The Scroll of the Dead

Review: David Stuart Davies has written another gripping long story: The Scroll of the Dead. Sherlock Holmes begins by exposing a fraudulent medium, but soon finds himself pursuing a ruthless fanatic who will not stop at murder to obtain the scroll which is the key to immortality. A decadent dandy, a vicious sprig of the aristocracy and the hot-headed daughter of an archæologist lead the detective and the doctor to adventure in rural Norfolk and to mortal peril amid the lakes and mountains of Cumberland.

It’s a rattling good yarn, well told and well produced - though there are a couple of odd lapses, unexpected from this author and this publisher. (For instance, ‘accusative’ is a grammatical term; it does not mean the same as ‘accusatory’.)

That said, I’m very happy to recommend this latest novel from Calabash, with its grand cover design by Chris Senior. It’s available in Britain from Rupert Books, Murder One and Crime In Store, or it can be had direct from Calabash.

Reviewed by: Roger Johnson, [District Messenger, 180, 1998]