Skip to main content
Customer Review
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 March 2016
My thanks to Georgina Cutler: Editorial Assistant at Endeavour Press for my review copy of this book!
Sherlock Holmes and the Chinese junk Affair and Other Stories by Roy Templeman
“Sherlock Holmes and the Chinese Junk Affair”
Sir Simon Clayton, is a minister in the British Government. He has borne witness to something that could be of great importance to the nation if it turns out to be true. Sir Simon is convinced, but the fact is that the amount of money that has been demanded is high, and the government must be sure. For if the British Government does not purchase the idea for the given price, some foreign nation may use it against them!
The idea is the “Transposer” a form of teleportation. Sir Simon has an old friend named Richard Hardy who is an eccentric inventor. At Hardy’s home, Halam Hall; Sir Simon watches a full size Chinese Junk being built inside the underground ballroom over several months.
Then he witnesses as it disappears within two hours! Taken down to the docks, he finds the ship and the ten Chinamen who built it are already there.
This has very nice twists in the story and is an impossible event that requires explaining! I thought it was very well written. I give the story five stars!
“Sherlock Holmes and the Tick Tock Man”
Holmes and Watson are on holiday in Bakewell in Derbyshire. There they come upon a mystery.
The old Clockmaker, a German lovingly called “The Tick-Tock Man,” was found dead recently in his home. There are signs of violence, and the man’s home appears to have been frantically searched.
The clockmaker told the Vicar that he had money hidden that he wishes the Vicar to use in building and maintaining almshouses for the people of the village.
The clockmaker had a pet raven, who has taken to repeating over and over: “Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. Kiefernzapfen, kiefern-zapfen, kiefernzapfen!”
This is another neat mystery and very well written. There is a definite touch of Conan Doyle here. I give the story five stars!
The final story is “Sherlock Holmes and the Trophy Room.”
Viscount Siddems is a collector of various trophies from around the world. The hobby has become an obsession for him and he has had a trophy room built, a stand-alone building that is protected by man-traps, tripwires that are fastened to shotguns, and a flock of geese that will honk at the slightest disturbance.
And yet three trophies have been stolen, one at a time. None of the traps were thrown, no blasts from the shotguns, and no disturbance from the geese. The door to the building is left unlocked each time.
This is another impossible crime puzzle. Mr. Roy Templeman seems to have a very nice touch with these tales. I give this one five stars as well.
The book as a whole makes an excellent read! Each story is interesting and the puzzles are well thought out. Encore!
Quoth the Raven…
Sherlock Holmes and the Chinese junk Affair and Other Stories by Roy Templeman
“Sherlock Holmes and the Chinese Junk Affair”
Sir Simon Clayton, is a minister in the British Government. He has borne witness to something that could be of great importance to the nation if it turns out to be true. Sir Simon is convinced, but the fact is that the amount of money that has been demanded is high, and the government must be sure. For if the British Government does not purchase the idea for the given price, some foreign nation may use it against them!
The idea is the “Transposer” a form of teleportation. Sir Simon has an old friend named Richard Hardy who is an eccentric inventor. At Hardy’s home, Halam Hall; Sir Simon watches a full size Chinese Junk being built inside the underground ballroom over several months.
Then he witnesses as it disappears within two hours! Taken down to the docks, he finds the ship and the ten Chinamen who built it are already there.
This has very nice twists in the story and is an impossible event that requires explaining! I thought it was very well written. I give the story five stars!
“Sherlock Holmes and the Tick Tock Man”
Holmes and Watson are on holiday in Bakewell in Derbyshire. There they come upon a mystery.
The old Clockmaker, a German lovingly called “The Tick-Tock Man,” was found dead recently in his home. There are signs of violence, and the man’s home appears to have been frantically searched.
The clockmaker told the Vicar that he had money hidden that he wishes the Vicar to use in building and maintaining almshouses for the people of the village.
The clockmaker had a pet raven, who has taken to repeating over and over: “Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. Kiefernzapfen, kiefern-zapfen, kiefernzapfen!”
This is another neat mystery and very well written. There is a definite touch of Conan Doyle here. I give the story five stars!
The final story is “Sherlock Holmes and the Trophy Room.”
Viscount Siddems is a collector of various trophies from around the world. The hobby has become an obsession for him and he has had a trophy room built, a stand-alone building that is protected by man-traps, tripwires that are fastened to shotguns, and a flock of geese that will honk at the slightest disturbance.
And yet three trophies have been stolen, one at a time. None of the traps were thrown, no blasts from the shotguns, and no disturbance from the geese. The door to the building is left unlocked each time.
This is another impossible crime puzzle. Mr. Roy Templeman seems to have a very nice touch with these tales. I give this one five stars as well.
The book as a whole makes an excellent read! Each story is interesting and the puzzles are well thought out. Encore!
Quoth the Raven…
