Book Review
Title: Sherlock Holmes & the Ripper of Whitechapel by M.K. Wiseman
Genre: Historical/Mystery/Thriller
Rating: 4 Stars
I haven’t read much Sherlock Holmes fiction before, in fact, the only Arthur Cohen Doyle book I’ve read is Hound of the Baskervilles but when I read the synopsis of this book I had to request it. From what I got from the synopsis Sherlock Holmes is investigating the Whitechapel Murder alone after Doctor John Watson got married and Watson quickly becomes the prime suspect in the case. I did have some reservations about this book as I find shorter mysteries and thrillers don’t have the level of resolution or depth that I expect from those kind of novels but I was eager to get into this book as I love anything based around the Whitechapel Murders and Jack the Ripper. Sherlock gets on to the case around the fourth victims and from a quick examination of the scene, Watson becomes a suspect for him but he doesn’t voice this. Watson becomes a suspect because he has repeatedly warned Sherlock away from the Ripper case and his brand of cigarettes are found at the scene. They also find a note at the scene from the killer promising fifteen more victims before he turns himself him.
For three weeks following the most recent murder everything seems fairly quite in London and we get to see Holmes and Watson meeting up again although Sherlock keeps his suspicions to himself. However, when a letter arrives from Jack the Ripper taking credit for the murders, Sherlock is under the impression that the killer is trying to throw them off the scent with misdirection. That night, Watson, Holmes and a few police officers go undercover in the hopes of catching the killer in the act which doesn’t happen but the events of the day only heighten Holmes suspicions that Watson is the Whitechapel Ripper. As the evening draws in and Holmes is preparing to hit the street of Whitechapel he receive a telegram from Watson claiming he has to see a patient urgently and he won’t be able to join them which only heightens Holmes’ suspicions about his friend. While he is out patrolling that night with some undercover police officer, they see a man engaging in sexual acts with a woman and linger thinking it might be the killer but it isn’t and they move on when the cry of murder is called out and they head back to where the victim is, sending men to spread out and question every man they find but I doubt they are going to capture him and this will only further Holmes’ suspicions of Watson.
So far, I was really enjoying Sherlock Holmes & The Ripper of Whitechapel and I couldn’t wait to see how the mystery evolves as the novel progresses. Having been so close to the scene at the time of the murder, Holmes has a lot of evidence and witnesses to work with including one man who says he saw a man resembling a physician with a doctor’s bag accosting a woman but he crossed the street rather than becoming involved as he didn’t speak English. Holmes is under the impression that a horse and cart disturbed the killer causing him to flee without completing what he wanted to do and this is confirmed when they are informed of another murder that has just taken place which is going to be the most gruesome of the Ripper’s kills and Holmes rushes off quickly followed by the other to the scene of this new crime. The second murder is far worse than the first and suddenly Watson arrives on the scene and he fits the description of the man who was seen with the first victim. Holmes also notices a blood stain on Watson’s sleeve that no one else does but they return to Holmes’ flat to change and rest and Holmes makes a note to examine Watson’s clothing when he gets the chance. However, both are called back out by the police who have found the second victim’s missing apron and a note from the killer and they head there immediately but Holmes can’t shake his suspicions that he is sitting next to the killer haunting Whitechapel.
Holmes unable to deny these suspicions any longer especially after the previous night pays a young boy to follow Watson home and to report to him when he does. The boy returns several hours later to tell Holmes that he lost Watson around Baker Street the scene of a previous Ripper murder. The boy informs him Watson returned home and quickly left again taking a strange route in order to do so meaning he is trying to hide his movements from prying eyes. When another letter turns up from the Ripper, Holmes takes it home to examine it only to find Watson waiting for him there to head to the inquest in the Stride death but Sherlock refuses to go sighting discretion as his reason. Watson is heading there anyway and once he leaves Holmes examines the letter and finds when it was written it was pressed against a freshly printed newspaper and there was some transfer. The transfer is from the same paper where John Watson published an article on the Study in Scarlet performance and Holmes deduces that the Ripper would have only have the newspaper open on that specific page if he had either a particular interest in Holmes or the newspaper was special to him like it is for Watson and the evidence seems to be mounting against his friend.
As it gets harder for Holmes to stay emotionally distanced from the case, he decides to pay an unannounced visit to Watson’s home to speak to his wife to confirm or deny these suspicions. The minutes he arrives Mary tells Sherlock that she isn’t happy about him dragging John out for adventures and keeping him over night at the flat. Here, Sherlock has to confess he hasn’t seen much of John in months and both come to the same devastating conclusion. His wife proves that in the past few months he hasn’t been home on the nights of several of the murders and when Holmes searches Watson’s office, he finds clothes that reek of paraffin that Watson had tried to remove blood from them and there is blood on the doctor’s bag. In his desk, they also find a book where he claims to be staying at Baker Street on the night of every murder and they can no longer deny that the evidence points strongly to John Watson being Jack the Ripper. Holmes gets Watson’s wife to agree to say nothing for now while he investigates some more as she trusts Holmes’ judgement. Holmes spends days thinking over and over again that Watson can’t be the killer as he knows his friend but he realises he failed to look forward in Watson’s diary and returns to his home once more. This time he finds 5 significant dates in October and November that might be new Ripper murders but he has no choice but to sit and wait to see if Watson leaves home on those nights as he has a group of boys following the doctor at all times.
As time passes two potential murder dates pass with nothing but another letter from the Ripper. However, Watson is now aware that Holmes suspects him of being the Ripper so do the police who are stationed outside of his house. Holmes urges Watson that if he needs to go to a patient to use the back door and encourages his wife not to interfere should he try to leave and he eventually does. Holmes returns to Mary Street and waits there for two whole days waiting for Watson who never arrives but on his way home the call of murder is rung out once more and this murder is the worst by far and Jack has also left a present for the police in the form of mercury in the fire attempting to poison the police should they put it out. However, Holmes recognises the danger and manages to salvage some of the glass bottles and begins hunting down the chemist that prescribed them. There the chemist knows a man going by the name of J. Watson who has been buying mercury from him and lives nearby, nowhere near the actual Watson residence and Holmes is now 100% sure that his friend John Watson is Jack the Ripper and arms himself with a gun preparing for a confrontation between the two.
As we approach the end of the novel things were really heating up and I couldn’t wait to see the final confrontation between Watson and Holmes. All I can say about the ending of this novel is it takes a turn you really don’t expect and it completely took me by surprise. For an author working with existing characters and an existing franchise bringing something new to the table can be very difficult but I think M. K. Wiseman pulls it off beautifully and I will definitely be picking up more of their work in the future.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
I received this review copy from Edelweiss
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