Florence (Lefty) MacIntosh's Reviews > Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson

The Gods of Gotham was great so wanted to try Faye again. Pretty gutsy for a debut don’t you think? To take on Sherlock Holmes and pit him against Jack the Ripper, had to read it just to see if she'd pull it off - she did. Obviously did her homework, it’s pretty fabulous, with Faye’s strength again her mastery of dialect. The Sherlock characters are faithfully rendered plus she’s thrown in Mary Ann Monk, an enchanting gin-swilling tart who “proves herself to be a woman of extraordinary fortitude”. You've got the gothic moody flavour of 1880’s London with the Ripper adding a deliciously disturbing and suitably gruesome layer. It’s suspenseful and well paced, even the Ripper’s true identity came off believable. Most of all I loved the dialog, the bantering between Holmes & Watson, & Holmes little tiffs with his landlady Mrs. Hudson with her “studied dignity & silent cynicism.”
He’s your classic cerebral Holmes, brilliant and flawed, coldly precise with that “air of self-importance about him which tries the patience of his few friends” but reworked, a subtle interjection of slightly more fragility & humanity “Though I had never seen Sherlock Holmes so determined, I had also never seen him so at sea.” – liked it.

Cons: To slow a build, you’re a third of the way in before it hooks you – but then it doesn’t let go:)
Meanderings: My 3rd ripper novel, I know I’m not alone but I’m questioning the fixation. How many more times do these poor women have to die for my entertainment? This keeps up I may seek counseling…

Holmes shrugged. “The irregularity of the baseline, as well as the downward-slanting script, indicate he is moody and unpredictable. His ts are determined, his rs intelligent, and the confidence in his capitals is troubling.”