Sherlock Holmes & Young Winston

Kieran McMullen likes to call his novels about Holmes and Watson's war service "boys' adventure stories." That's what Mike Hogan's Sherlock Holmes & Young Winston: The Deadwood Stage is, too. And it's a rattling good one, with lots of action and a worthy villain.

The fast-moving adventure has strong characterization, realistic dialogue, and good writing. There's also a nice Canonical touch in that one of the two story lines has its roots in the Colonial past. By my count fully 19 stories in the Canon -- almost a third -- go back to the past. Often that past is in a present or former British Colony, such as America, India, or Australia. In this case, it's South Africa.

As the title would indicate, this book is the first in a trilogy of tales in which young Winston Spenser-Churchill becomes a kind of apprentice to Sherlock Holmes. He learns well, as indicated when he quotes one of his master's most famous lines: "When you have eliminated the impossible . . . "

The Deadwood Stage title comes from the bang-up finale, which involves Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West Show.

Watson, the man of action, has plenty to do in this book, as does Wiggins and the Baker Street Irregulars, who are revealed to be much more outside the law than the Canon tells us.

I like the Forward, which disputes the notion that Winston Churchill "is not a historical figure, that he is the figment of some author's imagination, like Robin Hood or Pinocchio." Well, actually, Robin Hood was a real person. And this account by Dr. Watson assures us that Churchill was, too.

Sherlock Holmes and Young Winston: The Deadwood Stage is available from all good bookstores worldwide including in the USA Amazon and Barnes and Noble, in the UK Amazon, Waterstones . Fans outside the US and UK can get free delivery from Book Depository. In ebook format it is in Amazon Kindle, and Apple iBooks(iPad/iPhone).

What's your favorite Sherlock Holmes pastiche involving a historical figure?