Dust and Shadow

An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson

By: Lyndsay Faye

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Breathless and painstakingly researched, this is a stunning debut mystery in which Sherlock Holmes unmasks Jack the Ripper. Lyndsay Faye perfectly captures all the color and syntax of Conan Doyle’s distinctive 19th-century London.

In Dust and Shadow, Sherlock Holmes hunts down Jack the Ripper—the world’s first serial killer—with impeccably accurate historical detail and without the advantage of modern forensics or profiling. Sherlock’s desire to stop the killer who is terrifying the East End of London is unwavering from the start, and in an effort to do so he hires an “unfortunate” known as Mary Ann Monk, the friend of a fellow streetwalker who was one of the Ripper’s earliest victims. However, when Holmes himself is wounded in Whitechapel attempting to catch the villain and a series of articles in the popular press question his role in the crimes, he must use all his resources in a desperate race to find the man known as “The Knife” before it is too late.

Penned as a pastiche by the loyal and courageous Dr. Watson, this debut signals the arrival of a tremendous talent in the mystery and historical fiction genres.

©2009 Lyndsay Faye (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Impressive…Sherlockians will hope to see further pastiches of this quality from Faye.” ( Publishers Weekly)

“An exciting and grimly vivid tale that confronts the murderous Jack the Ripper with A. Conan Doyle’s immortal detective better than ever before.” (Conan Doyle Estate)

“At long last, an author of rare talent combines a thorough, enthusiastic knowledge of the Sherlock Holmes canon with truly rigorous research into, and respect for, the Jack the Ripper killings.” (Caleb Carr, New York Times best-selling author)

Same as it ever was

What did you love best about Dust and Shadow?

I've both read and listened to the entire Sherlock Holmes canon, so the prospect of a new story written in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's style excited me. Lyndsay Faye did not let me down. Dust and Shadow is an affectionate pastiche and an exciting mystery in its own right. I hope she doesn't lose her own style after such a lengthy excursion into Doyle's brain, but all Holmes fans have benefited from her efforts.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dust and Shadow?

The last few chapters are pulse-pounding.

What does Simon Vance bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

After listening to 58 hours of Simon Vance narrating the original Holmes stories (and 31 hours of his Nicholas Nickleby), I was excited that he was the narrator of Dust and Shadow. His performance is typically fantastic and will likely spoil me for any other readers of Holmes.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, if only life allowed for 15 hours without disruption.

Just like Sir Arthur’s

Very good Sherlock Holmes’ story. I always wondered why back Doyle never wrote of Sherlock encountering the Ripper. Now we have that.

You'll forget it's by a modern author!

I love mysteries and historical fiction, and this is the best of both. I also love Sherlock Holmes. The author captures Holmes and Watson perfectly. Simon Vance was excellent as the narrator on the audiobook. My only complaint was his pronunciation of "Lestrade", which is pretty minor. It's not his fault that I Francify everything!
Highly recommended!

Finally someone who gets Conan Doyle and ISN’T just trying to make a quick buck off his work.

This is the first and ONLY modern Holmes story that, in my opinion at least, captures Holmes as Sir ACD wrote him and intended for him to be portrayed.

Thank you Lindsey Faye!!!!

As for the narrator, it’s Simon Vance so duh. 😃

Hope this is helpful to y’all and enjoy your day.

the best of both Holmes

I think this listen would please both Holmes traditionalists (because it honours Conan Doyle's style, characterization and voice) as well as those of us who prefer contemporary re-imaginings of the Holmes' character (her prose is more snappy; she inserts more contemporary psychology, but not in an anachronistic fashion). Like Conan Doyle, the author paints the streets of London so vividly that they almost become a character.

The dialogue is brisk and often humourous; Watson is an intelligent friend, not a buffoon. I had avoided the listen because novels using the Ripper murders can be grisly, but this, while "anatomically correct," avoids sensationalism. The story turns a bit Hollywood towards the end, however, so to me it falls short of 5 star historical detective ficiton.

If Vance narrated all books, I'd never read again

It is inevitable that writers feel a deep-seated urge to pit Sherlock Holmes against Jack the Ripper. The murders happened in the midst of Holmes's career; his contemporary readership must have wished he could step out of the pages and hunt down their nightmare for them. So it's no surprise that this is not the first time the idea has been pursued; there have been a couple of films (Murder by Decree with Christopher Plummer and James Mason as Holmes and Watson, and A Study in Terror), a handful of other books (including Michael Dibdin's The Last Sherlock Holmes Story), and a video game. This was my first foray into the mashup.

Half an hour into the audiobook, I had small doubts. Holmes and Watson both faithfully give their solemn word that they will never reveal the details of the case the story starts with … but the concept is that the book is one of Watson's memoirs (albeit one he leaves sealed). It seems a bit odd that he'd even write the story down. I wasn't fond of this beginning, this prologue, wondering why it was starting there, with such an extended look at another case … until nearly the very end, when the reason for starting there becomes clear and it all just adds to the brilliance of the book.

First of all, as I commented somewhere, if Simon Vance narrated all audiobooks I would never read another page for myself again. I love this performance – every character is dead on: Watson, warm and a little dusty; Holmes, the famous clear strong tenor; Miss Monk, believably feminine and East End without going falsetto Eloiza Doolittle. And the Welsh accents just made me happy. All the accents made me happy. The reading was a joy.

I loved the Doyle-esque "Several highly publicized investigations that year displayed Holmes's remarkable skills to the public, including the appalling affair of the faulty oil lamp, and the matter of Mrs. Victoria Mendoza's mysteriously vanishing thimble and its consequences." Shades of the Giant Rat of Sumatra … Although perhaps Ms. Faye can be prevailed upon to do what Doyle never did, and give us those stories. (Along with "the affair of the second cellist".) I live in hopes that this is only the first of a new Holmes series.

There was, it seems, an innocence that was lost when Jack the Ripper began his work. It's hard to fathom that before 1888 ordinary folk could not conceive of such atrocities – or at least this is the sentiment Lyndsay Faye puts into the mouths of the gentlemen set to pursue the monster, from Holmes to the lowliest constable. Now, with 24-hour news and CSI and Criminal Minds and true crime novels, it's sadly hard to conceive of such a sweet time. There had been serial killers before the Ripper, but through some confluence of the media and the infancy of modern investigative techniques he became the first one to cause such a tremendous flurry, the first one to make the history books.

It's been some time since I read the actual original stories, but not so much time since I watched the wonderful current BBC series, and something that strikes me throughout Dust and Shadow is that this Holmes is much nicer than Benedict Cumberbatch's. He is much freer in his friendship with Watson than I was expecting – this Holmes is less "sociopathic genius with absolutely no social skills" than "so much smarter than everyone else there's no point in talking to them, with the exception of Watson". He placates Mrs. Hudson and pours tea for his friend and everything.

And this pastiche makes me want to go back and read all of the original work soon (had I world enough, and time). The characterizations of Holmes and Watson, and also LeStrade, are so engaging that part of me wants to hold them up against the originals. The tone of the writing feels very genuinely Watsonian. (Quotes are a right pain to make note of in the audio format – I usually hear lines I wish I could make note of while driving – but there have been several descriptive flourishes which made me smile at their Victorian purple tinge. Ah, there's one: "shafts of lunar illumination": beautiful) This is a Watson I want on my side, a Watson I want more of, staunch and solid and not remotely stupid. I love this Watson.

And I love this Holmes. A great deal of it is, of course, the really gorgeous tone of the narrator – his Holmes just rings out, clarion. But this is a Holmes that fits the template in my head: he feels right. This is one of the reasons I keep reading fan-fiction and pastiche and media tie-ins despite all the garbage that brings: when it's bad it's unconscionable, but when it's good – when the writer captures the voice of a well-known and well-loved character - it's so very much fun.

I also enjoyed the new part-time member of the team, Miss Mary Ann Monk. She's thisclose to being a cliché – but Lyndsay Faye pulls off a young woman toward whom it seems Watson and Holmes both harbor fondness, and indeed admiration – and I don't mind. Non-canon romance, liaisons outside of the bounds of the Official Story, is usually something that raises my hackles, but I found myself mentally nudging one or the other of the duo her way.

I think the only fault I can possibly find is that there's not enough Mrs. Hudson. I can live with it. And honestly, the use of Mrs. Hudson – particularly at the end – was wonderful. So … not a fault, after all.

There is a comeuppance that is received a good ways into the book which was one of the most satisfying examples of just deserts ever. And the final confrontation hit all the right notes. And that's all I'll say about that.

Being me, I looked up Ripper history. Lyndsay Faye was completely faithful to it up to the point of Holmes's growing involvement, and in fact wove him into the reality with enviable skill. And part of the brilliance of this book is the life breathed into a one hundred and twenty-four year old story: new suspense is added with the question of how it would play out. Would Holmes manage to save any of the victims? How would his involvement affect the sequence of events? Would the inconclusive end – the Ripper kills just ending with no real explanation – be worked into the tale? I can't really answer the questions without massive spoilers, so instead I will say simply this:

*standsup*clap*clap*clap*clap*

Combines two favorites

As a longtime Holmes fan and also a little bit of a Ripperologist, this book was too tempting to pass up. Lyndsay Faye gets the voice of Watson near pitch perfect. It was not long before I was simply immersed in the story, without consciously thinking about the fact that it was a pastiche. The author also does not fall into the trap of spending too much time on Holme's "parlor trick" readings of minutia.

The most serious issue, for an author, in a Holmes vs Ripper story, is "if Holmes succeeded, why don't we know about it?" Faye handles this issue with a new, and intriguing style.

A note about the reader. Simon Vance is quickly becoming a favorite of mine, here on Audible. He can handle various ages, genders and accents with ease, creating characters that feel individual and who never grate on the nerves or bring the listener out of the book and back to the reader.

A Very Good Holmes...

Enjoyed this book...and the weaving of fact and fiction. The Sherlock and Watson characters are lovingly and beautifully drawn and the plot clips along at a good pace. It gets a wee bit silly at the end...but overall a good read. Wonderful narrator.

Excellent "Doyle Imitation" as good as an

This is an excellent Sherlock Holmes adventure - as good as any of the "Non Doyle" written Cannon. In fact it would be very hard to distinguish this from Doyle- excepting that the subject matter and treatment would have been to gruesome for publication by Doyle (Faye sidesteps this by having "Watson" write and publish this in his very old age in the late 1930's as the World nears the Second War).

The feel, language and plot are vintage Holmes - but in a relaxed manner- it never veers into conscious imitation that can in turn become parody like. There are some inconsistencies- but that actually makes it seem authentic because as every Holmes fan knows Doyle would frequently change things about Holmes and his setting behavior that were at odds with previous stories and adventures. Oddly enough these minor inconsistencies (which are noted in Doyle's work by fans) work to make this seem part of the canon (the subject matter issue aside).

It also avoids the spectacular "Crown Prince or Consort" plot that bedevils some of the Ripper theories- and is Holmesian in its conclusion (a slight surprise ending but well done).

When I realized that this was the author's first effort I was even more impressed. A great investment and I actually plan (as soon as I finish other Audible Book series I have in the que) to try her series on Turn of the Century New York City Police.

Well done and well worth it if you are a Holmes fan or a mystery buff.

Amazing and thrilling!

This book carries the spirit of Sherlock Holmes beyond Doyle's original work. Many times during my listen I was amazed at how well Faye was able to capture Watson's voice. The last five chapters are as exciting as I've ever encountered in a book and the narration gives the story a cinematic feel, in my opinion. There were so many characters to keep track of, which made Simon Vance's voice work an amazing addition to the story. Give this a listen, I picked it up on a whim and I'm so glad I did!