Robert J. Harris

A killer going by the name of 'Crimson Jack' is stalking the wartime streets of London, murdering women on the exact dates of the infamous Jack the Ripper killings of 1888. Has the Ripper somehow returned from the grave? Is the selfstyled Crimson Jack a descendant of the original Jack or merely a madman obsessed with those notorious killings? In desperation Scotland Yard turn to Sherlock Holmes, the worlds greatest detective. Surely he is the one man who can sift fact from legend and track down Crimson Jack before he completes his tally of death. As Holmes and the faithful Watson tread the blacked out streets of London, death waits just around the corner.

Sherlock Holmes: 1942

A Study in Crimson

Maxie Froelicher

** spoiler alert **
           I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book from the publisher through Edelwiess+, thank you so much!

A Study In Crimson takes place in 1942, in London in the middle of the blackout. This seems to be a perfect time for a grandiose crime to be committed, and committed it was. Following the same dates as Jack the Ripper, the mysterious Crimson Jack (hence, A Study In Crimson, a play on the title A Study In Scarlet) cuts his way through two innocent women. It’s up to Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, and the American reporter Abigail Preston to figure out who’s behind the murders before he completes the set and disappears once again into the shadows of wartime London.

I really liked this setting for a Sherlock Holmes novel, and I absolutely loved how the author tied World War I, known in the novel as The Great War, into both Watson and Holmes’ backstories. Holmes working as a spy with his knack for disguises and ability to worm his way into situations felt perfect to me, and it even helped to humanise him. There was even the mention of a woman he fell for, something I’m usually very against as it’s usually just thrown in the story for romance reasons, but it did more for his character than I thought it would.

Following that, Holmes felt VERY human in this novel, acknowledging his own weaknesses and deferring to others when he knew they had more information than him about certain points. Some versions of Sherlock I’ve read are too perfect and all too willing to brush aside anything they don’t deem worthy at the time. This version of Holmes made sure to at least listen to everything before filtering out non essential bits of information. 

Another thing I really liked was the twist, or, twists. First, being able to track down that it was a German spy, really the only explanation that made sense due to the circumstances, and then being one of the team that was trying to track down the murderer. Having the killer be a spy called back to Holmes’ own experiences, and connected him even more to the case, and the trope of the killer inserting himself in investigations is often talked about, but rarely used in my opinion. 

All in all, I loved this book. It’s a 4.5 stars for me, and I highly encouraged everyone to give it a try as soon as possible. I think many people will be as delighted by Gail Preston as I was.

A Study in Crimson Sherlock Holmes: 1942

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