Novel Review: Angels, Saints and Sinners by William David Ellis.

I reviewed this novel on 03/07/20 in a previous blog I had, now defunct.

Angels, Saints and Sinners.

Sherlock Holmes scoffed at the notion of the supernatural. Till a demon stole Watson’s soul. Forced by his own famous logic: eliminate the impossible and whatever remains however improbable is true and a dark ripper haunting the hovels of London. Holmes faces the most fascinating and transforming adventures of his life.

Once that door opens, and he begins to see, all types of creatures, living… dead… and parts, make their way to 221B Baker Street. This is the journey of the world’s greatest consulting detective from agnostic to practitioner.

You’ll love this is the journey of the world’s greatest consulting detective from agnostic to practitioner because the stakes are eternal.

Perspective by Peter:

I was asked by the author to review this new novel. I accepted as I have not read any of the novels concerning Sherlock Holmes, including the original by Arthur Conan Doyle. I have not seen any of the movies, only the TV series with Cumberbatch and Freeman (circa 2010 to 2017) and the odd depiction of the author in the TV series Murdoch Mysteries where his novels were being created and hinted that Sherlock was to be based on Detective Murdoch.

I thought it would be interesting to see how a Christian author mixes Biblical Truth with the mind of one who relies solely on his investigation abilities, his intelligence, his logic, his disguises, and his use of forensics and on pure observation on what is seen rather than not seen.

Now, due to my ignorance of all things Sherlock Holmes, I wondered why Ellis depicted Holmes as an Injecting drug user. I was shocked. I knew Holmes smoked tobacco as his pipe is part of the many images of his head with his deerstalker cap and this pipe, see the cover of this novel for that. I Googled this and was relieved that Ellis had not taken poetic licence here as Doyle has his cocaine addiction as part of Holmes' persona and, like pipe-smoking, was a common practice in the 1800s. I found a very good article about Holmes' addictions.

It must be a challenge for any author to continue the characterisation of one of fiction's most famous and celebrated characters and detectives. Maybe I am not the best one to comment on this seeing I have not read the original stories by the Doyle, but only have the TV series mentioned to compare it to. However, from this TV series, I believe it did give me a good insight into what the original Holmes is like from Doyle's depiction. My only caution here is that was not set in the era of 1887 to 1914 in which Doyle had set his Holmes. However, in the Murdoch series, it does give an indication of what this era would be like as Murdoch Mysteries is set in this time period, albeit in Toronto, Canada. However, I can say that Ellis's version does give an 1800's England era feel about it and I felt that this version of Holmes is an accurate one from what I have seen of this character.

The other aspect of this era and of the persona of Doyle's Holmes is the language spoken in this time period. I loved it in this novel. Occasionally I had to look up a few words that I was unsure of the total meaning or had never heard of before or had to re-read the sentence to get its meaning from how it was phrased and constructed. I do like it this in a novel but the language and syntax do need to suit the period of time it is set in and for it not to detract from the novel's plot or pace especially if it is an action/adventure and/or fast paced one.

Ellis is successful here as his language and syntax reflect the character of Holmes as we have come to know him and of the era of this time. However, I found it amusing when Holmes is transported back in time to the 1300s and some of his refined language was totally lost on the character he was defending and others which resulted in some confusion by these.

I was expecting Ellis to have depicted Holmes as being resistant to the supernatural, trying to explain it away with various theories or from physics and/or forensics, but Ellis has Holmes' use his detective expertise of observation and logic and his trademark adage of,

"...when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. What I have seen wth my eyes and heard with my ears and touched with my hands, I believe." 

I do not know if in any of Doyle's series he has introduced the supernatural or from any of the other TV series, films or authors who have continued the storylines of Holmes, so I can only say here that if this is the first novel where this has happened, Sherlock has therefore not excluded the impossible (supernatural as perceived in the era he is depicted in) if he has not been exposed to it or experience it until this novel.

So when he accepts that the murders in the first story arc can only be from a disembodied spirit, he is exposed to the supernatural realm. He not only experiences it but is now convinced it is real and the majority of the population of the world is unaware of its existence. This changes both Watson and Holmes. He does not deny it or believe this to be from the effects of drugs or other substances causing hallucinations but feels the tangible effects on him. He sees first hand how the effects of prayer and spiritual warfare using Biblical principles overcomes the spirit and reverses its dominion. It was fun to read Sherlock dealing in the usual Holmes manner having the last word before the spirit was banished from London. It was also good to see the seed of faith is planted in Holmes from this subplot and his recognition of the Biblical God.

Now that Holmes is a firm believer in the supernatural and that of the Biblical side of it, he is ripe for more of his expertise in another supernatural case. This time, he experiences time travel as we know it, and correctly identifies who his client is, leaving Watson surprised at this revelation. But Watson is not to accompany him on this case. This was a great story arc. Interestingly, when I Googled the date and year of this subplot, nothing came up in the search results. I had to wait until the end of this subplot to find out the significance of this in history. I could not find the crime this person had been accused of and trialled so Ellis may have taken poetic licence in the story here to show Sherlock's expertise in solving another case but now with a supernatural twist. I loved that. It also could be seen as an example to someone who has not read anything about Sherlock Holmes what he is all about and the uniqueness of his detective style and deduction.

The third case in this novel only ups the pace, mystery and suspense and develops further the supernatural and faith-building of Holmes. In the first case, he was more of an observer of the demonic but in this one, he has first-hand dealings and leads the charge against this "criminal". He uses his detective skills in identifying who the culprit really is and despite his newfound faith, does not know specifically how to deal with this using the Biblical methods of spiritual warfare. Instead, Ellis has depicted him in ridding this spirit using physical items that repel these entities.

I would have liked Ellis to depict Holmes using Biblical methods such as commanding this spirit to leave in the name of Jesus and/or prayer. However, he depicts the end result as the same, the spirit leaves but is not bound to Hell but free to roam and continue their possession and havoc.

The fourth case is not as suspenseful or involved as the previous three but it does set up the scene for the next volume. And it should be interesting to see where Ellis goes with this. I know this author has a sense of humour as I have listened to him being interviewed. I roared laughing at the answer by Holmes' client (who is made up of many parts from other people's bodies, can you guess who this would be?) as to why his wife left him. His answer is so outrageous and shocking that it is funny! I can still see this being said today for all the same reasons Holmes' client said it, from ".....acting like a very young husband!"

I am pleased to see that Ellis has a desire to continue this series. He does put a condition on it though, that this novel is well received and readers want more of it. I hope it is well received and there are more volumes. I can see Holmes becoming a supernatural warrior using the usual Holmes flair and expertise in solving crimes that we are now so used to reading and continuing to enjoy.

This is one inventive and imaginative version and further development of the Sherlock Holmes phenomena. If there is a future volume or in the plural, then having full-length novels would be a better working than the 101-page length of this first offering (Kindle version).

Strongly Recommended.

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