished doctor with aristocratic bearing, and he commits blatant murder’” (119). Neither he nor his son, both medical doctors, wouldn’t immediately recognize a tourniquet (120)? Dr. Watson, a pathologist, doesn’t know that a walking stick with a rounded top would cause a round fracture until he is given a demonstration (84)?

Furthermore, some of their actions make no logical sense. When they find an intruder, they attack him and could easily subdue him but they just let him go (219)? The trio approach an expert to help them decode a message, but don’t show him the actual message until the expert says, “’Perhaps if I examined the message I might be able to give more assistance’” (183)? Joanna has to come out of hiding to examine an object when Dr. Watson could have easily done that (163) and not risked exposure? Then in another pivotal scene, the person charged with watching the criminal’s every move isn’t the one who has the revolver (279)? They place a patient who has undergone a serious, life-threatening procedure in a side room full of medical equipment and supplies (266) “where he could be carefully monitored” (286)?

There are other things that make no sense. A tourniquet used by a criminal “’must have slipped beneath the cushion [of a chair] where [he] could not find it’” (120)? Dr. Watson is given four sutures for an incision “barely deep enough to break the skin” and must be told to watch for infection (219)? The trio is almost run down by a horse and carriage on a foggy night and they assume it is a deliberate act perpetrated by the mastermind criminal even though he would have no way of knowing they would be out (271-272)?

Of course, everyone else is even more incompetent. Inspector Lestrade knows nothing about carrying out an investigation since he doesn’t even examine the scene of a death. The pathologist who examines the body of the first victim likewise makes assumptions. Joanna and the Watsons seem astute only because everyone else is totally inept.

What is especially irritating is that the author thinks the reader is stupid too. There is so much mansplaining. The reader is told all about the Rosetta Stone (178) and given the astonishing information that the letter e is the most commonly used letter in the English language (179-180). Nearsightedness is explained as though the word itself isn’t self-explanatory (35). Does anyone not know that if a person chokes on his own vomit, there would be evidence of it in and about his lips and mouth (103)?

Dialogue is stilted and unnatural. Dr. Watson resides at 221b Baker Street and during a conversation there says, “’Some years later there was a knock on the door to [Sherlock’s] rooms at 221b Baker Street’” (66)? A child, speaking to his mother about his dog, says, “’I have noticed this [behaviour] on numerous occasions with our golden retriever, Oliver’” (170). The mother wouldn’t know the breed of the dog in her home?

Though the book may be intended as a form of homage, it is a very amateurish attempt to copy Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I certainly would not recommend it to a Sherlockian.

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As the title proclaims, one of the main characters is a woman who is the result of a cocaine-fueled one-night stand between Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler, both now long dead. (Do YOU buy that? Yeah, me neither.) She has inherited brains and beauty from her esteemed parents (her mother having placed her for adoption before birth with Dr. Watson's assistance). She has Sherlock's uncanny capacity for deduction, but as presented in this story, it's not so much that she is brilliant, as that everyone around her (the original Dr. Watson, his son John, and several other descendants of the original set of characters) is remarkably dim. Every observation she makes is laid out in obvious fashion for the reader, who easily gets there well before show more she has to explain it to her colleagues; there is endless astonishment at her skills from everyone except the current Inspector Lestrade, who seems a bit sharper than the rest of the tacks in the box. She leads the Watsons, Lestrade, and a terrier named Toby Two (oh, yes, even the dog is descended from one created by Conan Doyle) around by the nose, as it were, until two murders and one attempt have been solved and/or foiled. The writing is uneven, the dialog wretched; it seemed the author couldn't quite decide what decade...or century...his characters ought to settle in. There's a bit of fatuous romance thrown in as well. If this was meant as an homage to Conan Doyle, the good doctor should feel insulted. If you've read any of the original work, you will want to steer well clear of this ....not to put too fine a point upon it....rip-off. There are so many better attempts to carry on that legacy. show less

A mystery novel set when John Watson is in his old age, Sherlock Holmes has died, and Watson’s son John has become a doctor. They cross paths with Sherlock’s daughter Joanna (who has inherited his smarts and knack for deductive reasoning) and all solve a mystery together. I enjoyed this fairly well as I was going along, but the more I thought about it in the end the more some things irritated me. There were an *awful lot* of children of Doylean characters running around in this story, and some of Joanna’s deductions bugged me in the same ways that Sherlock’s deductions bug me in the original stories (they *could* be true, but at least three or four alternatives always immediately suggest themselves). Worth reading, though I show more don’t know that I’ll bother with any more, should there be any. I read this with a friend, and our discussion of it was great, so at least it sparked lively conversation. show less

An elderly Dr. John Watson continues to accept callers at 221B to offer advice as he can after the death of his friend Sherlock Holmes. When a young lady brings the matter of her rother's suicide to him and he learns of Joanna Blalock's presence at the scene, Dr. Watson rushes to investigate with his son by his side. Together with Mrs. Blalock, they follow the clues to bring a murderer to justice.

The writing style and tone of this book is both its strength and its weakness. It sounds like it belongs in the Arthur Conan Doyle world. The pace is just like the original stories, and the mystery such that it would not be out of place alongside the originals. There is a romance that is so much like what Conan Doyle would have written!

At the show more same time, it is a weakness because this is NOT a Sherlock Holmes story. These are supposed to be the children of the characters from the original canon. (Even Toby the dog's offspring figure in as Toby Two.) Instead of each one having their own personality, they are echoes of their parents. Miss Hudson is the housekeeper of 221 Baker Street. Inspector Lestrade bumbles his way in Scotland Yard just as his father did. John Watson Jr is a doctor as his father was. Joanna Blalock is the epitome of Sherlock Holmes as a woman.

I lost count of how many times Joanna is proclaimed as extraordinary and enchanting. Dr. Watson the younger theorizes she may be even more brilliant than Sherlock Holmes due to her having inherited part of Irene Adler's intelligence (I very much doubt that). She's also supposed to be charming, but I didn't see it at all.

It's not the worst daughter of Sherlock Holmes story I've read, but it definitely irritated me.

For fans of Sherlock Holmes who are willing to keep an open mind, this probably would be a good choice. show less

Excited when I saw this title; as I have always been a Sherlock/Watson Fan. Book takes place in a time period years after the death of Sherlock Holmes and centers on Dr. Watson and his son also Dr. Watson. Dr. Watson still living at 221b Baker Street is visited by his son John weekly to monitor his health and well being. A boost in Dr. Watson's spirits arrives in the form of a plea to investigate a suicide that turns out to be murder. Leads are followed and a women of extraordinary insight and intuitive observations is encountered. Lovely story of the talents that are passed along to generations of the future. Pathology, Murder, Romance, and amazing characters young and old make this work by Leonard Goldberg a read not to miss. St. show more Martin's Press/Minotaur via Netgalley supplied me a copy with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read and my comments here are my honest opinion. show less

This story takes place in 1914. Dr. Watson is living at 221B Baker Street but Holmes has passed away. When a young woman comes to Watson to ask him to look into the apparent suicide of her brother, Watson calls on his son John Watson Jr. to act as his assistant.

They are quickly joined in their investigation by one of the witnesses to the death. Mrs. Joanna Blalock and her young son were walking by the site. Watson knows Mrs. Blalock and confides to his son that she is the daughter of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler who was put up for adoption at birth. Her mother didn't long survive the birth and Holmes knew he wouldn't make a good father. Watson believes that she doesn't know about her parentage. He only tells his son because there is show more a trust for Mrs. Blalock that John will administer after his father's death.

Joanna grew up, became a nurse, married, had a child and was widowed. She always had a powerful intellect and great powers of observation. She read widely including works by Holmes about being an investigator. Her son Johnny is the very image of Sherlock as a young boy and looks to be his equal in intelligence and observation.

Together the three investigate and learn that the first victim was to be followed by two more victims leaving the murderer in sole possession of a treasure stolen during the Second Afghan War and kept secret for these many years.

I liked the action in the story and the shadow of the original Sherlock Holmes' stories that are glimpsed in this one. I thought the characters were a trifle one-sided with Watson being primarily a cheerleader praising Joanna for her marvelous deductions and Joanna herself being primarily noted for her intelligence. The younger Doctor Watson did have a good part to play but I found his immediate attraction to Joanna to be a little unbelievable.

The story was told by the younger Doctor Watson and narrated by Steve West who had a quite convincing British accent. I was amused by the various pronunciations of some words that are so different than American English. show less

Good start for a possible new series. Fast moving with an interesting mashup of old and new Holmesian characters. We meet Joanna Blalock whose likely antecedents are Holmes and Irene Adler; resulting from one night of alcohol and cocaine infused lust. The whole seems to be somewhat greater than the sum of its parts as Joanna's intellect and prodigious memory appears to go beyond that of her parents. Watson's son, a pathologist, is introduced and a new team of investigative detectives evolves. An apparent suicide sets off a chain of deadly events with roots emanating from one of Britain's numerous Imperial Wars.