Anyone who knows me personally, which of course is no one here as I’m such a mysterious person with no name, will know how much I love anything Sherlock Holmes. In the kinda way where my favourite Christmas present last year was a Vintage Classics of The Complete Sherlock Holmes. So once I saw Mrs Hudson and the Blue Daisy affair on Netgalley I knew I had to request it. As I’m still new to blogging I never thought I would actually get accepted for some amazing books, but oh boy was I wrong. Once I got the email through to say I had been accepted for this book I was so over the moon, but then the realisation kicked in. I was either going to hate the book and it take some of my love for Sherlock away, or I was going to adore the book and only add to my obsession. Thankfully it was the latter.
The book is based around the Conan Doyle characters of Sherlock Holmes, Dr Watson, Mrs Hudson and a newbie to the world Flotsam. Whilst intertwined with many a goingons, the four residents of Baker Street work together to solve a mysterious murder of a housemaid and prove a socially popular man’s innocence or guilt, all while trying to defend off a new London detective who is trying to steal Sherlocks limelight.
Now onto the many, many things I loved about this book. I really enjoyed the writing style of Davies, it of course doesn’t match Doyle but it didn’t feel like a complete world away either. Davies continued the Doyle tradition and wrote the book from a characters perspective. The Blue Daisy Affair was written from the perspective of Flotsam, Mrs Hudsons employee, which gives a fresh no new take on Sherlock and Watson. The way Davies manages to build upon the world Doyle created and give a fan like me new insights into the world and grow my wander and appreciation for it all is brilliant. I didn’t think it was possible but I was wrong. I, once again, fell into the trap of reading this book when I was meant to be working. And not because it was quiet in work, I had so much I needed to do, but because I struggled to put it down. Its books like these which make me wish I was a fast reader so I could finish them in one night.
As for the storyline, it was as mysterious and twisty as I had hoped for. There were a hundred and ten things going on, in true Sherlock style, but it was easy to follow the main stories. Each chapter ended in a way that made me want to carry on there and then. They were left in slight cliffhanger style, giving a small taste of the next puzzle piece but left in such a way that you just instantly turn the page to continue reading. As for the ending, the conclusion of the mystery, I didn’t see it coming. Or at least not fully. I was able to guess little details here and there, but overall the ending came as a surprise.
With all that being said I must admit there are two areas of the book I would change. In my opinion, and it would probably only satisfy me, The Blue Daisy Affair would benefit from more Mr Dashing and Sherlock Holmes. Of course more Sherlock would be an obvious one for me, but I feel we didn’t get to see much of him and he wasn’t overly involved in the mysteries. Which in one way was nice as we got to spend more time with the different characters, but you can never have too much Sherlock. As for Mr Dashing, I just loved his character and wish we got more. The chemistry Mr Dashing and Flotsam had was exciting and I hope it can be explored further in future books, even if it is just to satisfy my romantic side.
I just want to say thank you again to Martin Davies, Canelo and NetGalley for given me early access to Mrs Hudson and the Blue Daisy Affair. I will be keeping an eye out for the rest of the Holmes & Hudson Mystery series and adding them high in my to be read list. Please everyone read this book when its published on the 4th November 2021, you wont regret it!
Very intriguing review.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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