A GERIATRIC SHERLOCK HOLMES TAKES ON ONE MORE CASE

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	• The Curse of the Nibelung - A Sherlock Holmes Mystery Sam North Lulu.com, 2005 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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Lineage of this Sherlock Holmes pastiche

Curse of the Nibelung is now in a new, revised reprint of the 1981 edition originally published under the Marcel D'Agneau psuedonym but now published under the original authors name Sam North. This book is hilarious, at the same time it is very faithful to the Conan Doyle spirit. North/D'Agneau also wrote the very funny pastiche of John le Carre's spy fiction 'Eeny Meeny Miny Mole' - an affectionate spoof of 'Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy'. Curse of the Nibelung is worth adding to any Holmes collection and it would make a wonderful crazy film. Recommended.

Sherlock and the Nazis

The style is lively and fast paced, yet full of the detail Holmes' fans love. The writer's foreshadowing is valid and adds to the fun of guessing the plot twist. As with many mysteries, the ending is too compressed, and several interesting problems are merely presented as solved. I found the use of German without accompaning translations to be affected. Still all in all, i'd gladly read another Holmes' novel by Mr. North.

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A GERIATRIC SHERLOCK HOLMES TAKES ON ONE MORE CASE

THE CURSE OF THE NIBELUNG BY Sam North is a great addition to the growing body of Holmesian adventures penned by successors to the incomparable Arthur Conan Doyle, who first introduced Sherlock Holmes in the 1890s.

It is World War II, and we find Sam North's Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as octogenarians still living in London on Baker Street through the eyes of no less than Winston Churchill who proposes a spy mission that will take them into the heart of Nazi Germany. With sensitivity, Sam North convincingly characterizes Holmes and Watson as frail old men who suffer many geriatric maladies, but who will take on one last assignment from the First Lord of the Admiralty himself, if only because it is for their country.

From start to finish, the dialogue in THE CURSE OF THE NIBELUNG excels. When Sherlock Holmes speaks (or Watson for that matter), we easily visualize Basil Rathbone (or Nigel Bruce). North has captured the nuance and rhythm of this duo perfectly. Unlike other writers of Sherlockian sequels, North is particularly fortunate to be writing with an obvious command of many Briticisms, which might, for example, never occur to an American author. That is, Sam North's dialogue and description has an English authenticity and crispness that's part of the delight of reading this yarn.

And an imaginative yarn it is. Holmes and Watson are joined by a young woman, Cornelia Hainsley (whose dad had been killed by Nazis earlier), in their quest undertaken under the guise of a pilgrimage to a Wagner festival in Nurnberg. Without giving away any of the plot, the adventure involves chocolate factories, cocaine-laced candy, experimental jet planes, a band of Irishmen with bicycle-powered radio transmitters for sending intelligence back to the UK, among other imaginative inventions. There's disguise and confused identities, and a lot of fun. Yes, Sam North's imagination, at times, borders on the zany, but surprisingly it still works and in a way, it's probably reflective of some true stories in WWII.

Reading THE CURSE OF THE NIBELUNG, I recalled a former boss of mine and his WWII experience with the American OSS (predecessor to today's CIA). My boss was somewhat an expert on espionage transmitters. At some point in the War, a problem came up with a transmitter. The OSS in the States didn't know if their agent had been captured or the transmitter wasn't working. So the OSS put my boss on an airplane, and parachute on his back, he was flown behind enemy lines. When they got to the farm where he was to land, the plane's pilot knew my boss would never parachute out--this was to be his first parachute jump, ever. So with plane door opened, the pilot banked the plane very sharply and out my boss was involuntarily dumped, with the parachute automatically opening. Yes, the mission was a success, but that story captures some of the light comedic touch of THE CURSE OF THE NIBELUNG.

I marked down THE CURSE OF THE NIBELUNG slightly because I thought it longish. That is possibly only my taste in reading Sherlock Holmes, but as I recall, Arthur Conan Doyle didn't write any adventure as long as this.

Another reviewer commented on the typos in the book. Yes, there are some, but not in every other sentence, and not noticeably as one gets caught up in this involving adventure. (A hypercritic about typos is a bit like the gallery visitor, who seeing the Mona Lisa for the first time, says, Oh my, there's a fly on that painting!) I recommend THE CURSE OF THE NIBELUNG to all Sherlock Holmes fans who want to see what Holmes and Watson would be up to, even as senior citizens, when the appeal to save Britannia is made.

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Title Duplication

Marcel D'Agneau published a SH pastiche in 1981(Arlington), under the title The Curse of the Nibelung: Being the Last Case of Lord Holmes.

Although titles are not subject to Copyright, sometimes confusion follows duplicate or very similar titles.

reviews: page 1, 2

December 1939. Germany and Great Britain are in the fog of the phoney war. The First Sea Lord Winston Churchill knows that England is not nearly ready for the fight. Four British spies have perished in strange circumstances in Nuremberg trying to discover the biggest secret of the Third Reich. Churchill turns to the only man he knows who can solve the mystery. But Lord Sherlock Holmes is now 83, Dr Watson even older. Are they still up to it? They must cross the Channel, pretend to be German sympathisers. If caught, England will disown them. Holmes accepts the challenge; indeed he has been awaiting the call. They will solve the mystery, or die in the attempt. Two ancient men of England and one beautiful nurse enter enemy territory. Their loyalty will be tested, more than once, and there is no one they can trust. The secret of Nuremberg is far more sinister than even Holmes could imagine; their chances of getting back alive, very slim indeed.

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