cover image A Case of Witchcraft

A Case of Witchcraft

Joe Revill. MX Publishing (www.mxpublishing.co.uk), $14.50 trade paper (298p) ISBN 978-1-78092-009-2

The germ of a solid Sherlock Holmes pastiche is buried inside this middling effort that sends the great detective to the remote island of Trowley in 1899. As Watson finally has had a bullet from the Afghan War removed from his leg, he cannot accompany his friend. Instead, the role of assistant is filled by a young Aleister Crowley, whom Hkolmes has apparently met by accident on the train ride north. The pair is looking into the fate of Reverend Melchior Tollemache, at the request of his daughter, Emma. Tollemache, a folklorist whose search for the origin of the Cinderella story took him to the so-called Isle of Witches, vanished two days earlier, but the local police are convinced that a gust of strong wind propelled the researcher off a cliff to his death in the frigid sea. The spooky Wicker Man%E2%80%93like setup is diluted by gratuitous discussions of Holmes's sexuality and a 30-page rendition of a fairy tale. (Oct.)