Sherlock Holmes and the Egyptian Tomb Mystery

By: Johanna M. Rieke

Narrated by: David Bufton

We are in London in 1890, and the British Museum plans to exhibit the contents, brought specially to London, of a newly excavated Egyptian tomb. The event is disturbed by the murder of a museum watchman. A suspect is quickly found, a young museum assistant, caught red-handed with a bloodstained knife. But things are not so simple; behind this apparently clear case Holmes uncovers, piece by piece, just as did the archaeologists, a complicated story of blackmail, violence, and treachery that at every step threatens him, and Watson, with deadly consequences.

See how events ranging from the British Embassy in Cairo to a theatre in East London can baffle and confuse, until Holmes and Watson find the last pieces of the puzzle and must fight for their lives.

©2021 Johanna Reike (P)2021 MX Publishing

Another Home Run for Johanna Rieke

I've written before and I'll write again that Johanna Rieke is one of the best Sherlock Holmes pastiche writers of this era. Her latest book continues to prove that fact. The story is compelling and it captures the spirit of the early 1890's with perfection. Narrator David Bufton turns in another outstanding read. I highly recommend this book!

What did Homes get Watson into?

Sherlock Homes and Doctor Watson are evolved in a strange search through various parts of London, similar to pealing an onion; much more is revealed as each layer is removed.

I was a little disappointed…

Sherlock Holmes without a doubt would have been caught up in the Egyptian craze that rocked England late in the 19th century. So anyone setting a story there should have an easy time of it. A classic "all the desecrators of the tomb were killed by the curse" kind of story, with Holmes showing us that the curse was hogwash, was what I was expecting from this.

Unfortunately, that is not what I received. Instead, Holmes is pulled in to investigate, and hopefully to clear, the murder charges against the client's nephew. Okay, fine. Suddenly, it twists into a search for secret plans. What the heck?!? It felt like there were two mysteries, that somehow became one novel, but were not really related one to the other, except by happenstance. It is one thing to begin with a crime, the solution of which leads to another crime to be solved, but quite another to simply force the two to interlock, when they really didn't want to, or need to. I think the novel as a whole would have been substantially better as two novellas, one about the murder charges, and the back-story there, and one about the missing papers, and the. back-story there. Instead we are left with this confusing mish-mash.

Now the author's writing was not bad, but there were some things that bothered me. While she tried to be authentic, she does not have knowledge of the English system of legal advice and representation. So no one then, and rarely even now, would speak of a prisoner refusing to talk to his lawyer. Instead, he would refuse to talk to his solicitor. If the case was significant, as a murder trial would be, his solicitor would then instruct a barrister to represent the client in the courtroom. I hate to nitpick, but that really bugged me. And a tip of the hat to John Mortimer for my education in English criminal and civil procedures.

As for the narrator, he didn't really differentiate the characters much. It was not always clear who was speaking. I am not just talking about not knowing if it was Holmes or Watson, but whether it was Holmes or Mrs Hudson. He also didn't "emote" much. There was not a lot of variation, of drama, in his reading. He was better than a simple "text-to-speech" program, but not MUCH better. If you want an example of a superb audiobook narrator, go check out Stephen Briggs or Allyson Johnson.

I will give him credit for not misreading or mispronouncing too many words, but that was not even to save his performance, in my book.

To sum up, this is an okay Holmes pastiche. If you don't go in with high expectations, you probably won't be disappointed.

Intriguing Tale

A great mix of original & new characters and you must love any stories involving Egyptology....

Excellent

Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson are on the case again. As they investigate, things don’t unravel easily, but seem to get more complicated. But, in the end, all is revealed. The narration was excellent as well. It brought the characters and story to life.

A real Holmesian mystery

I really liked this one, it felt like it could have been written by Conan Doyle himself. Faithful to the characters and the era, and with a great mystery, it was a a truly enjoyable book.

I really liked how complicated was the plot and how masterful was Holmes at solving it.

David Bufton did a wonderful job with the narration.