~ Reviewed by Monique Daost
Sherlock Holmes is now a country squire who has retired to Sussex to tend to his bees
and write monographs. He hadn't written to his friend Dr. Watson in a few months, so
when the post brings news from Holmes, Watson is pleasantly surprised. But Holmes has
more than a few banalities to tell his old comrade: bodies have been surfacing near
the coast of Newfoundland, drained of blood, but there's no trace of a shipwreck.
Holmes fears their old nemesis, Baron Barlucci, after laying low for over two
decades, is up to no good again. Barlucci is a painful thorn in Holmes' side. The
Baron is the only villain the great detective hasn't captured, and of course, Dr.
Watson must sail with Holmes to Manhattan Island, where more bodies have been found.
SHERLOCK HOLMES
AND THE RETURN OF THE WHITECHAPEL VAMPIRE is not the pastiche I thought it might
have been, but the almost real deal. Right from the opening paragraphs, I was
overjoyed because I felt I was reading a brand new Conan Doyle mystery. Being a die-
hard fan of the original, I then became wary: could a modern author be successful in
this tremendous undertaking? The answer is a resounding yes!
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND
THE RETURN OF THE WHITECHAPEL VAMPIRE is more than an homage to Conan Doyle: Mr.
Turnbloom essentially captures everything that is Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson but
makes it his own, without the reader ever having the impression of the author
"trying"; never does the author endeavour to copy, but he in fact prolongs the
formidable legacy of Conan Doyle. Mr. Turnbloom's writing is eloquent and vivid, he
captures the early twentieth century as accurately as a photograph, the tone is
impeccable, the dialogues and the banter are entirely evocative of Conan Doyle's, and
Holmes and Watson are exactly how they should be. The pacing is perfect, and the
story is as gripping as any Sherlock Holmes book.
If I have one regret it's not knowing that
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE RETURN OF THE WHITECHAPEL
VAMPIRE was the third book in this series, and while obviously this installment
can be read as a standalone, the previous books figure now on my to-be-read-pile
because it is simply brilliant.
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE RETURN OF THE WHITECHAPEL VAMPIRE is
absolutely splendid from beginning to end, and should be read by anyone who hasn't
had enough of Sir Arthur's great detective, and everybody who likes a good mystery!
Born in the rolling hills of southern Indiana in 1954,
Dean P. Turnbloom
joined the Navy in 1973 and never looked back. He spent thirty years serving his
country, during which time he met, fell in love with, and married a beautiful
California girl, Nanette. Together they had three children and still live happily in
southern California.
Deanโs writings have been carried in numerous small publications in print and online.
He has now turned his attention toward larger works. SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE
WHITECHAPEL VAMPIRE was the first work in the Whitechapel Vampire Trilogy. It was
succeeded in 2014 with SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE BODY SNATCHERS, and this year comes
the trilogy's completion with SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE RETURN OF THE WHITECHAPEL
VAMPIRE.
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Bodies washing up along the eastern coast of New England and the mysterious grounding
of a "ghost ship" near Manhattan combine to bring Sherlock Holmes out of retirement
to resume his pursuit of the villainous Baron Antonio Barlucci-the Whitechapel
Vampire. But when he arrives in London to enlist the assistance of Dr. Watson, the
good doctor has reservations.
It's been twenty-five years since Holmes and Watson hunted Barlucci, twenty-five
years since they learned the baron was buried beneath a mountain of ice and snow. Has
Holmes' preoccupation with Barlucci driven him to see connections where none exist?
Have his powers of deduction gone stale while in retirement? Has Watson's worst fear,
that Holmes' obsession with the baron has unbalanced his finely tuned psyche, come
true? Sherlock Holmes and the Return of the Whitechapel Vampire is the exciting
finalรฉ to the Whitechapel Vampire Trilogy. In this final chapter, Holmes must face
more than evil. He must face his own mortality- the only certainty in an uncertain
world.
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