The Eccentric Painter (A Sherlock Holmes Uncovered Tale)

Okay first off this is not the Robert Downey Jr Holmes this is the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Holmes and that is a good thing. I read a lot of mystery novels and I have read a lot of the "new" Sherlock Holmes stories. They generally fall into two categories. The first type of Holmes story breaks all the canon rules about Holmes and Watson. They really have nothing to do with the original characters except for the name. The second category are the ones that sound as if Doyle wrote them. The Eccentric Painter is of the second variety. The author nailed the dialogue between Holmes and Watson and that frankly is what always drew me to the Holmes stories. We see Sherlock make his famous deductions, and tweak Watson a bit, which all rings true to me. The mystery is serviceable and also fits the Doyle tradition. I see this is the first foray into Sherlock Holmes for this author, although there are other mysteries, and I hope we will see more of them.

As those at Amazon probably gleefully know, if they recommend a new Sherlock Holmes book they can count on my putting it into the cart immediately unless there are hints of supernatural, true romance types of things and a few others. I like my Holmes stories to be like the originals I first read so many years ago. So the recommendation to try out Mr Ehrman's first offering was a no brainer. My reaction? This is a marvelous piece of work. Although pretty short, the story contains all of the elements of suspense, setting, plot ad characterizations one would want--and more. It is simply a barn burner of a story and immediately went into my category of books that I start feeling disgruntled when seeing it is running out of pages. Bang up job, Mr Ehrman. Hope you have others in the works because they will go promptly into the shopping cart.

I did not expect much from a A. C. Doyle "Wannabe" and this lived up to that expectation. Actually, it even failed to meet that low standard. The story line is pitiful; the characterizations are lame; the deduction details are worse. I am only glad I didn't pay more for this.

Sherlock Holmes Uncovered: The Eccentric Painter by Steven ErhmanSpring, 1883Upon returning to 221B Baker Street from an evening constitutional, Holmes and Watson find a client waiting for them. Miss Jane Livingstone has come to consult Holmes on the matter of her Uncle’s murder. David Livingstone was strangled on the roof of his estate at Livingstone Manor.He had become an accomplished, if eccentric painter of landscapes. He was in the habit of painting on the roof of Livingstone Manor every day from 2:00pm to 4:00pm, regardless of the weather. Someone attacked and garroted him on that very spot.The household at Livingstone manor are highly upset, and chaff that the police have not found the murderer. The family believes some enemy of their Uncle must be responsible.David Livingstone was one of three brothers who had all sought their fortune in the United States gold rush. David and his brother Walter quickly struck it rich. David sold his mining interests at the high mark of the gold mania, returned to England and bought his manor house, then named Tyrell Hall.The middle brother, Walter, remained in the United states after making he own fortune. He married and had a son named Harold, then fell into a pattern of self destruction which culminated with the loss of his fortune, the death of his wife, and ultimately the death of Walter himself. David brought his nephew home and raised him like a son.The youngest brother, George, worked hard in the mining camps but found little treasure. He also married and had a daughter named Jane. He was killed in a gunfight in South Dakota. His wife died then from dysentery, and Jane Livingstone was also taken in by her Uncle. A third distant cousin named Nigel Livingstone has recently been added to the household, where he acts as David Livingstone’s secretary.The official Police believe it to be an inside job. Jane Livingstone is certain that it isn’t, as she is certain both of her cousins were inside at the time of the murder. It will take Holmes to sort through the haystack of evidence and find the needle of truth…This is Steven Erhman’s first volume in this new series, Sherlock Holmes Uncovered. His writing reflects the image of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle rather well. I consider this to be one of the better Holmes pastiches I have read this year, and perhaps one of the all time best. I gladly give this volume a full five stars out of five!Quoth the Raven…

Mr. Ehrman has presented us with a Sherlock Holmes tale excellent for a relaxing afternoon read, or preparation for a restful night.

This story starts out very much in the style of Doyle but for me it failed in the end when Holmes uncovers the real culprit. too quickly. Indeed this was a very short story, too short for me. As I said before good begining, typical ending but not much in the middle.

I thought the plot was a little thin but interesting. It did keep my interest all the way through as I read it. Wish it had been a tad longer was rather short. The characters of Sherlock and Dr Watson were pretty spot on target.Am reviewing it for my book club.

Read like Sir Arthur Canon may have penned it and likes Inspector Savage and hope to see more of him

As well as having numerous typos and words completely missing from some sentences of this edition, the narrative of this novel feels like 'The Comic Strip Presents...Sherlock Holmes'. It is laughably pathetic and I was very disappointed given the reviews I have read of it on Amazon's US website. I will stick to 'The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes...' series in future.

The problem here is that it would be lovely to see this as part of a collection. it is well written and a reasonably good story, Holmes is shown as talented, after all he can whistle and smoke a pipe at the same time. Try that if you are a smoker. The language is good and recognisably based on the canon. it's a shame it is so short.

A fair, but short, mystery however the style of writing was too far removed from ACD for it to warrant anymore than three stars.

Traditional pastich

superb story