In 1932, residents of London are terrified by a series of brutal murders. The newly formed detective agency of Singleton and Trelawney gets its first client, the wife of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. She is having premonitions about a great danger facing London, and it’s all connected to the recent murders. Drawing upon the wits of the greatest fictional detective of all time, the PI’s use séances, spiritualism and anything else at their disposal to defeat an enemy that seeks to destroy all light. A fun romp through pre World War II London

This book started out fantastically and then went downhill from there. It wasn't the paranormal element that threw me off, it was that the ending was a little jumbled and disoriented. This book is the debut of the Singleton and Trelawney mystery series and it features Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his famous Sherlock Holmes. Singleton and Trelawney have just opened a detective agency in London and they are surprised to find that their first client is none other than the widow of the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Lady Conan Doyle is distressed by some paranormal disturbances that have been taking place at 221 Baker Street. Singleton and Trelawney set out to discover exactly what is going on and they find themselves in the midst of the investigation of several brutal murders.

This book focuses heavily on the spiritual movement and seances. If you know anything about the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, you will know that he was a prominent figure in the spiritualist movement. He attended a lot of seances and believed heavily in speaking to dead after they have passed on. The author uses those facts about the real life author and weaves them into this story. I adore Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes so that was a real treat for me as a reader. What disappointed me about this book was the fact that the ending felt overly rushed and chaotic. There was a lot happening at the end and I think that it took away from the fact that the first half of the book was actually really good.

There is another book following this one and I am curious to read it. I wonder if Sherlock Holmes and his creator turn up in that one. I am willing to give this author and this series another shot, but if the ending is inconclusive and rushed like this one, I am afraid that it will not exactly be my cup of tea. If you love Sherlock Holmes, I am curious to see if you enjoyed this book or felt that it did an injustice to the famous literary detective. I would love to hear your thoughts on this book and whether you enjoyed it or felt the same as I did.

Overall Rating: 2.5

Title: The Baker Street Phantom Author: Fabrice Bourland Series: Singleton & Trelawney Mystery #1 Publisher: Gallic Books Publication Date: August 2, 2010 Pages: 352 Genre: Historical Mystery Get It: Amazon

Disclaimer: This book was given to me by the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for my honest review. I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.

The world of 19th century spiritualism collides with the modern world of the early 20th century. Here two men undertake a journey to investigate the appearance of a ghost at the abode of a famous fictional detective, and encounter more than they bargain for when murder, mysticism and make-believe take centre stage.

Enjoyable romp for fans of the Holmesian genre - although the first 10 pages are a bit confusing and it sort of descends into craziness in the last 15 pages or so. Perfect for cozying up to with a cup of tea and a biscuit.

Sometimes a book will be based on a truly fascinating premise. This is one such book that get the reader thinking and ensnared..
What if thinking something made it real so that fictional characters actually lived in a netherworld. What if one of these characters was strong enough to break through embryo between the real and fantastical worlds. What if by doing so it allowed other creatures less benign and more malicious to escape into our world to perpetrate heinous crimes.
Such a thought would never have occurred to our hero who dismissed the spiritual world in youthful rebellion against his father, only to have his beliefs challenged and then shattered after the widow of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle knocks on his door.
London has been terrorized by a series of brutal crimes and no one seems to be able to solve them. In his attempt to assist the widow, he is drawn into the world of seances and spirits and things that go bump in the night.
Let your imagination go and immerse yourself in an entertaining book that will tickle your fancy as well as make you think.
A definite recommendation for fans of horror, Sherlock Holmes, mysteries set in London and so many other genres.
I am so glad that it has been republished.

I found this to be a light hearted read, copied after Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Certainly, not what you would expect, keeping that in mind, I think you will enjoy this story.

'The Baker Street Phantom' by Fabrice Bourland and translated by Morag Young is the first in the Singleton and Trelawney mystery series. The mystery is an interesting one, but doesn't live up to the name it's using as a title.

Trelawney and Singleton move to London to start their detective business. The book takes place in the 1930s and one of their first clients is the widow of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Weird things are happening at 221b Baker Street. When a seance reveals a visitor who really shouldn't be there, the detectives are skeptical. When a series of brutal murders starts happening around London and they seem to mimic ones in literary fiction, they know something really bizarre is going on. With some unusual help, will they be able to stop what is happening?

It's not remotely like a Sherlock Holmes story, even though it takes place in the same areas. It has a bit of history around the creation of the character and the life of it's creator. It has footnotes to show that the author did seem to do some interesting research along the way. It feels more like a cross between historical fiction, a supernatural thriller, and a mystery, but the mystery feels like the most pasted on element of the story. I liked the historical fiction parts the best and could have done without the supernatural elements.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Gallic Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

Fabrice Bourland’s novel, The Baker Street Phantom, is set in England in 1932. James Trelawney and Andrew Singleton move to England and decide to do detective work. Singleton’s father had previously done a lot of work on spiritualism, and Andrew thinks it is a farce. Nevertheless, when Arthur Conan Doyle’s widow, Jean, calls on them in their flat and asks for help to solve a mystery, both Trelawney and Singleton are excited to investigate their first case as private detectives. Conan Doyle has recently died (in 1930) and Jean is unsure whether he died of a weak heart or was murdered, since there was another voice in the room as he was dying. It is a dangerous time in England, and there are several brutal murders being committed around the city. The characters must be very careful.
Bourland is an excellent writer, and has a vivid imagination. Through séances, the characters try to contact others who have passed, and learn that the spirits of several fictitious characters seem to be carrying out their lives as depicted in their novels. Conan Doyle’s character, Sherlock Holmes, plays an important role in the novel, as well as some infamous characters from literature.
Certainly this novel is quite different from the standard suspense/thriller novel. It will be fascinating to readers, especially those who have studied the literary classics of the Victorian Era. This book is recommended as a quick, but interesting read.

It almost has to be admired how the author takes an awesome idea and tells it in almost the most boring way imaginable. Because of magic characters from famous Victorian novels appear on the streets of London. There is Sherlock Holmes - which is very cool - and there are Dorian Gray, Mr. Hyde, Dracula, and Jack the Ripper (it makes sense in context even though he is not a character from a novel) -which is less cool because they just continue what they did in the novels: kill people.
How do you mess such a great idea up? Easily: you take out any conflict and therefore, any excitement. The majority of the murders have already been committed by the time the novel starts and Singleton, our hero, just reads about them in the newspaper. (Conveniently all the murders are summed up in one article, despite there being huge differences in the MO). Since the paper also mentions where the murders have been committed he immediately makes the connection between that an 'all these places are mentioned in Dracula, Dorian Gray etc.' Of course, that does not mean that he immediately goes 'clearly novel characters have been going round murdering people' but it doesn't take him long to get there. Shortly afterwards he attends a séance, despite not believing in the spiritual things and that one séance is enough to change his opinion on everything. Mediums are not all fake. A connection to the afterworld is possible. And not much later: the killer was probably Dracula.
And everything in the book is like this. There never is time for you to worry if the characters will get out of a dangerous situation/get somewhere in time because those are all resolved as quickly as the characters change their minds on long-held beliefs.
Talking about characters: they also couldn't save it. They remained so colourless that I could barely remember their names while reading the book.