I would like to thank Sarah from Titan for an advance copy of this collection in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Titan

Published – Out Now

Price – £14.99 hardback £5.59 Kindle eBook

Sherlock Holmes is dead. His body lies in a solitary grave on the Sussex Downs, England. But Dr. Watson survives and is now given permission to release tales in Sherlock’s “classified dossier”, those cases that are, dear listener, unbelievable - for their subject matter is of the most outré and grotesque nature.

In this thrilling first installment of The Classified Dossier, a Transylvanian nobleman called Count Dracula arrives at Baker Street seeking the help of Sherlock Holmes, for his beloved wife, Mina, has been kidnapped.

But Dracula is a client like no other, and Holmes and Watson must confront - despite the wild, unbelievable notion - the existence of vampires. And before long, Holmes, Watson, and their new vampire allies must work together to banish a powerful enemy growing in the shadows.

The history of genres in literature is always fascinating particularly when the source material is out of copyright. An enterprising author can play in one story or perhaps mash several together. Sometimes to make a point on our current world and sometimes just to have a huge amount of fun. Just hearing the title of Sherlock Holmes & Doctor Watson – The Classified Dossier Volume 1 by Christian Klaver made me want to read it and dearest reader I have no regrets. Indeed I had a fine time roaming Olde London with these two giants in a very impressive melding of the worlds of crime and horror.

London 1902 and Doctor James Watson and Sherlock Holmes are surprised to find themselves involved in two strange cases. A woman’s finger found in a box – on that when Holmes applies his mind, he finds dislikes silver and sunlight. Then Count Dracula asks if he can use the services of the World’s Greatest detective to find his missing wife Mina. The duo are aware of Dracula via Stoker’s novel but Dracula assures them that he has been very poorly portrayed. Holmes and Watson are thrown into the mysterious worlds of vampires; having huge impacts on Watson’s life and in no time at all the strange team are finding themselves dealing with undead criminals galore, sailors from Innsmouth (oh yes) and pulling strings the mysterious vampire known as the Mariner Priest.

It would have very easy to have fallen into the habit of playing this purely for laughs but Klaver plays this very straight. Holmes and Watson are real as is Dracula and a lot of the background is unpeeling the mysteries of vampires. The melding of worlds actually works quite nicely Holmes wishes to apply logic and Dracula is not portrayed as just an evil being just one with his own way of doing things. To make things really interesting Watson very early on in the first story is attacked and turned into a Vampire! But fortunately, one that is very much still the good Doctor. The need to understand vampirism gets more urgent for our duo and Klaver keeps making the stakes personal. It’s a set of four absorbing detective stories to pull you along and slowly the links between the tales gets stronger culminating in a very good finale on a fast moving steam train!

These are very much the adventurers of Holmes and Watson rather than purely forensic investigators. Gunfights in cellars; fistfights and dealing with dangerous folks carry the adventure and Klaver throws a few little easter eggs from all sorts of strange tales into the mix. My only issue was about halfway another adventure with the undead is cited to explain a few things and that’s not in this collection. It would have helped to set the scene to better understand certain characters and their motivations. Despite that the story carefully explains these gaps so not to cause me too much confusion. Overall this approach delciously works and entertains which sometimes you just need in a good story Dracula comes and goes but his influence casts a long shadow.

It is lovely sometimes to read a book and tell you must be having as much fun reading a story as the author is writing it. This is a fine addition to the fantasy world’s take on Holmes. Curl up in a comfy chair on a dark night with a suitable beverage and enjoy yourself! I very much hope to read Volume 2 at some point Highly recommended!