OneMetal.com book REVIEW:
The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Séance for a Vampire

A good mystery always remedies boredom, and adding a deerstalker hat, cape, and pipe makes a good detective story even better. Sherlock Holmes’ wit and talent situated alongside his investigative partner, John H. Watson, makes for a cannon of juicy stories, which span from the late nineteenth century to early twentieth. The uncouth often worm its way between logic and sensibility, but the elementary duo manage to decode the most befuddling whodunits, murders, and nefarious schemes known to Europe … in most instances, anyway.

Titan Books introduces the most recent in the late Fred Saberhagen’s The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes books. Séance for a Vampire meddles in the psychic and supernatural, and when vampires kidnap London’s most eccentric detective mind, his friend and biographer Watson turns to an undead source for assistance: Holmes’ cousin, Prince Dracula. Together they’re tasked with rescuing the well-to-do British aristocrat Ambrose Altamont’s daughter Louisa, who shakes the household when she rises from the grave during a tightly conducted séance, demanding that stolen treasure be returned to its rightful place: into the hands of her vampire kidnapper, Alexander Ilyich Kulakov. The more secrets the detectives unveil during their hunt, the more skeletons litter their path—including ones tucked away in Holmes’ family closet.

Despite the important presence of its figurehead, Séance for a Vampire brushes on a light coat of actual mystery, covers up its loose ends with Victorian details, and leaves most of the deduction for its final chapters. No doubt readers will find the lackluster confrontation and the skimpy dedication to its villains disappointing, but overall the book entertains with mystical unraveling that sticks to the imagination as well as the pages. Shy of 300 pages, this new addition to the Sherlock Holmes universe will satisfy a fan’s sweet tooth and deliver a swift kick to the more amateur and outlandish of its vampire storytelling colleagues.

Bottom Line

Regardless of its tagline, Séance for a Vampire doesn't rattle any prisoners' chains or anger any real ghostly spirits, but considering its inexpensive cover price, readers get what they pay for: a fun read with mediocre pop.