Well, yet another Holmes pastiche is read and this is markedly better than the previous Titan Books effort I read a few weeks back (The War of the Worlds).
The Ectoplasmic Man sees the great detective thrown headlong into adventure with the escape artist, Harry Houdini, with the latter accused of stealing some very politically sensitive papers.
Daniel Stashower captures the spirit of Holmes well and tells a convincing story that certainly adds to the Holmesian canon. He stays loyal enough to Conan-Doyle’s creation, but adds his own nuances and addendum in order to make this a nice little creation.
Like most Americans when working with Holmes, he does slip into some Americanisms and there are some curious phrases that cause the well versed Holmes reader to stumble, but this is offset by the kind of action that is more likely to appear in Guy Ritchie production than a Jeremy Brett lead story.
All in all, The Ectoplasmic Man is a very enjoyable read and the last hundred pages flash by in what seems an instant as Holmes, Houdini and Watson declare the ‘game afoot’ and set after the bad guys. Worth a read. 7.5/10
James Stewart 