Sherlock Holmes’ Tales of Terror

The Curse of the Pharaohs by Kel Richards, 1997.

This is the first book in a short series of spooky mysteries for children featuring Sherlock Holmes.

One foggy night, a woman named Laura Coffin comes to Baker Street to see Sherlock Holmes, and his friend, Dr. Watson. She’s very worried about her uncle, Professor Sloane Coffin, who is an Egyptologist, living in Scotland. He’s been very ill and is likely to die, but Laura is increasingly alarmed by his mental state. Her uncle has come to believe in the Ancient Egyptian religion and believes that, when he dies, he will return from the dead. He thinks this power to return from the dead and live forever will come from a diamond he found in a tomb in Egypt called the Eye of Osiris. Laura and her uncle’s doctor, Dr. Cabot, have also come to suspect that her uncle’s medical state may be due to poison, although they’re not sure who could be poisoning him. Laura has come to Sherlock Holmes because the local authorities don’t believe her.

The most likely suspects for poisoning the professor would be his lawyer, Mr. Grizzard, who has been staying in his house and seems to have a sinister and unhealthy influence over the professor; the professor’s manservant, who Laura suspects of plotting to steal her uncle’s diamond when he dies; and a mysterious Egyptian man who has been staying nearby and seems to be lurking around the professor’s property for unknown reasons. Sherlock Holmes promises Laura that he and Dr. Watson will come to Scotland and investigate her uncle’s condition. Privately, he tells Dr. Watson that he thinks that there is something else that’s bothering Laura, something that she’s not telling them.

When they arrive in Scotland, Laura is glad to see them, although Mr. Grizzard isn’t. Laura introduces them to Dr. Cabot and her uncle. Dr. Watson doesn’t recognize the disease that the professor is suffering from, and Dr. Cabot says that he can’t figure out why the professor is so sick. Based on the tests he’s done, the professor really shouldn’t be this bad, but he does look like he’s dying. The professor accuses his niece and everyone else of only being concerned about his diamond. The professor confirms that he believes everything that his niece said earlier. He says that he believes in Ancient Egyptian gods (he calls them “gods of darkness”, which doesn’t seem scholarly), and he believes that, through his diamond, they will bring him back to life, and he will live forever.

Soon after Holmes and Watson meet the professor, he suddenly dies. Mr. Grizzard explains the professor’s will and final wishes. Laura is the professor’s primary heir, but she cannot take possession of the estate until she is 21 years old, so Mr. Grizzard will be in charge of the estate as executor until then. The professor had an Egyptian-style tomb built in his backyard, and his wish was to be buried there, along with his diamond. Mr. Grizzard makes certain that the professor’s requests are carried out, including the requirement that the tomb must be able to unlock from the inside.

Holmes spots a man spying on the funeral. He and Watson take turns watching this man as he seems to be observing the tomb and waiting for something. As Watson watches this man during a storm, he sees the door of the tomb open and the professor come out! Unfortunately, Watson is knocked unconscious by a falling tree branch. When he wakes up, there is no sign of the professor, and the man who was spying on the tomb has been murdered!

Did Watson really see what he thought he saw? Did the professor really rise from his tomb and kill the man watching him? Why was this man watching the tomb in the first place? What will the professor do now, and what does he want?

My Reaction

When I first got this book, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Pastiches can take familiar characters in some unusual directions, and I had read a review criticizing this series for adding supernatural elements and Christian themes that weren’t found in the original Sherlock Holmes stories. I thought that the story would probably be a pseudo-ghost story, somewhat like Scooby-Doo mysteries, where it seems like something supernatural is happening, but there’s actually a rational, more physical explanation. However, I wasn’t completely sure for most of the book whether that would be the case or not. There’s room left for readers to wonder whether Professor Coffin has really risen from the dead or not.

For those who prefer the ghosts to have logical explanations … you won’t be disappointed. There is a rational explanation for everything that happens in the story, and there are multiple people who could be good candidates for the villain behind everything that happens. Some of my suspicions turned out to be correct, but there are actually multiple villains involved, which complicates the situation and offers surprises for readers.

The other reviewer was right that there are Christian themes in the story. The Christian themes don’t really come into the story until the end, when Holmes and Watson are discussing the case with Laura Coffin. Laura asks why God allows people to behave wickedly. Holmes and Watson say that it’s not so much a matter of God allowing it as people choosing to commit evil deeds, and reassuring her that, sooner or later, everyone faces the judgement of God. Laura feels disillusioned about some of the people she trusted, but they also reassure her that, as a wealthy young heiress, she has her life still ahead of her to enjoy, and she will find better people. The religious talk and the quote from the Bible do seem a little out of character because I can’t recall the characters focusing on religious morals in the original stories so much as the deductive process, but I didn’t think it was bad. It was just a brief conversation, not overdone. If the characters had talked that way all the way through the book, it might have been a bit much, but it seemed plausible enough for a brief conversation on the subject.

The themes of the story reminded me of the Sherlock Holmes computer game The Mystery of the Mummy, but the story in that computer game isn’t the same one in this book.