Sherlock Holmes and the Lyme Regis Horror is a collection of Sherlock Holmes pastiches penned by David Ruffle.
I read a lot of Sherlock Holmes books, some good, some bad. This one is definitely in the 'good' category. The majority of the stories stray away from the confines of the Canon, and run along more of a supernatural style. Normally I prefer Sherlock Holmes pastiches that have the more traditional set up, but the author did his job very well and my interest in the stories didn’t wane for a moment.
The majority of the collection is comprised by a novella which goes by the same title as that of the book. 'The Lyme Regis Horror' is an exceptional piece of work, a story which builds up at a steady pace and the interplay between Doctor Watson and Mrs. Heidler very well handled.
The rest of the book is made up of short stories and vignettes, for me the pick of these is ‘The Trumper Affair’, a short story that mirrors Conan Doyle’s style of storytelling very well. In fact it’s the kind of story I could imagine Conan Doyle himself writing. All in all, it’s a very good book, well researched and well written – I’d recommend it to all Holmes enthusiasts.
