The Fatal Farewell Book

This book is not what I imagined, but I have no complaints. The title came up when I was trolling through a library catalog for books on "Sherlock Holmes". It's not about him, nor is there any specific mention of him in the entire book. On the other hand, this is an action-filled adventure staring Professor Dr. Joseph Bell (MD) and Arthur Conan Doyle, MD. "Who?" do you ask? Bell is the real-world archetype used to create Sherlock Holmes and ACD is the man who created him and his "Boswell", John H. Watson, MD.

ACD was a student of Dr. Bell in Medical School. They had certain true-life adventures with a murderous individual. This book is the third in a series (I have not read the previous two) that takes those real-life events and draws them out into a fast-paced series of accounts. While the pattern is not exactly that of Holmes and Watson (Doyle has several specific episodes apart from Bell), it is a "Mystery" in which they attempt to solve crimes. A whole series of crimes perpetrated by this arch-enemy who appears to drag ordinary men and women into his plots with exasperating ease. Unlike Moriarty who had legions of followers organized into a criminal organization, the antagonist of this book ensnares and recruits on an individual basis. He does not sit like a spider at the center of a web, but acts in the first person.

Without having read the previous two entries, I cannot say how fast-and-loose the author may have played with the true tragic facts that occurred before this volume. However, on its own merits this is a very engaging tale. If the three primaries were Messrs "Foo", "Goo", and "Moo" it would be just as engaging. Only a few minor references in the epilogue would need to be deleted. One assumes that the author has done some research into the "core" tale of the witch of Dunwich (England - it has nothing to do with H. P. Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror") rather than just making it up. Although a large part of the book is concerned with it, I haven't done any fact-checking and ultimately it does not matter. This is a well-written, emotional roller coaster that "rings true".

If you were expecting a story just like a Holmes story, then you might feel a bit disappointed. Certainly there is evil afoot and detection, but the relationship of the two and the way the story is told marks it as something apart. The author makes an effort to bring in the Holmes-like skills: such as, personal history at-a-glance, chemistry, a willingness to be a judge, a man of action, and a brilliant cryptographer. But read it for its own sake and consider the familiarity of the future writer to be an added benefit.

My conjectures on what the story contained had more to do with how ACD decided and did create his original Holmes tale - obviously something that has nothing to do with this book. I was basing that merely on the sub-title, "The Strange Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes", which is why the catalog search turned it up, also. Once I knew what I had I was happy to read along and I hope you will be, too. I'm going to be looking for its predecessors. (Not that I wouldn't mind reading a book that covered the imagined topic!)