Holmes, Marple, and Poe

I'm setting this aside at 39%. My disappointment is starting to mutate into a level of annoyance that's preventing me from engaging with the book. I'm not willing to spend another five hours on it.

I knew 'Holmes, Margaret and Poe' was a bit of a gamble but I bought the book because I liked the concept. If it worked, it would give me a whole new series to follow and if it turned out to be a graphic novel in prose, well, it might still be a smile.

As it turned out, I'm not smiling. I wouldn't finish a graphic novel with this quality of storytelling.

The book was disappointing from the start. The writing had a bare-bones, first-draft feel. It did just enough to carry the plot but not enough to stimulate my imagination. The characterisation show more was minimal and simplistic. The signs of wealth and sophistication were juvenile and unconvincing.

I started to lose sympathy with the story when I was told that the sophisticated, handsome, charismatic Poe dressed hid bed with black silk sheets (how 1970s teen boy fantasy is that?) and that the woman who has woken up in his bed is impressed by Poe's expertise in pressing and pouring coffee from a French Press. How does that count as expertise and why would a woman who is a prominent lawyer in New York be impressed by it?

Then there was the inconsistent image I got of Marple. Other characters assess Marple as young and attractive but she describes herself as 'an old lady in the corner'. What was that about?

The plot initially had a breathless pace and a level of implausibility that reminded me of an early episode of 'Scorpion'.

I almost set the book aside then.

I stuck with it because the plot branched off into multiple cases simultaneously and I hoped to get hooked by the mysteries. I was also curious about who these three people really were and how they'd come to be working together.

I was encouraged when the client in one case was an obnoxious, narcissistic, billionaire with no taste (imagine that). I liked that Marple assessed him as 'disgust at first sight'. The billionaire never became anything more than a lazily drawn stereotype. The increasingly caustic encounters between him and the team served mostly to make the team look like cocky juveniles.

It seemed to me that the storytelling wasn't able to support simultaneous mysteries being investigated. The narrative felt thin and chaotic.

The characters of Holmes, Marple and Poe did develop a little but not enough to make them interesting. Individually and collectively they felt like plot devices rather than people.

Then I started to notice how the women in the book were always described as if through eyes of a hormonal teenage boy.

Nope, I wasn't smiling any more. I no longer cared what the backstory was. I felt as though I'd been sold characters who didn't live up to the expectations set by their names.

After a little over three hours, this was a book that I was glad to set aside.

Probably the best part of the book was the narration. I liked the use of multiple narrators, I'd have liked it more if the narrator playing Marple had voiced all of Marple's dialogue. Click on the SoundCloud link below to hear a sample.

https://soundcloud.com/penguin-books/holmes-margaret-and-poe-by-james-patterson-... show less

...whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

Probably my favorite James Patterson novel of all time! It’s got the trademark snappy, short chapters you expect, with hints of Doyle, Poe and Christie woven throughout. Mysteries galore and the big one, exactly who are Brendan Holmes, Margaret Marple and Auguste Poe?

I haven't read Patterson in a while, and this was rollicking fun. The fast-paced and clipped chapters kept me turning the page just as I kept reaching for one more potato chip from my bowl. Even though the three PIs exhibit similar traits to the classic originals (Poe actually being real), I was most drawn to the fourth character, NYPD detective Helene Grey, who is a force in her own right. I see a sequel in the future.

When Holmes, Marple & Poe suddenly show up in Manhattan to open their Private Investigation Agency, they are drawn to an old brick bakery and select it for their headquarters. During the renovations, Margaret Marple finds an old newspaper clipping revealing that someone committed a decades-old unsolved murder on the building's first floor, which tells them they are in the right place. Soon, they solve a high-profile missing persons case. Though they welcome the new publicity they find by upstaging local law enforcement, the super-sleuths have already made some powerful enemies in the police department and city hall. The police commissioner assigns Detective Lieutenant Helene Grey of the NYPD to keep an eye on them, and they find show more themselves working on several cases alongside the cops in addition to their own. However, they aren't known to be afraid to rattle cages and conduct their investigations under the cloak of secrecy—even illegally at times.

As we get to know the characters, we find Marple witty, charming, and smart, Poe a connoisseur of muscle cars and a bit of a lady's man, and Holmes, who has a super sense of smell, also has a heroin addiction. The plot is fast-moving and entertaining as the trio risk their lives to solve case after case while trying to keep themselves out of jail for overstepping their authority in law enforcement. I found this another delightful series to follow. show less

What a fun read!

Thinking Marvel hero characters or scenes from Red is no stretch of the imagination when considering this title.
There’s a brilliant lineup of characters who, apart from sharing names with three of literatures greatest detectives, are also about as mysterious as you can get.
Each with their individual, merging peccadilloes. Auguste Poe enjoys fantastic, glorious cars, and from what we can gather, has a dead wife he can’t get over. Brendan Holmes has an extended olfactory sense and a heroin habit. Margaret Marples seems retiring, drinks sherry and is a kick “a” person with a photographic memory and friends in places way beyond High.
They’ve recently opened an agency in New York in an improbable location. They are show more currently investigating at least three cases that look like extending into something else. Then there’s the case closer to home!
Normally I’m a tad “Ho Hum” with Brian Patterson but I well and truly bought into the idiosyncrasies of these three wonderfully crafted characters.
Then there’s NYPD Detective Lieutenant Helene Grey is quietly investigating the three!
Improbable and impressive! Sit back and enjoy a crazy ride!

A Little, Brown & Co. ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher. show less

In this detective agency, Holmes is the brain, Marple is the eyes, and Poe is the muscle. It’s interesting that the characters have some of the same character flaws as their “namesakes.” Holmes is a drug addict and Poe likes to drink too much. Marple seems to be the most well adjusted, but she, too, may be a bit too interested in the lives of others, although that comes in handy in the agency. The story is well crafted, with more than just one case to solve. The trio works well together, but that doesn’t mean they don’t go solo or in pairs to search out clues. They do put themselves in harm’s way, but (and this is not a spoiler), they all survive. They have to, if this is the first in a likely series. The agency acquires a show more receptionist/secretary/Girl Friday who quite an asset to the agency and the story. It’s an entertaining and intriguing novel, suspenseful from the beginning to the end. show less

I really enjoyed this fast paced thriller with three very interesting private investigators. I really liked getting Marple and Poes characters but I was only ok with Holmes character. I loved the different cases that they solve and getting to know each of the characters. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.