Book Review: The Jewel of Covent Garden

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Jewel of Covent Garden     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Wayne Worcester
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Sherlock Holmes
Signet, Dec 2000, $5.99, 272 pp.

In the 1880s, an eight-year old street urchin with an attitude crashes into the door of Sherlock Holmes’ apartment. The lad Tommy insists his Uncle John Godey sent him to show a letter to the great detective. Holmes remembers using a series of lefts and rights to finally send John to prison for safecracking. Apparently, John served his time and is watching over his nephew, but Tommy says his uncle is ailing. The letter is an invitation for Tommy to attend a major social event that only the elite of the elite has been invited to attend.

A bored Holmes accepts the case of trying to learn why Tommy received an invitation. Accompanied by Watson, he visits the hostess Lady Armstrong, who is outright hostile. From her and her more amiable son, Holmes and Watson meet Jack Ryder, a nasty gambler. As Holes and Watson continue to find out what is afoot, they protect their client from harm without even knowing why.

The discovery of the second Watson manuscript, THE JEWEL OF CONVENT GARDEN, is a superb homage to Holmes and Watson. The story line works because the key duo feel as if Doyle wrote their dialogue as in a year 2000 discovery of an 1880s manuscript. The mystery is fun, but what makes Wayne Worcester’s tale work is the Holmes-Watson relationship.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner