Reviewing: Murder in the Vatican - The Church Histories of Sherlock Holmes

In this memorable year '95 a curious and incongruous succession of cases had engaged his attention, ranging from his famous investigation of the sudden death of Cardinal Tosca -- an inquiry which was carried out by him at the express desire of His Holiness the Pope . . .

Dr. John H. Watson, “The Adventure of Black Peter”

I was exceedingly preoccupied by that little affair of the Vatican cameos, and in my anxiety to oblige the Pope I lost touch with several interesting English cases.

Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles

You know that I am preoccupied with this case of the two Coptic Patriarchs, which should come to a head to-day.

Sherlock Holmes, “The Retired Colourman”

These are the actual phrases from Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories which prompted Ann Margaret Lewis to begin writing the three novellas which became Murder in the Vatican: the Church Stories of Sherlock Holmes. Herein we discover the truth behind Holmes' allusions above.

• The Case of Cardinal Tosca: Dr. Watson tells the tale of Pope Leo's request for Sherlock Holmes' assistance investigating the mysterious death of a member of his curia.
  
• The Vatican Cameos: Sherlock Holmes helps Pope Leo XIII recover a rare collection of ancient Roman cameos that has vanished en route to Queen Victoria. Told by the Holy Father himself.
  
• The Second Coptic Patriarch: Dr. Watson narrates of the time when the famous Father Brown (of G.K. Chesterton's stories) is imprisoned for the murder of a Coptic clerk; Brown’s ex-criminal friend Flambeau seeks the help of Sherlock Holmes to set him free.

It has been many years since I read the Sherlock Holmes stories, which my parents had in two big volumes that contained the entire canon. This book sent me back to them and I learned that I didn't remember them as well as I thought which is not surprising after a long time. Rediscovering them has afforded me a great deal of pleasure.

It is rare that I enjoy knock-off stories or fan fiction and so I generally avoid them. In this case I was drawn in by positive reviews from trusted blog buddy readers like The Curt Jester and Sarah Reinhard.  In so doing, I learned that Murder in the Vatican is an exception to my rule. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

I also learned a new word: pastiche. Wikipedia says: In this usage, the term denotes a literary technique employing a generally light-hearted tongue-in-cheek imitation of another's style; although jocular, it is usually respectful.

Murder in the Vatican lives up to that definition on several different levels.

The mysteries themselves were engrossing. The first story was less of a "guess whodunnit" mystery as much as a chase to the finish story. All of the tales used devices of the times but in the case of the last two stories I found myself drawn in and guessing the solution. Wrongly in both cases, but it showed the level of involvement I experienced and the author's skill in spinning a true mystery, complete with misdirection.

The religion or lack of it was genuine. I appreciated Lewis's careful delineation between Watson and Holmes as nonbelievers versus Pope Leo who is featured in the first two stories. Each side acknowledges the other's religious orientation, or lack thereof, and yet is able to deal with each other respectfully without feeling a need to mock different beliefs. This is important in this book since the original promptings were based around faith and readers would be on their alert for any missteps. I especially appreciated Pope Leo's gentle attempts to point out flaws in Holmes' reasoning.

Pope Leo is a fatherly, vibrant figure who lives his faith to the point that he is truly grieved by a ne'er-do-well's deliberate repudiation of the faith just before death.

The repartee is quick witted and plays on two levels so that modern readers can appreciate the tweaking that is being done. Most pastiche-like, as I learned!

Holmes: [Leo XIII] is genuinely pious. He is also imperious, but in a most endearing way.
Watson: Yes, well. I'm used to that.

Overall, the book is a light-hearted tribute to both the Sherlock Holmes stories and the impact that real Christians make in their example ... even on hardened cases like Holmes. Ann Margaret Lewis said the stories are, "meant to be fun and lift your heart for a short time. I had a blast writing it, and I hope you have a blast reading it." Indeed I did. They would lighten my long days when I read a bit of them.

I didn't find it to be a perfect book but the problems I noted were not those that would probably bother most people. Honestly, if I hadn't just read A Study in Scarlet I might not have been as attuned as I was. Interestingly, most of these issues seemed to be concentrated in the first story. I didn't notice them nearly as much in the last two. Whether that is because Lewis' writing "ear" reached a good rhythm as she went (assuming she wrote them in order) or I simply was more engrossed in the last two stories I can't say.

My problems generally lay in some anachronisms, an over-abundance of contractions, and the fact that I tend to dislike stories where well-known figures of the time are brought into them (a personal peeve). However, I will add that although Murder in the Vatican had well-known figures aplenty, Lewis's skill in handling them was such that I actually became fond of them in the stories. That is quite an accomplishment and I tip my deerstalker to Ms. Lewis in appreciation.

I also would like to mention that in our email conversation of these points, the author was as gracious as a lady of Holmes' time would have been. In fact, I probably would have bristled if such points had been made about my writing (being an argumentative type ... let's just say it now). However, Ann Margaret Lewis responded enthusiastically and genuinely so the problems could be addressed.

All in all, I recommend the book to all but the most die-hard Holmes fans who will become aggrieved at slight departures from that which marks the most genuine Arthur Conan Doyle writing.