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Turley's story collection is a must-read for fans of Holmes and Watson with a refreshing twist that still feels true to Doyle's originals.

Synopsis

Of all the conundrums that have puzzled Sherlockian scholars, few have been thornier than the “vexed question” of Dr. Watson’s wives. In these ten stories, readers will meet the all-but-unknown women who preceded and succeeded Mary Morstan, as well as learning more about poor Mary’s fate. Other cases involve Our Heroes with all levels of Victorian society, including prime ministers and prostitutes, aristocrats and generals, amateur sleuths and Scotland Yarders, composers, novelists, and even ghosts. The tales cover the entire span of Holmes and Watson’s friendship, running from 1881 to 1937.

Watson's Wives and Other Tales of Sherlock Holmes by Thomas A. Turley is a collection of ten Holmesian short stories that I'm glad I jumped at the chance to read. I've always loved reading about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson whether they're the originals from Arthur Conan Doyle or complete reimaginings from other authors. This set hews very closely to the original source material, but with one main twist: Watson's been married three times and we get to learn a little more about the three women and Watson's (and Sherlock's by association) life with them. Now, I'm not a Sherlockian scholar in the least so I wouldn't quite say that the question of Watson's wives has particularly "vexed" me since I'm much more interested in Holmes and Watson's friendship, but I still had a great time reading these short stories.


Now, I'd like to briefly talk about each of the ten featured stories in this collection. As I said, all of the stories were good reads, but I will say I definitely preferred those where the women in Watson's life had a more prominent role in the story (or on a similar note where we learn more about Watson's personal life).


The first story, "A Yuletide Tragedy", features a woman Watson was close to in the past (not one of his wives), but it gives us a great look at Watson's life. It was cool seeing Lestrade and Gregson working together on the central mystery, but mainly I wanted to mention that I laughed out loud at one of the characters being named Cumberbatch. The second story, "A Game of Skittles," wasn't a favorite, but I did appreciate the funny little character beats between Holmes and Watson and they kind of reminded me of their Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law movie counterparts. In this story, Watson barely makes a reference to a wife. Story three, "The Catastrophic Cyclist," was underwhelming and could have remained and "untold tale," but I appreciated that Sherlock himself acted as the narrator. The fourth story, "A Ghost From Christmas Past," is one of my favorites from the entire collection. The best part of this story is that we learn more about Watson's personal life and we get a look back at his three late wives, Constance, Mary, and Priscilla. I also appreciated seeing how much Holmes cares for Watson, even if I do favor a different reading of his personal life. Finally, I'd like to note that the footnotes continually took me out of all the stories when they were promoting other MX Publishing releases. The fifth story, "Mrs. Hudson's Visitor" goes quick, but it's a refreshing one told by Mrs. Hudson herself. I loved that this iteration of the character isn't much older than her famous tenants. It's cool that she recognizes that they really are the dream team and that they balance each other out, but best of all she offers Mary words of encouragement.


Next up, we have story number six, "The Adventure of the Lost Alliance" which started off promisingly with the "behind the scenes" elements with Doyle as Watson's literary agent. That said my interest in this one fizzled out fairly early on. For the seventh story, "The Adventure of the Disgraced Captain," we get to see a lot more of Priscilla, Watson's third wife, than we've had the chance to before now. It's intriguing to see his relationship with her, but the treatment of the LGBT elements of this story were irritating and unnecessary. The best part of "The Solitary Violinist," the eighth story of the collection, is that Holmes gets to narrate, but Priscilla, Watson's third wife just gets a mention. As for the ninth story, "What Came Before," Priscilla takes more of a front seat in this story which is much appreciated. Otherwise, though, this story is a bit too long and tonally is a little too different. In regards to the final story, "The Adventure of the Tainted Canister," Mary took on more of role compared to other stories in this collection and as much as I liked seeing that, I loved that Holmes reiterates just how highly he regards Watson.


Watson's Wives and Other Tales of Sherlock Holmes by Thomas A. Turley is a must-read for fans of John Watson and Sherlock Holmes. The author does a great job of making these ten stories feel like they fit in with Arthur Conan Doyle's originals while fleshing out other aspects of their personal lives that may just be mentioned in passing in Doyle's stories and adding in more intriguing mysteries to ponder over. Every single story didn't always work for me, there's still much to like and it offers quite a bit of variety for everyone to find something they can appreciate. Thanks again to Reedsy Discovery and MX Publishing for the opportunity read this book!

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Synopsis

Of all the conundrums that have puzzled Sherlockian scholars, few have been thornier than the “vexed question” of Dr. Watson’s wives. In these ten stories, readers will meet the all-but-unknown women who preceded and succeeded Mary Morstan, as well as learning more about poor Mary’s fate. Other cases involve Our Heroes with all levels of Victorian society, including prime ministers and prostitutes, aristocrats and generals, amateur sleuths and Scotland Yarders, composers, novelists, and even ghosts. The tales cover the entire span of Holmes and Watson’s friendship, running from 1881 to 1937.

Preface

Of all the conundrums that have puzzled Canonical scholars, few have been thornier than the eternally “vexed question” of John H. Watson’s wives.[1] Part of the problem is that the Doctor mentions only one by name. Even Mary Morstan is never called anything except “my wife” once she and Watson wed. Our confusion arises from references to “my wife” in stories that predate The Sign of Four. Nor is Sherlock Holmes of any help. While he tells us of his friend’s “desertion” for another wife by 1903, he provides neither the lady’s name nor the circumstances of their meeting. One would think the Literary Agent might have sorted out this mess, but Conan Doyle made no more effort to clarify the Doctor’s marital vagueness than to correct his errors or obfuscations of chronology.

In fairness to Sir Arthur, it was only in 1928 that Watson began to write of his first and final marriages. By that time, his relations with his long-time literary agent were no longer close. Indeed, the Doctor’s will named Holmes as his literary executor.[2] It is probable, therefore, that Doyle knew nothing of these late memoirs.

Who, then, were the all-but-unknown women who preceded and succeeded Mary Morstan? Wife One, Constance Adams, was identi­fied by W.S. Baring-Gould in his joint biography of Holmes and Watson.[3] Unfortunately, he got most of the facts about her wrong, as shown by Watson’s portrait of Constance in “A Ghost from Christmas Past.” It seems the Doctor carried a lifelong sense of guilt about his young wife’s death, especially because her fate was intermingled with that of his brother Henry, who also met a tragic end. Little wonder Watson said nothing of his brief first marriage in the Canon, leaving readers to puzzle over such inconsistencies as “My wife was on a visit to her mother’s” when Mary’s mother died long before they met.

The Doctor’s last wife was a more substantial figure: an officer’s widow who earned the respect of even Sherlock Holmes, although her opinion of him was less admiring. Priscilla Prescott appears in several of the late-life stories. It is obvious that Watson loved her deeply, and their companionable years would surely have continued had not the Great War brought to a head their conflicting views about the army. Instead, the two-time widower endured another tragedy, which brought his forays into marriage to a final end.

And what of Mary Morstan, the wife we know, the wife with whom Watson enjoyed—“all too briefly”—“the harmony of two souls perfectly attuned”? Both the “Mary memoirs” included here require an explanation. The first was not written by the Doctor. No doubt he kept it in his tin dispatch box because, as Holmes remarked, it showed how clearly another woman central to his life had come to understand him. As for “The Adventure of the Tainted Canister,” it is considered by one of my Sherlockian colleagues to be a forgery. There is evidence for this conclusion: the story’s tone, and its characterization of Lestrade, differ markedly from others in this volume. The Doctor’s final tale takes him far beyond the brainless bumbler portrayed by Nigel Bruce, although another colleague believes that “Edward Hardwicke would have given his eyeteeth for this role!” Whether John H. Watson was truly capable of the act described I leave my readers to decide.

The remaining stories vary in content and chronology. A casual flirtation leads to complications once the young war veteran moves to Baker Street. In other cases, Our Heroes meet “The Great,” including William Ewart Gladstone, Joseph Chamberlain, Gustav Mahler, and Edith Wharton. One story ties up a loose end from my previous book, Sherlock Holmes and the Crowned Heads of Europe. In his declining years, the Great Detective reunites with an elderly spinster likewise worthy of the title, although copy­right restrictions prevented me from giving this lady her well-known appellation.

All but one story appeared previously in the anthology The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories, or in other MX publications, between 2016 and 2023.Reluctantly, I eliminated most of the end­notes that cluttered the originals. Some remain as footnotes, and bibliogra­phies are appended to several of the stories. All employ British spelling and American punctuation, an inconsistency some may deplore.

 I must gratefully acknowledge the friendship and support of my Sherlockian colleagues. Publisher Steve Emecz has done his utmost to promote my limited output in the nine years of our relationship. David Marcum, Editor Extraordinaire, agreed to accept my other stories even after reading “Tainted Canister.” Marcia Wilson, Daniel D. Victor, Craig Stephen Copeland, S.F. Bennett, A.S. Croyle, Wendy Heyman-Marsaw, and Dick Gillman—all gifted pasticheurs—have assisted and encouraged my endeavors. The same is true of Derrick Belanger of Belanger Books, who recently published my essay in Writing Holmes! (2022), and of Brian Belanger, who provided the covers for this book and Crowned Heads. Keith Spilsbury did a masterful job of narrating both Crowned Heads and “Ghost.” Finally, as noted in the dedication, I owe to my wife Paula a debt that goes far beyond this book.

 

July 15, 2023


[1] Although the literature on this subject is immense, David Marcum has provided a thorough but palatable summary in his blog “A Seventeen Step Program” (http://17stepprogram.blogspot.com/2019/11/watsons-wives-and-question-of-chronology.html). He and I accept Baring-Gould’s conclusion that Watson had three wives. Others have posited as many as seven sickly brides, theorizing that the Doctor was a common-law bigamist, an inept physician, or a serial wife-killer.

 

[2] See “The Catastrophic Cyclist” and “The Adventure of the Lost Alliance” herein. The latter story mentions Watson’s irritation with Doyle as early as 1917. The final blow to their relationship is the subject of Marcum’s award-winning story “The Unintended Offenses,” in Steel True, Blade Straight (Belanger Books, 2022), pp. 192-218.

[3] Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street (Avenel, NJ: Wings Books, 1995 [1962]), pp. 67-70, 88, 91, 299-300, 302.

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1 Comment

Tom TurleyLauren, thank you for your perceptive and generally favorable review of my new short story collection Watson's Wives. I'm glad you enjoyed it overall, and I acknowledge the validity of many of your criticisms. (You have, for example, identified the stories I also regard as the strongest and weakest of the lot.) The one point I would take issue with pertains to "The Disgraced Captain," where you remark that "the treatment of the LGBT elements of this story were irritating and unnecessary." I regret that you found my treament irritating, but I think it was necessary, in the context of the story, to establish a plausible motive for the murder of Priscilla Prescott's husband and her subsequent attitude toward the British army. There is considerable historical evidence that Lord Kitchener was actively homosexual, and his staff--whether or not they shared his orientation--would have been extremely protective of that fact. Remember that the story is set only a few years after the disgrace and imprisonment of Oscar Wilde. Nor was my presentation of the story's gay characters intended to be unsympathetic or unfair, even though "the Beast" had to play the villain in the plot. I tried to make Dr. Watson's attitude as enlightened as one could expect of a Victorian soldier and physician. As a writer, I think it is essential to view historical and even literary figures within the context of their time. This doesn't mean that we cannot hold them to modern standards of morality, but it does mean recognizing that the standards of their era (whether rightly or wrongly) may have been slightly different than our own. Again, I very much appreciate your review of Watson's Wives.
about 1 year ago
About the author

MX Publishing has over 600 Sherlock Holmes books, from short stories to award winning novels and biographies. Over 350 of the books have made it into audio and there are more coming. We also have regular campaigns on Kickstarter to promote new projects. view profile

Published on November 21, 2023

Published by MX Publishing

90000 words

Genre:Historical Mysteries

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