The Affair of the Mysterious LetterAlexis Hall
Publication Date: June 18, 2019
Genre: YA Retelling, Fantasy
In this charming, witty, and weird fantasy novel, Alexis Hall pays homage to Sherlock Holmes with a new twist on those renowned characters.
Upon returning to the city of Khelathra-Ven after five years fighting a war in another universe, Captain John Wyndham finds himself looking for somewhere to live, and expediency forces him to take lodgings at 221b Martyrs Walk. His new housemate is Ms. Shaharazad Haas, a consulting sorceress of mercurial temperament and dark reputation.
When Ms. Haas is enlisted to solve a case of blackmail against one of her former lovers, Miss Eirene Viola, Captain Wyndham finds himself drawn into a mystery that leads him from the salons of the literary set to the drowned back-alleys of Ven and even to a prison cell in lost Carcosa. Along the way he is beset by criminals, menaced by pirates, molested by vampires, almost devoured by mad gods, and called upon to punch a shark.
But the further the companions go in pursuit of the elusive blackmailer, the more impossible the case appears. Then again, in Khelathra-Ven reality is flexible, and the impossible is Ms. Haas' stock-in-trade.
The last time I read a description for a classic retelling I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It was weird and weirdly fun. Graphically gross but it had the five sisters know martial arts.
The last time I've read a Lady Sherlock book, I got a satisfying story that was a perfect homage to the original... although I was just a bit frustrated with what was (is?) going on between Lord Ingram and Charlotte.
In The Affair of the Mysterious Letter, I see a lady Sherlock with a bit of a different cultural background, if we're going by her name. She's also a sorceress and gay.
There are monsters and pirates and is set in Victorian London. Will there be a steampunk vibe, too?
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