The Affair of the Mysterious Letter
The Affair of the Mysterious Letter is a 2019 fantasy-detective novel by Alexis Hall. It was first published by Ace Books.
Synopsis[edit]
When injured physician Captain John Wyndham moves into the spare room at 221B Martyrs Walk in the multidimensional city of Khelathra-Ven, he soon finds himself recruited by his new roommate, consulting sorceress Shaharazad Haas, in a quest to discover who is blackmailing Haas's ex-lover Eirene Viola.
Reception[edit]
Publishers Weekly called it "zany queer and fantastical" and a "fun riff on canonical works of fantasy and detection" that "froths with magic and humor".[1] The Chicago Review of Books lauded it as "an exciting romp through a truly imaginative universe (or, more accurately, multi-verse)", comparing Haas' cosmically aware nihilism to Rick Sanchez, and praising Hall's "wit and empathy", but also found that he too strongly emulated the prose of Arthur Conan Doyle in a way which was "enjoyable at first" but eventually "burdensome to the narrative."[2]
James Nicoll considered it to be "hilarious",[3] and noted its "ample LGBTQ+ representation", with "over-the-top unconventional" characters who are "queer as fuck".[4]
Locus described it as "weird and witty", with Khelathra-Ven serving as a "fascinatingly warped" setting in which "the quirky characters hold the plot together," but nonetheless faulted it as "more a string of adventures than a cohesive mystery".[5]
References[edit]
- ^ The Affair of the Mysterious Letter, reviewed at Publishers Weekly; published March 22, 2019; retrieved May 10, 2023
- ^ A Queer Reimagining Of Sherlock Holmes, by Aidan Falk, at the Chicago Review of Books; published July 9, 2019; retrieved May 10, 2023
- ^ 12 Excellent SFF Books You Might Have Missed in 2019, by James Nicoll; at Tor.com; published January 6, 2020; retrieved May 10, 2023
- ^ So Dependable, by James Nicoll; at James Nicoll Reviews; published August 21, 2019; retrieved May 10, 2023
- ^ Carolyn Cushman Reviews Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews and The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall , by Carolyn Cushman; originally published in Locus, November 2019; archived online January 2, 2020; retrieved May 10, 2023