Pure enjoyment!!

I heard about this on a bookriot podcast (Get Booked!) and it sounded right up my alley and Nicholas Boulton narrating sealed the deal. I adored it!! A weird, sort of Lovecraftian, gender switched Sherlock Holmes retelling, set in space? Irresistible, really. The narrator Wyndham (this book’s Watson character) uses hilariously Victorian repressive writing style, avoiding any swearing, or sex and even blushes at the sight of ladies ankles. This world has witchcraft, multiple realities, vampires, pirates, necromancy, sharks and eternal vengeful gods. Loved this iteration of the detective, Shaharazad Haas, a powerful sorceress who blithely drags Wyndham into many bizarre adventures and also displays many classic Holmes characteristics.

Like many Holmes stories, the mystery itself is arguably low stakes, but there is nearly constant adventure and clever banter and the ground is well laid for future books with these characters. The audio narrator was the PERFECT voice for Wyndham and was great with the others. I did find it easier to read the ebook version for first few chapters before I got a grasp on the style and the key names and locations. If your favorite part of AMZN adaptation of Good Omens was the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale, you may also enjoy this. Am very much on board for any and all future installments.

5 people found this helpful

Brilliant fun!

I climbed into this book and never wanted to climb out. First, Boulton seems to be having the time of his life reading this material. His performance is a one man tour de force.

And Alexis Hall gives him plenty to play with. The imagination! The wit! The entertainment. Hall is a true wordsmith. I haven't enjoyed a book this much in ages. Now to go search for more books by this author.

1 person found this helpful

An interdimensional romp with great narration

This was a fun and imaginative story; however, it felt like an early draft. It had too many threads that didn’t fully tie together at the end. Yet, almost all the threads were independently interesting.

I found myself wishing more than once that the Sherlock Holmes references were a bit more subtle, because they felt like being hit over the head with a copy of A Study in Scarlet. In addition, the Holmes-equivalent character seemed constrained by the need to be comparable to Holmes, and it made her oddly predictable. The Watson equivalent, though, was rather more charming than the original, and I would read about him in an entirely non-Holmes-adjacent story. (With more of the necromancer! And the political prisoner had so much potential too.)

Nicholas Boulton did a magnificent job with the narration. He dealt with some quite challenging voice acting decisions with creativity and clarity.

I hope at some point I can listen to Boulton’s performance of a sequel that’s entirely about something like John and the necromancer solving the mystery of where Shaharazad has gone. Much like with the original Holmes, the less-strong bits in this book didn’t stop me from liking the overall concept and wanting to read more.

Fun Queer Mystery

so good I loved it !! so queer and so well performed. couldn't putit down.

A truly original retelling of Sherlock Holmes

The Affair or the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall is a strange and original reimagining of Sherlock Holmes. Told from the perspective of John Watson or in this case John Wyndham as he recounts his first adventure with Sherlock Holmes, aka the sorcerous Ms. Shaharazad Haas; the story is written as a memoir. Part sci-fi, part fantasy, part paranormal, part steampunk, and part mystery it’s hard to categorize the genre. It’s certainly and original creation.

The mystery here is a letter blackmailing a frenemy of Ms. Haas and so Mrs. Wyndham who has just recently become the roommate to Ms. Hass is roped into the investigation. The two travel to distant places back in time, forward in time and a bunch of other wacky, crazy escapades that puts their lives in danger more than once.

Once you get use to the weirdness of quirkiness of the story and the world-building it’s very enjoyable. Clever and smartly written it weaves its tale and mystery beautifully. Though, I would say the mystery was huge, its resolution was inventive and unexpected. You start to warm up to the characters the more you get to know them.

One of the things I did found annoying was how the author chose to do omissions and how they were explained away. There was a lot of, “I won’t waste the readers time by going into such trifling matters” (paraphrasing). And it happens a fair amount throughout the book. A few times here and there is okay, but it happened far too often for my taste. And by the way the book is told in first-person, so FYI.

The narration is done by Nicholas Boulton, who is one of my favorite narrators. He does a phenomenal job and really brings the characters and the world to life with his performances.

Overall, I enjoyed it a great deal and I can’t wait for their next adventure together.

Loved this book!

Reminded me a bit of the Nightside series by Simon R Green. It's got all those word soup names and places that worldbuild by sparking your imagination. Also had a ton of references without coming across as a fantasy rollcall.

I hope there's a sequel!

Lovecraftian!!

Idk what that means, but all the other reviews mentioned it so....

ETA: Ok, I looked up lovecraftian. And sure, it is that. But I'm just going to call it a great story. Cracked me up. Classic AJH! (Which I would know bc me and this author go WAY back... to last month when I heard his name for the first time ever.) But in that time I've read nearly all of Hall's backlist and if you like the clever writing and droll wit there, you'll get more of the same here.

As for the story: will it satisfy die-hard Sherlock Holmes fans? Idk.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Jim from the original Office are almost the entirety of my Sherlock knowledge base. Oh, and that Guy Ritchie movie.

Will sci-fi fans find it enjoyable? Idk.
I don't really read sci-fi. But I liked this book. That's praise in itself.

Is it worth the money? Yes!!
I found this book highly entertaining, laughed out loud and followed the plot in spite of the impressive (insanely, almost disturbingly detailed) world-building that occurs in this story. Like I said, I'm not a big sci-fi-fi fan. Vigo Mortensen was put in LOTR for people like me. I need a hottie distraction bc the weird names, alien places and long-standing feuds within the Jedi counsel usually derail my ability to follow the story arc. But Hall weaves it into the storyline so seamlessly. Made for an excellent read. Time and money well spent.

Also serious props to Nicholas Boulton's narration in the audiobook.

Ms. Haas is now my favorite Sherlock incarnation. Sorry Dr. Strange.

Sherlock Holmes by way of Rick and Morty

Funny, imaginative, and delightfully queer! This spin on Sherlock Holmes features a charming transgender Watson figure in the form of Captain Wyndham, and a wonderfully dysfunctional and nihilistic take on the Great Detective in Shaharazad Haas, with colorful world building and heavy Lovecraftian elements setting the backdrop for their adventures. As a lifelong fan of the Holmes stories I unreservedly loved this, despite the subject matter being so different I feel like this book came much closer to the original tone and style of Arthur Conan Doyle’s work than any of the numerous other homages that have popped up in recent years. I sincerely hope the author will bring us more Shaharazad Haas stories in future!

Clever & Exciting - Wow, Boulton is Spectacular!

I love Alexis Hall steampunk and The Affair of the Mysterious Letter is my favorite so far. Definitely the best premise with the spin on Holmes and Watson, because you know Hall is going to just kill that. Plus with Hall's imagination, the adventure these two go on is beyond spectacular.

Great characters, a bunch of clever twists and turns, plus a really fun ending, The Affair of the Mysterious Letter was truly enjoyable.

I listened to the audiobook and I was blown away by narrator Nicholas Bolton. His performance is amazing, between the zillion different voices and accents... seriously wow!

Perfection!

Perfection. Nicholas Boulton's work is wonderful, as always:  His vocal performance is the icing on the already the already delicious cake that is this book!