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Sherlock Holmes and the Hammerford Will by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Reader Reviews 8 of 8 people found the following review helpful: Middle-rank, August 9, 2001 Reviewer: Rory Coker from Austin, TX USA It's been so long since I read the previous Holmes pastiches by John Hall that about all I can remember is that they were a notch above the usual. Here we backslide a bit, firmly into the middle rank. The eccentric Lord Hammerford has left a strange will which basically requires his two prospective heirs to engage in a kind of scavenger hunt, the end goal being a hidden box containing Lord Hammerford's wealth, converted into gems. But Hammerford dies about 15 years prematurely for the actions required by the will to favor both heirs equally, and Holmes is called in on behalf of the one of the heirs Hammerford's early death severely handicaps. Meanwhile at least two(?) gangs of criminals are after the hidden gems as well. Various pastiche authors handle stretching Holmes out to novel length by having the criminals act in incredibly stupid fashion, and others handle the stretch by having Holmes himself behave in incredibly stupid fashion. The present work tends to the latter, rather than the former, solution. Even Watson out-thinks Holmes here, more than a couple of times. In any case, the plot calls for action more than ratiocination, with several wild carriage chases through crowded London byways, and a royal battle with a gang of kidnappers, in which even Billy the pageboy gets to take a hand. You may or may not enjoy it all. I have mixed feelings about it myself. But at 137 pages, you are not going to waste a lot of your time, whatever your final judgement.
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