Before John Lescroat became a best selling novelist of legal thrillers like The 13th Juror, he wrote two Holmes pastiches. In Son of Holmes (1986) we meet Jules Giraud, a middle-aged spy who narrates the story. Giraud meets Auguste Lupa, child of Sherlock himself and Irene Adler. Lupa, working as a chef in a small French town, is actually a secret agent for the Allies during World War I. Together, Lupa and Giraud cooperate to solve murders that could affect the outcome of the war. I enjoyed the WWI setting and the mysteries swirling around this rural community.
Rasputin’s Revenge (1987) sends Auguste Lupa and Jules Giraud to Russia and the Court of the Czar. There they find a cunning conspiracy. Sherlock Holmes and Watson show up to assist in the unraveling of the complicated plot. If you’re in the mood for historical mysteries with a Holmes pastiche flavor, I recommend Son of Holmes & Rasputin’s Revenge. GRADE: B
I had no idea that he wrote these. Interesting.
Jeff, I’ve had SON OF HOLMES & RASPUTIN’S REVENGE on my shelf for decades. I finally got around to reading them. I also enjoy Lescroart’s legal thrillers.
Duh. Did you not tumble to the idea that Auguste Lupa is the young Nero Wolfe? [canis lupus = wolf]. Wolfe’s recorded backstory had him as a secret agent in Europe during WWI. And of course W.S. Baring-Gould originally posited the theory that Wolfe was the love child of Holmes & Irene Adler, noting Wolfe’s corpulence is very like Mycroft’s.
Art, you are so right! According to an interview with Lescroart, he is a big fan of Nero Wolfe. But he has no plans to write any more Auguste Lupa mysteries.
I read these when they came out and, if I remember right, was lukewarm at best. Larry Block’s two sorta-pastiches of Wolfe in his last two “Chip Harrison” books, Make Out With Murder and The Topless Tulip Caper, a decade earlier, were much more fun.
Art, I agree with you on the Lawrence Block Wolfe pastiches. I should reread them…if I can find them in the basement. I’ve had a couple avalanches lately.
“with a Holmes pastiche flavor” indeed. IF Sherlock and Irene had a child, (which they did not) it would have been the Wolfe ancestor as Art says. And you said today would be a straight Holmes story. Nope, it’s not, but I no longer expect such from you. I did like the movie post, though. I read the first of these, or tried to, but it was a DNF for me.
Rick, well there’s “straight” and then there’s “sort of straight” Holmes pastiches. Tomorrow, we revisit a very different sort of Holmes pastiche.
Fair enough, bring it on.
Rick, I hope you and other commentators come to realize at the end of this SHERLOCK HOLMES WEEK that there’s a wide diversity of Holmes pastiches. I have at least 20 more waiting to be read!
I do believe I read this and had the same impression Art had!
Bob, great minds think alike!