'The fourteenth novel in the magical alternate history Elemental Masters series continues the reimagined adventures of Sherlock Holmes in a richly-detailed alternate 20th-century England.
'While Sherlock is still officially dead, John and Mary Watson and Nan Killian and Sarah Lyon-White are taking up some of his case-load--and some for Lord Alderscroft, the Wizard of London.
'Lord Alderscroft asks them to go to Dartmoor to track down a rumor of evil magic brewing there. Not more than four hours later, a poor cottager, also from Dartmoor, arrives seeking their help. His wife, in a fit of rage over the children spilling and spoiling their only food for dinner that night, sent them out on the moors to forage for something to eat. This is not the first time she has done this, and the children are moor-wise and unlikely to get into difficulties. But this time they did not come back, and in fact, their tracks abruptly stopped "as if them Pharisees took'd 'em." The man begs them to come help.
'They would have said no, but there's the assignment for Alderscroft. Why not kill two birds with one stone? But the deadly bogs are not the only mires on Dartmoor. '
I've not read any of The Elemental Masters series before picking up this book. I wasn't sure what to expect going in, especially as the fourteenth book in a series is probably not the best place for most people to start reading. However, I found the concept of the world that Mercedes Lackey has created to be very interesting, and knew that I wanted to read the book. I'm a bot of a sucker for Sherlock Holmes stories, and one that mixes in the paranormal is always going to tickle my fancy even more.
Luckily for me Lackey has written the book to be incredibly accessible to new readers, something that she didn't have to do. The book begins with a man being killed in London, and discovering that he's now a ghost. Over the course of this little story the reader gets introduced to some of the rules of the universe as this new ghost discovers them. It might only be a taste of things to come within the book, and doesn't cover any of the elemental magics that appear later, but it eases the reader into how The Elemental Masters actually works. By the time more magical elements were introduced I'd already discovered enough about the world that it wasn't a huge shock when characters like John Watson were performing magic.
The characters are also introduced slowly, with each one given a brief explanation as to who they are, and how they fit into this world. I only learnt a small amount of their back stories, such as Nan and Sarah working with Lord Alderscroft, or Sherlock Holmes pretending to be dead and Mary Watson having to masquerade as a man because of a previous adventure that involved Professor Moriarty. I didn't know everything about the series, but I knew enough to be able to enjoy this adventure without being weighed down by a ton of history. It felt like the perfect amount of backstory to introduce new readers without alienating people that have been reading the series from the beginning.
The history of The Elemental Masters aside, and how well the book introduces new readers; this story is actually quite a slow burning mystery. A good portion of the book goes by before the heroes even become aware of the missing children on the moors, and we follow them through a few smaller investigations before they even get involved in the central plot. I can see how this could upset a few people, and possibly feel like the book is slow paced, however, I really liked this approach. It showed that the heroes of the series aren't always involved in big adventures that involve saving the world, and that sometimes their lives can even be quite dull. The fact that one of the cases they investigate turns out to not have anything supernatural about it was, I thought, a great choice. It demonstrated a bigger world outside of the main plot.
The central plot itself was interesting, with the story of the missing children unfolding at a steady pace. At first you think that it's just these two missing children, then you discover that there's more, then you find out that they're being used to supply 'the Dark One' with magic, then you learn more about their captor. The book doesn't give you all of the answers up front, and lets you get your head around what you've already discovered before adding more layers to the mystery.
Whilst this central story is engaging, and at times very creepy, it does feel like it gets resolved a little too quickly. The heroes have travelled to the moors and are slowly investigating potential suspects and eliminating areas where the children could be held, which is all great, but then Sherlock Holmes suddenly turns up and provides them with the location of the missing children. It had been established earlier in the book that he was in the area conducting his own investigation, but it does feel a little like he swoops in at the last moment with the solution when the others are already working on it.
I love that Sherlock has a presence in the story, and gets to be with his friends to wrap up the mystery and catch the villain, but it does feel like he was brought in to wrap up the book a bit quicker. Perhaps if the book was a bit longer, and has more of the main group investigating and getting closer to the villain it would have felt a little more natural. As it is, they could have sat around and waited for Holmes to provide them with the solution and they'd have been fine.
This isn't a huge criticism, however, as I still enjoyed seeing how these characters worked together, and how they went about an investigation without the worlds greatest detective. The end where they all have to work together on a sneaky plan that involves disguises, misdirection, and perfect timing, is thoroughly enjoyable, and feels like a Sherlockian heist in the best way.
The Elemental Masters: The Case of the Spellbound Child is my first foray into this series, but it certainly won't be my last. I enjoyed the book so much that I'm definitely going back to check out the previous entries in the series, as will be reading the new releases as they come. A great combination of Victorian era mystery and magic that shows how well Sherlock Holmes can work with the supernatural.
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