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William Seil: The Titanic Tragedy
Dec. 11th, 2018 01:27 pmThe Titanic Tragedy by William Seil is one of a series of “Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” published by Titan Books. As Gentle Reader is probably aware, I find it hard to resist books that purports to offer us more of the doings of the Great Detective, so happening upon this volume was sufficient reason to acquire it.
This adventure places Watson, and Holmes in disguise as a senior naval officer, on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. They are there to assist a young British agent, Miss Norton, who is carrying secret documents to be delivered to the Empire’s American allies. Miss Norton is the daughter of Holmes’ old friend, Irene Adler.
There are, of course, a number if suspicious characters on board, including the vengeful brother of James Moriarty, an inquisitive young American woman that Watson takes a bit if a fancy to, a German baron and his wife who seek Watson’s help with a series of curious blackmail notes, a professional gambler, and some oddly behaved crewmen.
Naturally, the documents are stolen, and Holmes, Watson and Norton must find them before the ship arrives in America - only, of course, the reader knows that the deadline is somewhat sooner, before the ship sinks.
Woven into the search for the documents is a detailed, and to the best of my knowledge, accurate, description of the ship, its construction, and the reasons it was thought to be unsinkable. The various officers Holmes and Watson rely on for assistance bear the names of the real men who held those positions on the Titanic, and some of the passengers they encounter were real passengers who lived, or died, much as they do in the novel. Our heroes, of course, survived the tragedy, being picked up by the nearby liner Carpathia, as were most of the survivors of that night.
I found the actual Holmes plotline a little bit overly convoluted, with multiple sideplots and red herrings, but nonetheless I enjoyed it quite a bit.
This adventure places Watson, and Holmes in disguise as a senior naval officer, on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. They are there to assist a young British agent, Miss Norton, who is carrying secret documents to be delivered to the Empire’s American allies. Miss Norton is the daughter of Holmes’ old friend, Irene Adler.
There are, of course, a number if suspicious characters on board, including the vengeful brother of James Moriarty, an inquisitive young American woman that Watson takes a bit if a fancy to, a German baron and his wife who seek Watson’s help with a series of curious blackmail notes, a professional gambler, and some oddly behaved crewmen.
Naturally, the documents are stolen, and Holmes, Watson and Norton must find them before the ship arrives in America - only, of course, the reader knows that the deadline is somewhat sooner, before the ship sinks.
Woven into the search for the documents is a detailed, and to the best of my knowledge, accurate, description of the ship, its construction, and the reasons it was thought to be unsinkable. The various officers Holmes and Watson rely on for assistance bear the names of the real men who held those positions on the Titanic, and some of the passengers they encounter were real passengers who lived, or died, much as they do in the novel. Our heroes, of course, survived the tragedy, being picked up by the nearby liner Carpathia, as were most of the survivors of that night.
I found the actual Holmes plotline a little bit overly convoluted, with multiple sideplots and red herrings, but nonetheless I enjoyed it quite a bit.