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"At long last, an author of rare talent combines a thorough, enthusiastic knowledge of the Sherlock Holmes canon with truly rigorous research into, and respect for, what remains one of the greatest and most horrifying unsolved murder cases in modern history: the Jack the Ripper killings. Where others have failed, Lyndsay Faye's extremely impressive debut novel succeeds, on every level, providing thrilling entertainment without blatant exploitation. It will instantly take a place of distinction among the best attempts of contemporary authors to continue the work of Arthur Conan Doyle, and is, quite simply, a must for Holmes fans and Ripperologists alike."-- Caleb Carr, author of "The Alienist" and" Killing Time"
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Product Description
In Dust and Shadow Sherlock Holmes hunts down Jack the Ripper with impeccably accurate historical detail, rooting the Whitechapel investigation in the fledgling days of tabloid journalism and clinical psychology. This astonishing debut explores the terrifying prospect of hunting down one of the world's first serial killers without the advantage of modern forensics or profiling. Sherlock's desire to stop the killer who is terrifying the East End of London is unwavering from the start, and in an effort to do so he hires an "unfortuate" known as Mary Ann Monk, the friend of a fellow streetwalker who was one of the Ripper's earliest victims. However, when Holmes himself is wounded in Whitechapel attempting to catch the villain, and a series of articles in the popular press question his role in the crimes, he must use all his resources in a desperate race to find the man known as "The Knife" before it is too late. Penned as a pastiche by the loyal and courageous Dr. Watson, Dust and Shadow recalls the ideals evinced by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most beloved and world-renowned characters, while testing the limits of their strength in a fight to protect the women of London, Scotland Yard, and the peace of the city itself.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Sherlock Holmes once again tackles the mystery of Jack the Ripper in Lyndsay Faye's 2009 debut novel Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson. The potential for a fictional face-off between literature's master detective and the most infamous murderer in British criminal history has, over the last few decades, been the basis for at least two movies and literally dozens of novels and short stories. Though the premise was in serious danger of being over-used, it is fair to say that Faye's belated addition to the list of `Holmes vs. the Ripper' fiction is generally superior to most of the previous efforts, and succeeds in giving the reader a fresh (if perhaps a little too coy and cosy) take on the old story.
Faye's novel isn't a perfect approximation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writing style (despite the reviews on the back of the book claiming the contrary), but it is probably as close as we are likely to get in 2009. As is usual with these latter-day Holmes pastiches, the main stumbling block of the book is the portrayal of the central characters themselves. In characterising the Great Detective as a quick-thinking, good humoured, and essentially very likeable man of action, Faye critically misses Holmes' mercurial eccentricities and (admittedly politically incorrect) misogynist streak, and whilst Watson remains the dogged, canny narrative voice familiar from Conan Doyle's originals, he is allowed a couple of emotionally charged outbursts that don't ring true. However, Faye largely avoids the kind of tedious, ill-advised attempts to modernise the characters that have blighted so many contemporary Holmes novels (no Alan Vanneman-style amorous encounters for Watson here, at any rate). The writer's research into the Whitechapel murders of 1888 was clearly thorough, and she carefully weaves fact with fiction to intermingle the world of Conan Doyle with the historical details of the still officially unsolved Ripper killings. And though the set-up and execution of the story are clearly the work of a contemporary writer (with such themes as the mercenary nature of the tabloid press playing a dominant part, not to mention a very prominent role for a gutsy and independent-minded female character, and a couple of very un-Doyle swear words thrown in for good measure), Faye admirably avoids sensationalising the Ripper mystery, instead presenting the reader with a somewhat mundane and prosaic, though ultimately quite realistic, solution to the murders (again, this comes as a relief after far too many pieces of Ripper fiction insisting on the involvement of the British Royal Family or a massive Government conspiracy as the key to the mystery).
Despite the rather odd dating of Watson's foreword as 1939 (over fifty years after the case itself, and by which time the good doctor would have been well into his eighties, it contradicts the generally accepted notion that he actually 'died' around a decade earlier), this novel has no need for either the tedious revisionism, nor the obsession with internal chronology that usually blight modern attempts to tell this kind of story. Dust and Shadow isn't a perfect book, but it is an atmospheric and fairly suspenseful one, and for Sherlock Holmes fanatics is well worth a look.
Faye's novel isn't a perfect approximation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writing style (despite the reviews on the back of the book claiming the contrary), but it is probably as close as we are likely to get in 2009. As is usual with these latter-day Holmes pastiches, the main stumbling block of the book is the portrayal of the central characters themselves. In characterising the Great Detective as a quick-thinking, good humoured, and essentially very likeable man of action, Faye critically misses Holmes' mercurial eccentricities and (admittedly politically incorrect) misogynist streak, and whilst Watson remains the dogged, canny narrative voice familiar from Conan Doyle's originals, he is allowed a couple of emotionally charged outbursts that don't ring true. However, Faye largely avoids the kind of tedious, ill-advised attempts to modernise the characters that have blighted so many contemporary Holmes novels (no Alan Vanneman-style amorous encounters for Watson here, at any rate). The writer's research into the Whitechapel murders of 1888 was clearly thorough, and she carefully weaves fact with fiction to intermingle the world of Conan Doyle with the historical details of the still officially unsolved Ripper killings. And though the set-up and execution of the story are clearly the work of a contemporary writer (with such themes as the mercenary nature of the tabloid press playing a dominant part, not to mention a very prominent role for a gutsy and independent-minded female character, and a couple of very un-Doyle swear words thrown in for good measure), Faye admirably avoids sensationalising the Ripper mystery, instead presenting the reader with a somewhat mundane and prosaic, though ultimately quite realistic, solution to the murders (again, this comes as a relief after far too many pieces of Ripper fiction insisting on the involvement of the British Royal Family or a massive Government conspiracy as the key to the mystery).
Despite the rather odd dating of Watson's foreword as 1939 (over fifty years after the case itself, and by which time the good doctor would have been well into his eighties, it contradicts the generally accepted notion that he actually 'died' around a decade earlier), this novel has no need for either the tedious revisionism, nor the obsession with internal chronology that usually blight modern attempts to tell this kind of story. Dust and Shadow isn't a perfect book, but it is an atmospheric and fairly suspenseful one, and for Sherlock Holmes fanatics is well worth a look.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This was a fascinating premise to base a Sherlock Holmes Novel on
but I am afraid it falls sadly short of the mark.
There are two main faults:
1-The writer let the Ripper facts guide the story thus making for needless detail and chapters.
It bled the novel dry of tone.
2-The Writer tried too hard to emulate the speech of Victorian London without
knowing what slang was current....the word "Bollocks" for instance is a 20th Century
word.
Lastly but most importantly she strained too hard in her efforts to catch Watsons voice.
but I am afraid it falls sadly short of the mark.
There are two main faults:
1-The writer let the Ripper facts guide the story thus making for needless detail and chapters.
It bled the novel dry of tone.
2-The Writer tried too hard to emulate the speech of Victorian London without
knowing what slang was current....the word "Bollocks" for instance is a 20th Century
word.
Lastly but most importantly she strained too hard in her efforts to catch Watsons voice.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"New" Sherlock Holmes novels are nothing new; some might say that they are ten a penny. Most search for the holy grail of being as "faithful" to Conan Doyle's originals as possible, whilst a few set out to be deliberatley as unfaithful as possible.
It's also safe to say that pitting the great detective against one of history's most infamous, and un-caught, serial killers Jack The Ripper is not an original idea either. All that said, Lindsay Faye's debut novel is definately one of the better, if not THE best, attempts that is available.
For a start it is a very well researched book. And by that I mean that it takes the whole idea of Jack The Ripper and Victorian London VERY seriously. I would go as far as to argue that it's more factualy correct than many a "non-fiction" look at the Ripper crimes in that it broadly presents us with the known facts with only the slightest use of artistic licence (although understandably, the "explanations" for the various truths are of course used to keep up the momentum of the story). Many a "plausible" suspect identified by supposedly serious authors fall down with even the most cursory glance at the known facts; here we're not concerned with a writer trying to fit their theory by massaging the facts, we're just concerned with what ia a rollocking good read. A bonus is that whilst there is obviously no "fact" in the unveiling of the Ripper it is a good deal more plausible outcome than many of the non-fiction books you will read on the subject.
Very little feels out of place, either for the Ripperologist of the life-time fan of the Conan Doyle Holmes, and as such the book can easily be said to acheive what it sets out to do. If you have any interest in either sphere that this book covers (Holmes or the Ripper) you are unlikely to be disappointed with Dust and Shadow. In fact, if you are a Holmes fan, you'll be hoping that this isn't Faye's last atttempt at helping to expand the case-books of Sherlock Holmes.
It's also safe to say that pitting the great detective against one of history's most infamous, and un-caught, serial killers Jack The Ripper is not an original idea either. All that said, Lindsay Faye's debut novel is definately one of the better, if not THE best, attempts that is available.
For a start it is a very well researched book. And by that I mean that it takes the whole idea of Jack The Ripper and Victorian London VERY seriously. I would go as far as to argue that it's more factualy correct than many a "non-fiction" look at the Ripper crimes in that it broadly presents us with the known facts with only the slightest use of artistic licence (although understandably, the "explanations" for the various truths are of course used to keep up the momentum of the story). Many a "plausible" suspect identified by supposedly serious authors fall down with even the most cursory glance at the known facts; here we're not concerned with a writer trying to fit their theory by massaging the facts, we're just concerned with what ia a rollocking good read. A bonus is that whilst there is obviously no "fact" in the unveiling of the Ripper it is a good deal more plausible outcome than many of the non-fiction books you will read on the subject.
Very little feels out of place, either for the Ripperologist of the life-time fan of the Conan Doyle Holmes, and as such the book can easily be said to acheive what it sets out to do. If you have any interest in either sphere that this book covers (Holmes or the Ripper) you are unlikely to be disappointed with Dust and Shadow. In fact, if you are a Holmes fan, you'll be hoping that this isn't Faye's last atttempt at helping to expand the case-books of Sherlock Holmes.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
(G)ripping read!
Holmes v/s Ripper has always been a favourite subject of discussion among people fascinated with the subjects of crime & retribution, essentially to "prove" that had there been any... Read more
Published 10 months ago by RIJU GANGULY
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this interesting novel.
I encountered Lyndsay Faye for the first time while reading Best American Mystery Stories 2010. This very interesting volume included Faye's story, "The Case of Colonel Warburton's... Read more
Published 17 months ago by J. Lesley
I nearly thought Watson HAD written this :)
As one who has a decades-long fascination with the Jack the Ripper case, and more than a nodding acquaintance with Arthur Conan Doyle, the topic here was immediately fascinating -... Read more
Published on 29 Jan 2010 by Elizabeth G. Melillo
A real ripping yarn
Lyndsay Faye's "Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr John H Watson" is commended by the Conan Doyle Estate and praised by Caleb Carr, Daniel Stashower and... Read more
Published on 21 Nov 2009 by Roger Johnson
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