Warlock Holmes: A Study in Brimstone —Book Review

I heard about this book on a podcast, probably Writing Excuses. I like a good mystery, especially a classic Sherlock Holmes story but with a twist. I am enjoying this story immensely. However, I read a chapter of this to my middle school student and they thought chapter one was boring. This story has a rather high level vocabulary, so it is not for the average middle school student. It is written with an adult audience in mind.

There is all kinds of humor in this story. It actually had me laughing out loud to the point where my husband and child gave me funny looks as if to say, “What is wrong with you?!”

I love this kind of narrator’s voice. It almost breaks that fourth wall, which is always a favorite of mine. The narrator, Watson, is witty and sarcastic. Well actually, let me just show you an example of the writing. Here is page one…

The first third of the book is one story. Then the story continues as a series of short stories with each story being a new mystery. Sherlock is a warlock as you might have guessed from the title. Watson gets to know many of Sherlock’s acquaintances and adversaries, vampires, werewolves, witches and all manner of strangeness. Holmes as written here is the perfect foil for Watson Or is the other way around? The author is brilliant! The story is fun!

The Writing

As you can see above, the writing is fabulous! The characters are quirky in a delightful way. The plot moves a little slowly at first but I hardly notice because I’m enjoying the writing so much. This would likely not be the case for children.

I give this 4 quills because it is so very funny and enjoyable, but not all that suitable for children. There is no bad language, drugs, extreme violence that makes it unsuitable, only the sophisticated vocabulary and humor that makes it unsuitable.

The candle is from Frostbeard Studios. My husband bought me several candles for Valentines and they are wonderful! I think this Reading at the Cafe is my favorite. It is chocolate pastry and coffee scent. It smells so good I want to eat it! …but I don’t because my head knows it is made of soy. Soy is actually edible though. But I still think it would taste yucky. It still smells delightful!

If you want to give them a look here is the website: https://www.frostbeardstudio.com (No, unfortunately I’m not an affiliate or anything. I get nothing for this shameless promotion. I just love the candles!)