Author Bonnie MacBird's latest full-length Sherlock Holmes novel, ‘The Serpent Under' is the sixth that she has penned. It follows 2022's Christmas-themed tale ‘What Child Is This?‘.
‘The Serpent Under' is replete with Sherlockian tradition. For starters, it has a period setting of 1891. That's the year in which the first short stories by Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were published. The book is narrated from the point of view of Doctor Watson, which will also delight purists, as the original stories used the same first person approach.
The grotesque murder that Sherlock Holmes is called in to investigate took place inside royal residence Windsor Castle, risking scandal. But Queen Victoria herself has requested Holmes' services! The body of Jane Wandley, companion to the Duchess of Ormond, lies in a bath tub, her wrists slashed in an apparent suicide. But there is a strange tattoo of a double ouroboros on the victim's head.
Holmes and Watson deduce that the young woman's death was no suicide. When they seek out the tattooist whose distinctive ink work was left on the victim's skin, they find that he too is recently deceased. In an apparently unconnected case, the body of a young Gypsy boy is found floating in the Serpentine. He had been one of Holmes' Baker Street Irregulars – the urchins he employed to run errands and spy on suspects. His family is linked to a Gypsy camp outside of Windsor Castle, and Holmes soon uncovers a tragedy from the past that links to the horrors of the present.
Like the snake symbolism that runs throughout the book, the convoluted and carefully interconnected plot of ‘The Serpent Under' slithers and weaves along at a fast pace. It takes inspiration from social concerns of the era, such as the Suffragette movement. The feisty character of Emily Ferndale, an activist for her cause, is one of the most enjoyable supporting players. The book returns the character of Heffie O'Malley, an intelligent young woman from grinding poverty who plays a pivotal role in helping Holmes with his inquiries.
For the most part, the author evokes the period setting of Late Victorian London with authenticity. A few Americanisms slip in here and there, such as a suggestion that they “talk with” rather than “talk to” a person of interest, but these lapses jump out because they are rare. The book will appeal to readers who enjoys twists and turns in a period whodunit and there is a large cast of characters from which to choose your chief suspect.
Although the story is plot-driven, the characterisations ring true. My favourite Sherlock Holmes is Jeremy Brett, and I could certainly hear his voice in the dialogue. Some of the situations, such as various escapades involving a snake, veer closer to the fantastical than Conan Doyle's stories ever did (though reference is made to ‘The Speckled Band' – the short story in which Holmes and Watson encountered a deadly serpent – this story takes the idea to the next level). I rather enjoy the sometimes startling results of the author's imagination, which leads the reader in unexpected directions, but some moments may be too fanciful for traditionalists.
Commendably, MacBird resists the temptation of trying to make Holmes too human or relatable. He remains an enigma, and his friendship with Watson is built upon the foundations of sharing a love of adventure and a taste for solving curious mysteries. For that reason, MacBird's take on the Sherlock Holmes world is recommended to aficionados of Conan Doyle as well as to all readers of historical detective fiction. I read ‘The Serpent Under' in only a few sittings and found it compulsive.
Fun, intriguing and always paying homage to its inspiration, Bonnie MacBird succeeds in delivering another enjoyable and full-length Sherlock Holmes novel. Given that Conan Doyle was a short story specialist, only managing four novels featuring his most famous creation, out of which only one of them (‘The Hound of the Baskervilles') isn't structurally flawed, MacBird can in many ways be said to be expanding the possibilities of what can be achieved with the Sherlock Holmes universe in book form.
Publisher: Collins Crime Club Publication date: 2nd January 2025 Buy ‘The Serpent Under'
