Sherlock Holmes and the Man from Hell

Review: Sherlock Holmes and the Man from Hell is the 3rd new Holmes adventure by Barrie Roberts. The title is sensational but apt: the entrance to the harbour at Port Arthur was known as the Gates of Hell, and the story tells of events arising from the transporting of two innocent boys to Van Dieman’s Land and the ill-treatment and bad company they encounter.

There are echoes of The Gloria Scott and The Valley of Fear in this case of murder, abduction, robbery and blackmail on a west country estate. The philanthropist Lord Backwater has been brutally killed in an attack meant for the mysterious Man from Hell. Sherlock Holmes must find out who he is and why he brings such danger with him. Barrie Roberts has done his homework thoroughly (except for an apparent ignorance of correct titles within the English peerage: a viscount’s daughter would be the Honourable Patricia Lisle, not Lady Patricia), and he writes in a very acceptable simulacrum of Watson’s style. He remains faithful to the Canon throughout, and the result is a very enjoyable story indeed.

Reviewed by: Roger Johnson, [District Messenger 174, 1997]