Miss Eells purchases a suspiciously cheap antique oil lamp and unwittingly sets off yet another doomsday countdown. Well, to be fair, it's not a doomsday countdown, it's just a countdown to giving an unscrupulous woman god-level powers. No biggie.

I still don't like how Anthony Monday and Miss Eells became supernatural detectives, but this book is so spooky and spectacularly gruesome that it charms to this day.

The lamp, of course, was stolen from an elaborate tomb. Once lit, Anthony and Miss Eels begin to be stalked by an entity with a cobwebby face and lives are lost. Add in an appearance from Ashtaroth, winter sports, and the most interesting chamber of commerce mixer ever devised, and you have a swell mystery on your hands.

Anthony Monday

Next: 'The Mansion in the Mist'

Previous: 'The Dark Secret of Weatherend'

I truly love this series.  It is so brilliant.  

And, I  most admit, I don't think I can ever read the physical copies of the book because Robert Garson performance is so wonderful.

This installment includes the appearance of Irene Adler. I judge Sherlock Holmes incarnations by how Adler is done.  Sherlock lost me with what they did.  Elementary was far better.  Denning's Adler is a damn fine Adler that the chances of Doyle liking are rather high.

Unlike the other two, this third installment ends on more of a cliffhanger (more because part of the conceit is the potential end of the world).  But that's fine.  

It's still a great ride.  Wonderful fun with Holmes at the expense of the other Victorians.  Those wonderful asides, Watson's common sense, and the fun word play are all here.  There is more development on the idea of the Nine, as well as the introduction of Violet, who is quite awesome.

And let me say, that I really, really want Denning to write a Violet series.

Holmes comes to the fore a bit more in this installment, which was quite enjoyable.  There is even a section while Holmes tells the story, and it was really great.

Honesty, if you like Holmes and like fantasy, you need to read this series.

This installment of Warlock Holmes finds Warlock and Watson coming to terms with the events of the last volume.  They do this in a rather strange way.  Pinkertons are involved but they are somewhat like a certain famous group of wearers of black.

                The two Holmes stories that are used include, of course, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Silver Blaze, and the Solitary Cyclist. The Cyclist sequence is particularly funny while the Baskervilles give us more detail about Warlock.  It isn’t quite as funny but there are some shining moments. 

                As always, the humor comes from the asides that Watson does.  In this case, Watson deals with issues as complex as fake beards, tricycles, and Canadians.  The charm of the series is Watson’s down to earth musings that deal with issues raised in the original stories – for instance walking sticks.  So, it is like you have an urban historical fantasy novel with a high shot of realism.

                If you like fantasy and Sherlock Holmes, you should read this series.

                Garston’s narration is particularly wonderful.  He doesn’t do silly woman’s voices.  His Watson sounds close enough to Edward Hardwicke to make a connection to Holmes seamless.  His Holmes is not quite what you would think, but is brilliant nonetheless.

In the vein of some of the re-writings of Sherlock Holmes this is Sherlock as a bit of an idiot, saved by the cleverness of Dr Watson.  This is a set of stories, rather than just one, detailing Watson's introduction to the world that Holmes inhabits (and honestly it's done better in the Lord Darcy series).  There's a vampire, Inspector Vladislav Lestrange and an Ogre and a variety of other characters that I neither cared about or really remember.

It's not terrible but I have absolutely no inclination to read further in this series, it wasn't enough of any of my catnip to really interest and too much of a parody to make me happy with it.  It occasionally came across as trying too hard.

The reader, Robert Garson, did quite a good job of reading it.

If you are doing Halloween Bingo, this book would work for: Spellbound, Supernatural, Relics and Curios, Shifters, and Country House Mystery.  The only reason I am not counting it is because I started the audio before Sept.

Warlock Holmes is part parody/part fantasy rendering of Sherlock Holmes.  Each chapter is based on a Holmes' adventure, and usually includes Watson doing some type of riff about a logical point or Victorian behavoir.  (The whole discussion of the speckled ban is worth the cost of the book).

The difference is that Warlock Holmes is a man of unique talents and isn't quite normal.  He might not be the brightest bulb in the bunch, but he is likable.  His friends in Scotland Yard are also slightly different.

Robert Garson's narrative voice is spot on.  He also doesn't do silly and annoying female voices.  

The book does end on a bit of a cliffhanger.  But there is are second and third volumes.  

This is great.