Reviews for The daughter of Sherlock Holmes : a novel
Library Journal
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In 1914, seven years after Sherlock Holmes's death, Dr. John Watson and his son, also a physician named John, are visited by a woman whose brother apparently committed suicide after losing money to a friend, Dr. Christopher Moran. The elder Watson is uninterested until he learns the identity of the witness to the suicide. He confesses to his son that Joanna Blalock, the daughter of Holmes and Irene Adler, was put up for adoption after her mother's death. Once father and son meet Blalock, they find the former nurse has a keen intellect and thirst for knowledge. The Watsons invite her to join their investigation into Moran's possible involvement in his friend's death. As bodies pile up around Moran, the trio put together a history of a secret code and treasure that goes back to the Second Anglo-Afghan War of 1878-80. VERDICT Goldberg's (Plague Ship) Sherlock Holmes pastiche is pitch-perfect as John Watson Jr. becomes the voice of a new generation and Joanna Blalock takes on her role as leader of the investigation. Fans of Laurie R. King's "Mary Russell" books will welcome a fellow female to the ranks of Holmes followers. [Library marketing.]-LH © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
It's early in the last century. A young widow and her 10-year-old son are taking the air on London's Curzon Street when they witness a man falling to his death. From then on, it's the woman we're interested in. Everyone finds her way of talking oddly familiar, as when she speaks of a court of logical deduction, and facts that may be of importance. She's Joanna Blalock, star of this engaging Holmes pastiche narrated by Dr. John Watson, Jr., the son of the great detective's biographer. Junior is visiting his aging father, who's living at 221B Baker Street after Holmes' death, when they encounter Blalock. Soon all three are drawn into the mystery, which has echoes of the Agra treasure at the heart of The Sign of the Four. Sherlockians will also find versions of the code that is central to The Adventure of the Dancing Men; even the dog who did nothing in the night is here. Yes, Joanna is Holmes' daughter, even down to echoing the great man's occasional lapses into smugness: Allow me to draw your attention . . .. --Crinklaw, Don Copyright 2017 Booklist
Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Sherlockians may have a tough time buying into the conceit of Goldberg's whimsical series launch-that Sherlock Holmes had a brilliant secret daughter, Joanna Blalock (perhaps related to Goldberg's L.A. forensic pathologist character of the same name), who was a practicing nurse and solved crimes with Dr. Watson's son, Dr. John Watson Jr. In 1910, seven years after Holmes's death, Charles Harrelston takes a fatal fall from a London rooftop after playing cards with a gambler, Christopher Moran, to whom he was in debt. The dead man's sister, Mary, asks the elder Watson to prove her sibling was not a suicide. The name Moran rings a bell with Watson senior, but the otherwise astute doctor takes a long time to make the link to Sebastian Moran, Moriarty's lieutenant. Charles's widowed sister-in-law, Joanna, and the younger Watson wind up doing most of the sleuthing. Readers who don't mind highly irreverent takes on Conan Doyle's original adventures will be most amused. Agent: Scott Mendel, Mendel Media Group. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
It's 1910. The elderly Dr. John Watson is asked to help a family in distress after their son's apparent suicide.John Watson Jr., M.D., often visits his father, who, since the death of Sherlock Holmes, has continued to reside at 221B Baker St., where he occasionally offers guidance to people like Mary Harrelston, who can't believe that her brother Charles killed himself despite being deeply in debt to his friend Christopher Moran. The police have closed the case, but once the elder Dr. Watson hears that the witnesses include Joanna Blalock and her son, he's eager to investigate. Joanna is a former nurse and widow living with her husband's well-off family. Her son's description of Charles' supposed leap from a window at the Moran's house is markedly different from those of the other witnesses. When both Watsons and Joanna visit Moran's house, John Jr. is amazed at the conclusions Joanna draws from mundane facts. Swearing him to secrecy, his father admits that Joanna is the offspring of Sherlock Holmes' brief affair with Irene Adler. An examination of the body leads John Jr. to the conclusion that Charles was hit over the head and tossed from the roof of the house. Moran is one of four friends who served in the second Afghan war, and when another, Benjamin Levy, dies in circumstances suspicious to the Watsons and Joanna, if not the police, the three sleuths are certain they're up against a clever killer in Moran. The distinctly Sherlock-ian clues they have to work with include a coded message Charles had in his possession, a dog that died, and a secretary who's suddenly retiring to Spain. The question is not who the killer is but rather why Moran is killing off his former friends. Goldberg, well-known for his medical thrillers (Plague Ship, 2013, etc.), fuels the unquenchable fascination with Sherlock Holmes by combining detailed medical knowledge with the skills reincarnated in the Great Detective's daughter. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
