Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing The Classified Dossier: Sherlock Holmes & Dorian Gray by Christian Klaver. I was so intrigued when I stumbled upon this book while perusing NetGalley. I have enjoyed works about both of the title characters. So, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to experience a mashup. This book was published today, March 12, 2024. So, if it sounds like something you’d like, you can pick it up today!

Mysterious socialite Dorian Gray is at the center of Sherlock Holmes’ latest investigation in this astonishing, uncanny mash-up of Victorian mystery and horror.

1903

Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson have tickets to the newly arrived Egyptian Circus. Holmes is puzzled by his brother Mycroft’s cryptic gift but is intrigued enough to attend the next production.

The performers, dressed as wondrous half-animal, half-human gods from Egyptian mythology, display superhuman agility and stunts. But they speak no Arabic, sequester themselves in the stables after each show and take orders from a mysterious ring master who is yet to be seen. And then one of the performers is murdered.

Holmes’s enquires lead him to Montebank Manor, the home of the beautiful and secretive socialite Dorian Gray. As Holmes digs deeper, he learns Gray is hiding much more than his involvement in a murder. It’s a darkly fantastical tale of lies, experimentation, hypnosis and wicked ambition.

***Thank you to Titan Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***

Sherlock Holmes & Dorian Gray was not really at all what I expected. I requested a review copy because I like the two title characters and was curious about how the two of them would work in a mashup together. It ended up being a mashup of all sorts of classic characters, though, which was cool but not really what I wanted. I also didn’t realize that this was the third book in a series. While the story worked fine on its own, there were a lot of callback mentions to the first two books, and I think the character dynamics would have been more impactful if I’d read the other books first.

While not exactly what I was wanting or expecting, the plot and writing of Sherlock Holmes & Dorian Gray were actually pretty great. The story was very action-oriented, and things moved along at a pretty quick pace. The writing felt like it belonged to the time period of the characters, which was important since the story was written like a memoir, but it also came across as modern enough to appeal to contemporary audiences and was easy to read. My one qualm with the writing was the detailed and somewhat repetitive descriptions of some of the characters. I eventually just started to skim over them.

The focus on plot in Sherlock Holmes & Dorian Gray left very little room for character development. All of the characters were entertaining, but none of them had a ton of depth. I liked that the author attempted to use Dorian’s storyline to explore identity and the struggle between man’s animal instincts and morality. I just wish more time had been devoted to exploring those themes and making me feel something for the characters.

My main issue with Sherlock Holmes & Dorian Gray, though, was that it largely sidelined Sherlock Holmes and Dorian Gray. The horror elements took center stage over the mystery, and there wasn’t nearly enough of Holmes just doing his thing and solving mysteries. Dorian Gray felt like an afterthought. This book twisted his story into something almost unrecognizable by the end. I enjoyed the first few chapters with him, and then things went off the rails. lol. The way his story intersected with the villain’s was quite interesting and imaginative, though. He just no longer felt like Gray to me.

Overall, Sherlock Holmes & Dorian Gray was an entertaining mix of various classic characters and elements of mystery and horror. I had fun while reading it. It just feels like a bit of a crime to name the book after Holmes and Gray because it caused my expectations for this book to be way off. I also highly recommend reading the other books first and wish I had read them in order. Maybe one day I’ll go back and catch up with the other two. All things considered, I give Sherlock Holmes & Dorian Gray a rating of 3.25 out of 5 stars.

Have you read Sherlock Holmes & Dorian Gray or any of the other Classified Dossier books? What did you think? Let me know down in the comments!