Who Killed Sherlock Holmes?

The Shadow Police, Book Three

By: Paul Cornell

Narrated by: Damian Lynch

The ghost of Sherlock Holmes is dead, but who will solve his murder?

The Great Detective's ghost has walked London's streets for an age, given shape by people's memories. Now someone's put a ceremonial dagger through his chest. But what's the motive? And who - or what - could kill a ghost?

When policing London's supernatural underworld, eliminating the impossible is not an option. DI James Quill and his detectives have learnt this the hard way. Gifted with the Sight, they'll pursue a criminal genius - who'll lure them into a Sherlockian maze of clues and evidence. The team also have their own demons to fight. They've been to hell and back (literally), but now the unit is falling apart....

©2016 Paul Cornell (P)2016 Audible, Ltd

Good story, but not a stand-alone

I understand why people who haven't read/listened to the other novels in this series didn't like it. If you haven't listened to the previous volumes, don't start here. It won't make any sense. But personally, I like that Cornell didn't waste my time repeating previous stories or reminding me who is who. I usually find that tedious in books in a series.

With that out of the way, I'm enjoying the Shadow Police. I like all the characters, I like their ops boards and police procedures. And I like that they don't have super powers, other than being able to see magic. Or London stuff, as they call it. I particularly liked this volume because of the Lofthouse segments and the back story on the previous team.

Brilliant

if you like Rivers of London, you must read thiis series. it is brilliant. sadly so far the publisher won't pick up the last two books in a 5part series. read and urge others to read it. maybe it will be finished in publication.

Hard Boiled Dark Fantasy

I love the Shadow Police. These blokes face down the most unlikely of scenarios. I took a while to imbibe this 3rd installment for no particular reason, other than the scores of books on my TBR. Now that I am done, I'm a bit sad it's the last book. I loved Who Killed Sherlock Holmes as much as London Falling and Severed Street. what can I say? Dark, gritty, funny. Wonderfully complex. Highly intelligent. Thought provoking. This book, and this series, is for folks who like to think about their fiction, who yearn to understand and explore that deeper, spiritual motivation that this universe seems to possess and force upon us, and that we, as mortals in it, somehow cannot see. This is the physics of the occult.

Three's a Charm!

I have now listened to all three of Damien Lynch's "Shadow Police" books and this review is a touch upon the whole series.

I enjoyed the first two books, but they were not great. They were good. Within the genre, modern London, magic and detection, of which there are several writers, the theme underlying these books, is pretty good. The ideas that the ancient weight of humanity on a city, London, and the collective memory of humanity, creates London's supernatural sentience. Over this theme, the Police detection storylines are layered.

In the first two books, although I enjoyed them, the background theme and foreground police story struggled to hold onto each other. Good, strong ideas, but failure to weave a sustaining story. A solid set of main characters are presented but some trouble fleshing them out. This was not helped by the reader, Damian Lynch, who failed to verbally separate the characters sufficiently. At times, straining to hold threads together, it felt like the writer was pleading with the reader to understand and follow along. And yet…

And yet, there was enough there that I did finish each book, “London Falling”, and eventually, although not immediately followed with “The Severed Streets” and just today finished “Who Killed Sherlock Holmes”.

I enjoy finding a new series and enjoy watching a writer find a stride. Paul Cornell is doing just that. Book one was a brave start. Book two was better. This one, book three, “Who Killed Sherlock Holmes”, is a winner.

In “Who Killed Sherlock Holmes”, Cornell’s “Other London” is well defined from the London of us common folks. The Police detection story weaving between the two London’s is solid and interesting. Emotional tension and involvement is produced by a solid story with solid, straightforward language. Cornell’s characters are now fleshed out enough so that the reader feels something toward each of them.

In the audio version, character delineation is helped by the stronger story and writing, but also because the reader has also hit his stride. The producers of this audio book must have read some of the less than stellar reviews of Damian Lynch’s reading of the first two books and coached him into a much better reading here in “Who Killed Sherlock Holmes”. Lynch keeps each character audibly unique and reads with much greater proficiency. After “Who Killed Sherlock Holmes”, I cannot imagine another reader for the “Shadow Police”.

“Who Killed Sherlock Holmes” was a audible page turner and I was sorry to reach the denouement and a little sad to hear the ever annoying “Audible Hopes you have enjoyed this Book”.

Luckily, the plot and ending of this third book would indicate that Cornell has another installation of the Shadow Police well in mind if not yet on paper. Well, I will be one of the first to listen once Audible produces that book!

Great story. Great narration.

Wow. This book packed some serious emotional punch. How does a supernatural mystery about finding Sherlock Holmes' killer become such a meaningful, introspective story about trust, mental health, faith, and the human condition? Ummm. Good writing.

I enjoyed the previous books, but this one really pulled plot lines together in a very intense way that I didn't anticipate. I recommend this book for everyone who is trying to find by meaning in the conflicts in today's social climate. Paul Cornell shares some interesting insights into why people behave the way they do.

Confusing characters and plot

I wanted to like this, but it was not meant to be. First of all, I did not begin with the first book in the series (as only this one was on sale), and the set up at the beginning of the book was not really sufficient for a series ‘virgin’. Secondly, the narrator did not really make an effort to differentiate between most of the various character voices. It was easy to confuse the two female characters and the four (five?) Male characters. So, it’s a failing mark from me, alas. If the narrator or better, I might have been more motivated to look for other books in the series and start from the beginning, but alas, ‘tis not the case.

good story, but audio editing was atrocious

story and narration were good, but the audio editing was stilted and annoying. No flow.