Product Description

While employed as a violinist by the Paris Opera in 1891, Sherlock Holmes discovers many surprises: the reappearance of his great love and a series of bizarre accidents allegedly arranged by the "Opera Ghost", an opponent more than equal to Holmes in cunning.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #131674 in Books
• Published on: 1995-03-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Meyer's third novel based on Sherlock Holmes finds the celebrated sleuth entangled in mysterious events involving the Phantom of the Opera.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Fresh (or stale) from his encounters with Freud (The Seven-Per- Cent Solution, 1974) and Jack the Ripper (The West End Horror, 1976), Sherlock Holmes comes up against the Phantom of the Opera, with mixed results. Disguised as a Norwegian violinist who replaces a performer at the Paris Opera who's been frightened off by the Phantom, Holmes is blackmailed by the woman, Irene Adler, into contracting to protect soprano Christine Daa‚ (who's so innocent that she believes the mysterious singing master who calls himself ``Nobody'' is the Angel of Music) from her ghostly patron. At first the Phantom seems intent on terrorizing everyone but La Daa‚: her replacement as Faust's Marguerite, the oblivious incoming directors, even the new woman who tends the Grand Tier left boxes. No sooner has Holmes guessed at the Phantom's identity, though, than he spirits La Daa‚ off to the cavernous Opera basement for the requisite--and anticlimactic--finale. Should appeal to those fans (and there will be plenty) who can overlook the undistinguished stylistic pastiche--Holmes rather unwisely narrates this lost adventure himself--the footnotes that explain every last Holmesian reference, and the unfortunate poverty of the plot. (First printing of 50,000) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review
"First-rate action scenes . . . canny suspense-building." —Philadelphia Inquirer

"Good, clean fun." —Boston Globe

"The third of the versatile Meyer's canny Conan Doyle pastiches . . . takes Sherlock Holmes into new and fanciful terrain. . . . [A]depts and novices alike will relish the author's adroit mimicry of the narrative conventions of Victorian melodrama and his eye for period detail . . . . [L]ively and entertaining." —Publishers Weekly

Customer Reviews

Not Meyer's best.
But it's not as bad as all that. Nevertheless if you want to read Meyer's Holmes pastiches I'd recommend starting with the other two (_The Seven Per Cent Solution_ and _The West End Horror_). Meyer at his best is splendid.

If you do so, then be sure to ignore the misinformation in the Kirkus Reviews excerpt above. _The West End Horror_ has nothing to do with Jack the Ripper; it concerns a pair of grisly murders that take place in London's theater district. I assume the reviewer is thinking of Edward Hanna's _The Whitechapel Horrors_.

Maestro Holmes, I presume?
The description of the Opera house is so well done that it almost becomes a character unto itself. The powers of the ghost are convincing - how could any human accomplish the deeds attributed to it? Has Holmes met a force beyond the reach of his genius and logic? Original tale and yet it keeps the charm of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle alive.

I was always facinated by Holmes' two creative crutches - cocaine and the violin. The use of one or the other always brought the needed solution into his mind and so I was very pleased that Meyer showed us more about Holmes' musical abilities. Bringing Irene Adler into the story was also a nice touch.

A Satisfying Tale for the Holmes Fan.
I really enjoyed this book, perhaps more so than other reviewers because I've never seen "The Phantom of the Opera" and if I read the book, it's decades ago, so I came to this with an open mind. And I'm reading it because it's a Sherlock Holmes story. I've read and re-read the originals and enjoy the pastiches if they capture the voice or essence of Doyle's work.
I read Meyer's first two Holmes books but missed this one somehow for over a decade. It's as good as the earlier ones, I think. Holmes is telling the story and it sounds like him and what we have of Watson is very Watson-like. Holmes as an orchestra violinist is believable. And what fun it is! What a villanous villain Nobody is. And what an attractive bunch of characters, the innocent Christine, helpful, friendly Ponelle. Holmes is not a man who cultivates friends. Even "that woman" turns up wearing her masculine disguise. And that labyrinth of basements beneath the Opera House. I haven't a clue if the really exist or if they figured in "Phantom", but they made a fine setting for this story.
I recommend that you read it for all these reasons.