'A mysterious schooner runs aground in an English harbor. Its cargo is fifty boxes of earth; its only living passenger, a black dog. The captains body is lashed to the wheellifeless, drained of blood. Soon, a rash of bizarre nocturnal crimes terrifies London. It can only be the work of Count Dracula, and only one man can save the city: the worlds greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes.'
If the title of this book alone doesn't grab your attention there's not much I can do to sell you on this concept. Come on people, Holmes going up against the most famous vampire in literature?! What's not to like?
I first read this book more than a decade ago, and found it to be incredibly entertaining, so much so that I never really forgot about it, and decided to pick up a new copy recently. What I really liked about this book compared to some crossover stories is that it exists side-by-side with the original without disrupting that narrative too greatly. The majority of Sherlock Holmes Vs. Dracula happens outside of the events of Dracula, with Holmes and Watson occasionally drifting into the other books narrative.
The book nicely sidesteps the issues that arise from these brief interaction between characters such as Holmes and Van Helsing quite cleverly before the story even begins. In the preface to the book John Watson feels the need to 'set the record straight' by explaining why he and Holmes don't appear in the pages of Dracula. He claims that this was done by Van Helsing, who requested the removal of Holmes and Watson from the narrative to try and make Van Helsing look better. Watson basically accuses Stoker and Van Helsing of changing the facts of the story to make Van Helsing more of a hero, and to discredit any claims Holmes and Watson might have to the story. Not only does this introduction clear the way for the book to make some small changes to the narrative of Dracula, but also adds a level of humour to proceeding by floating the notion that Bram Stoker was being something of a dick towards them.
The story itself centres around the mystery of the Demeter, a ship that arrives in Whitby. With the crew on board missing except for the captain, who was found tied to the wheel and drained of blood, authorities call in Sherlock Holmes to investigate the mystery. What at first appears to be a strange, but very rational, case soon becomes a fight against the supernatural, as Holmes and Watson come up against a young woman transformed into a vampire, and the deadly Count Dracula himself.
The book presents Holmes' investigation as separate to the events of Dracula, and as such we get to see a version of the Count who is not just battling Van Helsing, but also trying to keep Holmes out of his business on a second front. Whilst this means that Holmes isn't having to face the full force of the vampire, it does make the suggestion that perhaps the reason why Van Helsing was able to finally defeat the monster was because Holmes has been working against Dracula in the background.
There are a lot of stories about Sherlock Holmes, probably more than even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself wrote about him. Not all of them are good, and some of them can go a bit strange when they pit the detective against otherworldly and supernatural forces. But this tale works incredibly well. It might be due to how well Loren D. Estleman crafts their tale, or it could be the fact that it interacts with preexisting events of another novel. Rather than crafting a whole new narrative that would cast aside everything in the original Dracula and face criticism for changing a lot of things, this book works as a companion piece, an add-on to the classic. That makes it feel somehow elevated and secure, because it feels more likely to be real.
I know that comment might seem like nonsense, as both Sherlock Holmes and Dracula are both completely fictional and neither narrative is real, but something about this story feels more grounded than some Sherlock Holmes fiction. Maybe its because Dracula is such a part of popular fiction that it is easier to accept a story like this, but then it could just be me geeking out about the two characters coming together. Either way, this book works when it probably shouldn't.
Sherlock Holmes Vs. Dracula is a great piece of fiction, drawing together two of the biggest names in fiction to battle it out. The story doesn't tread too much on the toes of the original narrative, and presents a version of events that fans of either franchise will be sure to enjoy. The worlds greatest detective taking on the greatest vampire in a truly brilliant story.
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