20190422_190215.jpgToday I am super excited to bring you a review of The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall, available from Berkley Pub on June 18, 2019!

My Thoughts:

Hands-down, I’m not sure if I’ve ever read a more quirky and original retelling, and I absolutely loved this! 

The Affair of the Mysterious Letter is a fantasy retelling involving Sherlock Holmes characters. 

Captain John Wyndham is returning to Khelathra-Ven after fighting a war elsewhere for five years. He is desperate for someone where to live and winds up with Ms. Shaharazad Haas as a housemate. She’s a moody one, Ms. Haas, and is known for darkness. 

Ms. Haas is asked to solve a case of blackmail against a former lover, and Captain Wyndham becomes invested in the case and drawn into the rabbit hole where he meets all kinds of unsavory characters. The case begins to feel impossible to solve, but nothing is truly impossible when Ms. Haas is involved. 

I loved this quirky, zany tribute to Holmes and Watson. What a trip! Alexis Hall’s writing is on point, and the pacing is so well-done, I just breezed through this fabulous story. I start to write something and back it back out because I don’t want to overshare the goodness within these pages. Just know: Alexis Hall is a born storyteller, this book is fresh and tons of fun, and I’m certain you’ve read nothing like it either. Cheers to Alexis Hall! 

I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own. 

About the Book:

Upon returning to the city of Khelathra-Ven after five years fighting a war in another universe, Captain John Wyndham finds himself looking for somewhere to live, and expediency forces him to take lodgings at 221b Martyrs Walk. His new housemate is Ms. Shaharazad Haas, a consulting sorceress of mercurial temperament and dark reputation.

When Ms. Haas is enlisted to solve a case of blackmail against one of her former lovers, Miss Eirene Viola, Captain Wyndham finds himself drawn into a mystery that leads him from the salons of the literary set to the drowned back-alleys of Ven and even to a prison cell in lost Carcosa. Along the way he is beset by criminals, menaced by pirates, molested by vampires, almost devoured by mad gods, and called upon to punch a shark.

But the further the companions go in pursuit of the elusive blackmailer, the more impossible the case appears. Then again, in Khelathra-Ven reality is flexible, and the impossible is Ms. Haas’ stock-in-trade.

Have you read The Affair of the Mysterious Letter, or is it on your TBR? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR