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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780140296457
ISBN number: 014029645X
Label: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 368
Printing Date: November 01, 2000
Publishing house: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Release Date: October 31, 2000
Sale Popularity Level: 611347
Studio: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Brief Book Summary:
Larry Millett has managed to recapture the voice and style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and bring Sherlock Holmes across the Pond to America. In this third adventure Holmes is hired by King Oskar II of Sweden to authenticate a mysterious stone dug up by a western Minnesota farmer. Trouble begins to mount, however, when the farmer is murdered and the stone disappears. Joining Holmes in the quest for the archaeological truth is Sherlock Holmes and the Ice Palace Murders alumnus Shadwell Rafferty. With Rafferty's talents for 'discreet investigations' and Holmes's deductive genius, Sherlock Holmes and the Rune Stone Mystery is a rollicking and suspenseful incarnation of Doyle's classic sleuth.
Download Description:
The numerous mystery fans and discerning Sherlockian experts who have been following 'Watson's American chronicles' will be thrilled by the third manuscript to be 'discovered': Sherlock Holmes and the Rune Stone Mystery. As the century winds down, Holmes's services are engaged by a personage no less than King Oskar II of Sweden, who proposes to purchase a mysterious stone dug up by a western Minnesota farmer. But before the celebrated detective can endeavor to authenticate this fabulous find, the hapless farmer is murdered and his stone vanishes. In this singular case Holmes's soaring imagination is complemented by the talent for 'discreet investigations' very first displayed by Irish saloonkeeper Shadwell Rafferty in Sherlock Holmes and the Ice Palace Murders. Rotund and rollicking, sharp as a St. Paul wind and tough as his own old leather boots, Rafferty accompanies the great detective through a maze of intrigue and villainy on a hunt for a rune stone, a murderer, and the archeological truth.
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Rated by buyers 
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First read Arthur Conan Doyle. There are surpisingly few stories. If you like Conan Doyle's Watson and Holmes, try Larry Millett's transportation of them to Minnesota! He has the 'voice' down pat. There are a number of modern writers who have extended Watson's stories of Holmes' adventures and Millett is my favorite.
Rated by buyers 
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-a short list of errors-
1. Sherlock is dumb: The real Sherlock would have wrapped up this entire lame mystery without leaving Baker Street, as he did with many minor cases hardly worth mentioning by Watson. The reader often figures things out far in advance. As a previous reviewer stated, he was surprised by things that were in no way surprising! This is supposed to be the same fellow who correctly anticipated a bank robbery given a report about redheaded men copying the dictionary?
2. Sherlock, besides being dumb, is apparently new to detective work: Upon Watson and Holmes discovering a fresh murder there is a painful lack of Holmesian technique. The real Sherlock would have been down on all fours sniffing the carpet, inspecting the doorknob, fishing through the fireplace, and of course scooping up cigar ash. (Our author, in this vital moment, seems completely unaware that Sherlock Holmes is in fact a preexisting character--much less ever having read about him.) Before leaving the scene, Holmes should have rattled off numerous astounding conclusions to Watson for his notes. Instead, Holmes wonders away in a clueless fog--even saying something stupid to the effect of, 'I guess we'll never know'. (This is the point where I lost all hope, I kept reading only because the book was a gift--and it didn't take any brain power to read.)
3. Rafferty, the local contact, is not only way too competent, he's so smart that he emphasizes the Minnesota-Holmes's stupidity: This Rafferty genius could have easily solved this without Holmes and Watson getting in his way. Compare this to the likes of Lestrade and Gregson, who around those of normal intellect would appear quite bright, but around Holmes their conclusions are simple-minded. Rafferty though, is nearly infallible! I really don't know what the author was thinking in devising this character. Does he know the rules of character development taught in Creative Writing 101?
4. as stated by a previous reviewer...Coincidence?!: Not only does the author rely upon blind chance, he points it out for us before the book ever begins! Thanks Larry, for identifying yourself as a hack from the get-go! This is no longer just a bad pastiche, or a bad mystery, it's an example of very bad writing!
I'm sure I'll think of more later, after posting.
Rated by buyers -
Like all Sherlock Holmes books, there will be people who like an author and dislike an author. I personally greatly enjoyed this particular Sherlock Holmes series written by Larry Millet. The style of writing is very interesting and very simular to the other Holmes stories written by Millet. However, if you are expecting a book in the pictureque styles of Dr. Doyle and Dr. Bell you will be disappointed. Millet's Holmes stories are more to the tee of an Indiana Jones type than that of the Bell-Doyle Holmes character. If you prefer a Doyle Holmes over a Jones Holmes than I recommend Val Andrews or Barry Day over Larry Millet. However, if you prefer having Holmes as a secondary character in a Indiana Jones type book than you should enjoy the somewhat grotesque SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE ICE PALACE MURDERS.
Rated by buyers -
I agree with the previous reviewer, and would have assigned this book a negative rating if it were allowed. If you are a true devotee of Sherlock Holmes, this is NOT the book for you. Millett may have knowledge of Canonical lore, but he has no understanding of the characters Sherlock Holmes or Dr. Watson, nor does Millett exhibit any understanding of the Victorian morals and principles that these two men would have been steeped in.
As for me: after reading only 6 chapters of this book, I gleefully used it as tinder in my fireplace. That should speak for itself.
Rated by buyers 
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I have to say I was quite disappointed with this book. I have been an avid Sherlockian for several years now, and having exhausted the original Conan Doyle stories many times over, I decided about a month ago to pick up this book. I didn't expect too much, but seeing as I had heard so many wonderful things about Larry Millett, I decided to give it a try.
First of all, this is NOT a Sherlock Holmes mystery. You can approach it in any way you like, but it will never be a Sherlock Holmes mystery. It is simply a mystery with Sherlock Holmes in it. And this Sherlock Holmes is certainly not the one I know. He is constantly and repeatedly surprised by evidence and information supplied to him by one Shadwell Rafferty, and Irish-American with an annoying habit of saying "'tis" and "'twould" in every sentence possible. Let me repeat that: Sherlock Holmes is SURPRISED. He is effectly put off his guard. As many Sherlock fans will note, this is a virtual impossibility. Sherlock Holmes is always ready for everything, and, more importantly, always suspects everything. He is never surprised. I immediately began to re-evaluate this story when I had found this out and here's what I decided:
This book is a mystery, and a rather good one at that. But you should not buy it if you are looking for Sherlock Holmes. Not only is the great detective fairly scarce throughout the book but he is greviously mis-represented. It is even suggested that he is in love! The absurdity is truly odd. However, if you give Sherlock Holmes any other name -- say, Terrance Jones, or John Smith, or Timothy Hillington, or just about any other name on the face of the Earth -- the mystery becomes quite interesting, sinister and highly entertaining.
Whether Larry Millett is using Sherlock Holmes's name to sell books, or whether he truly believes this book is a good representation of the detective, only Millett himself can say. But, from what I have read, Millett is devestatingly unfamiliar with Holmes's character, methods, and incredible genious, making this book less than so-so for Sherlock fans.
Also, although after a few chapters I was used to Minnesota being mentioned so often, at the beginning of reading this book, I chuckled to myself every time Millett wrote "Minnesota," "St. Paul," "Minneapolis," or "Fargo-Moorhead" which rather deteriorated the sinister feel of the mystery.
For those of you who are just looking for a good mystery, are unfamiliar with Sherlock Holmes, or are willing to disregard the fact that the English detective protrayed in this book is supposed to be Sherlock Holmes, than this book may be the one for it. It is very well written and quite interesting and deserves at least some merit for that...
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