If Sherlock Holmes was a woman, what would she be like?
For us progressive Sherlockians this is most exciting. It is series of fifteen short stories selected by long-time Sherlockian editors Narrelle M. Harris and Atlin Merrick,with a table of contents and introduction with author biographies at the back. Authors include Tansy Rayner Roberts, Eugen Bacon, Sarah Tollok, Verity Burns,DannyeChase, Kenzie Lappin, JD Cadmon, Stacy Lawhorne, Karen J. Carlisle,Katya de Becerra, Millie Billingsworth, Narrelle M. Harris, and Atlin Merrick.
A major theme running through the book is acceptance and the search for self identity.
Gathered together the stories, some only a page – are all with a twist , depicting Holmes as a time traveller across time and space. Sherlock ,Watson and others are on a spaceship , are an android, are cis gender , transgender , gay , can talk to a ‘ spirit guide’ , deal with a ‘witch man’ who uses echoes… The stories are set in Victorian London , possibly present day America , deep space, 1990s Russia , worlds of magic , and intimately at home .Holmes or Watson cross-dress , can be a robot , a drag King , Johanna ,Jane , Jeanne , a mute young child or….Their names can be spelt differently ( eg W4t50n , Wa’watison ).When in Russia it is Sherlock Marina Holmesova , and Valentina for Watson , while in America Holmes is in contact with the FBI. Sherlockians can have great fun picking out tiny clues – the deerstalker, Holmes playing the violin, 221B, the magnifying glass and a cat or example .She can be beautiful and glamorous or scruffy in disguise . We learn about Holmes ’family and her time at Oxford University. Money and class values and differences are mentioned . Scotland Yard is at one point referred to as the Yardarm .There is also a reworking of the famous meetingand the line ‘ you have been in Afghanistan I perceive’. Sherlock sees and observes. She is in some stories bustling and full of energy – there are bombs, guns, poisonous snake venom, a vanished bride, lost lockets – Holmes setting a trap .Mrs Hudson appears in various forms ( in one story Watson is her daughter) and Wiggins, Lestrade , Mycroft, Moriarty andIrene Adler are also mentioned.
A captivating read.
