The Red Tower Review

This is the first of two Sherlock Holmes reviews, this one about “The Red Tower” by Mark A. Latham. I have to admit it took me two tries to finish the novel, but the first time, that might have been more due to me reading a lot of Sherlock Holmes novels and just being a little tired of the subject. The second time, I found the book interesting and good to read, so it hasn’t been the fault of “The Red Tower.”

“The Red Tower” is a classic locked-room mystery - even literally, since the murder happens in a room locked from the inside with the only existing key. It’s also a very well-written mystery story which presents enough suspects and motives to keep the reader guessing. Not having Sherlock Holmes on scene until after the fact (although Watson as the viewpoint character is present) makes things harder for the great detective, which is always good. It’s no fun if Holmes appears, looks at the crime scene for a moment, and says ‘X did it.’

In addition to the murder as a such, there’s also the topic of spiritualism, which is fitting, given that Doyle himself was rather interested in it towards the end of his life. By putting the novel at a point of the canon where Watson had just lost his first wife Mary and was considering to move back to Baker Street, the author makes him a little vulnerable when it comes to talking to the dead. Holmes, of course, would never believe a medium could contact the dead, but after losing his beloved wife, Watson isn’t quite so immune to the medium in question.

The novel starts off with Watson being invited to the countryside by an old friend who, too, hasn’t recovered from the loss of a loved one (his mother in this case) and has fallen for the medium Madam Farr. From the beginning, Watson finds her and her entourage suspicious and her various tries to reel him in only make him more suspicious of her. It’s only natural that, after his friend’s sister dies, he would suspect Madam Farr and her entourage - Esther, the dead woman, was very suspicious of them and set on proving they were frauds.

Holmes is a little more rational about it, but due to the situation comes in far after the murder and thus doesn’t have as much information at his fingertips as he surely would like to have. Therefore, he and Watson have to go on a hunt, digging up information, interviewing suspects and possible witnesses, finding out who lied to them and why - classic mystery work.

The solution of the mystery is unexpected as well. It makes sense, looking back on the story, but it’s not what you would expect, picking up the novel and reading it up to the actual murder.

Latham spins a very good story, giving the audience a lot of people who had a lot of reasons to commit a murder, putting suspicion not only on the medium, but also on the fiancé, the cousin, the parish priest, and even the brother. The process of elimination then makes up most of the rest of the novel after Esther is found in the Red Tower on the premises, seemingly having died of fear. Since this is very much Sherlock Holmes’ creed of ‘if you eliminate the impossible, whatever is left, no matter how improbable, must be the answer’ in a nutshell, this makes for a very good Sherlock Holmes novel.

Like with “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” there is that little pinch of the supernatural, not only in the spiritualist, but also in the mysterious Red Lady who is said to haunt the tower and who is seen as an omen of death by the family. When she turns up in a corridor leading to the tower on the night on which Esther will die in the very room in which her ancestor killed her husband, there is superstition in the mix as well. Of course, Holmes doesn’t hold with that - but Watson is not fully immune to superstition and rather glad to leave the tower behind in the end, even though the Red Lady had no hand in the death in question.

I do have a weak spot for locked-room mysteries myself, because they invite a lot of speculation as to how it was done. There just are so many varieties up by now and there still might be new ones an author can come up with. As said at the beginning, I did need two tries to get through the book, but it wasn’t because of the writing. As a matter of fact, Latham does a very good job writing Watson, keeping it in the same style as Doyle himself.

He dives into the canon, using the time between Watson losing his first wife and the time he moved in with Holmes again as a natural source of tension - Watson is torn between staying with his practice and in the house he shared with Mary (for which he has a buyer) and returning to Holmes and putting a little distance between himself and the painful memories. The medium makes use of this tension, suggesting that it would be bad for Watson to go back to Holmes and that Mary doesn’t want him to do so, because Holmes already took time from them when she was alive - something which resounds with Watson’s regrets of not having spent more time with his wife, a common feeling after a loved one dies. Yet, towards the end, Watson himself remembers how much Mary supported him in this aspect of his life and that she never did begrudge him his friendship with Holmes, so she would hardly say the opposite after her death. On the whole, Madam Farr fails, because she’s pushing it too much, because she’s too set on gaining influence over Watson as well.

Needless to say, although this might count as a mild spoiler, that the medium proves to be a fraud - Sherlock Holmes stories are rational, spirits have no part in them.

“The Red Tower” is a very good Sherlock Holmes novel and surely a good way to spend a couple of hours. Especially now that the daylight hours are getting fewer again and a few cold and rainy days may be coming, it’s a great book to curl up on your couch or in your bed with.