"When we got back to Scotland it was easily hushed up" [BLAC]
Addy and Zabel, the investigative couple from Sherlock's Secretary, return in Nessie's Nemesis. Addy is still answering letters sent to Sherlock Holmes, which brings them this second case. Like the one in the first book, it has a media connection to the great detective.
As many know, there's a key scene in the 1970 Billy Wilder movie The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes involving a fake Loch Ness Monster. (If you don't know, don't worry — one character tells another the key facts early on.) In this novel, two video podcasters have journeyed to the lake to document their attempt to raise the head of the prop, but they've disappeared.
Related: Long Lost Prop from The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes Found
The supporting cast involved in this mystery includes an incompetent local police officer, an incredibly eccentric local lord who's hunting the monster himself, his daughter who runs the estate's conference center, the waiter at the hotel restaurant who hates his customers and isn't afraid to show it, and three authors: a Texan who writes action thrillers starring Ted Testosterone, a TV show parodist, and someone who writes creepy erotic noir.
Author Chris Chan tells a brisk story, perhaps a little over-seasoned with random bits of trivia, but I enjoyed learning about weird Scottish dishes, for example, and I don't mind dense writing. As with many other modern authors, it's unfortunate that his characters all sound much the same, with the same vocabularies and voices on the page; it's the plotting that's his strength. I stayed curious about finding out what would happen next throughout the 215-page story, and I admired how all the different strands wove together.
Nessie's Nemesis by Chris Chan, published by MX Publishing, September 2023, is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and Kindle format on Amazon.
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