The She-Wolf of Baker Street by Narrelle M Harris

Title: The She-Wolf of Baker Street

Author: Narrelle M Harris

Genre: Mystery, Speculative Fiction

Publisher: Clan Destine Press

Published: 18^th March 2024

Format: Paperback

Pages: 280

Price: $36.95

Synopsis: Audrey Hudson takes the lead in this contemporary, paranormal take on the residents of Baker Street, London that encompasses mystery, murder, and many of the fey inhabitants of this sceptred (or should that be Spectered) isle. Audrey has been a werewolf all her adult life, but after the terrible and unsolved slaughter of her found family pack in Edinburgh, she withdraws to a home in London she abandoned long ago. There, the unpleasant Adelbert Gruner, a collector of cryptid artefacts, kidnaps her, intent on keeping her prisoner and to film her full moon transformation. But at 63, Audrey Hudson has learned a few tricks – and, as luck would have it, a young detective named Sherlock Holmes has taken an interest in Gruner. Holmes may not know about werewolves, ghosts or things that go bump in the night, but he might be just who Audrey needs to find out who killed her family. She offers the socially awkward genius a room in her house on Baker Street, provided he can find someone to share the costs. Enter John Watson and his best friend Nicola “Nick” Murray – who have had their own cryptid encounters which will come to have a significant bearing on the inhabitants of 221B. But momentum is added to the case as Sherlock’s investigations suggest a much bigger mystery is at play, involving a disturbing case on Dartmoor with a Greek interpreter; Sherlock’s agoraphobic sister, Myca; Audrey’s long-dead love, Ruby Stockton; and the fate of Great Britain’s mystic heart. Will Sherlock Holmes be able to unlock the crimes and mysteries that have haunted Audrey’s life – and can he even come close if he doesn’t know cryptids are real? And can Audrey protect her new pack, or is she about to lose those she loves once again to these unknown enemies?

*This book was sent to me for review by Sisters in Crime*

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Audrey Baker, aged 63, takes the lead in this Sherlock Holmes retelling set in a contemporary and paranormal world filled with the usual trappings of a good Sherlock Holmes story – murder, mystery and mayhem but with added fae, monsters, and cryptids. Audrey is a werewolf, whose pack has been slaughtered in Edinburgh. Now, hiding in her Baker Street home in London – until cryptid artefact collector, Adelbert Gruner kidnaps her, setting a series of events into motion that means Audrey’s path crosses that of Sherlock Holmes – the socially awkward genius, who comes to live with her, as does John Watson, an Afghanistan veteran who needs a new place to live after his friend Nicola Murray, known as Nick, needs him to leave.

But these new people coming into Audrey’s life – Sherlock, John, Nick, and Sherlock’s sister,  Myca who is grappling with agoraphobia, a bigger mystery sprouts from the initial investigation into who killed Audrey’s pack, taking them to Dartmoor, trying to find a Greek interpreter, back into the past to talk about Audrey’s lover, Ruby Stockton, and much more that has the heart of mystical and cryptid Great Britain at risk – but can Sherlock find out what has been going on if he doesn’t know about the presence of the fae world, or about vampires and werewolves?

The She-Wolf of Baker Street is a unique take on the Sherlock Holmes stories. Where most retellings centre Sherlock or Watson, this novel centres Mrs Hudson, who is usually Sherlock’s housekeeper or landlady at 221B Baker Street, and who is often in the background. Not only is Mrs Hudson front and centre, but Narrelle had also made all relationships – whether they are queer, straight, or platonic, perfectly normal in this book, with a great glimpse at a diverse cryptid world. Whether its gender, race, or disability, each character has their own thing about them that makes them stand out as unique but also, in a seamless way that gives this world of Sherlock Holmes something new and intriguing alongside the characters we know well and the themes of mystery and intrigue that brings this story to life. I found it an authentic representation of the tropes of Holmesian stories, thrust into a paranormal and modern world where our characters are quite at home. The main differences are whom the characters are connected to in some instances, and Sherlock has a sister rather than a brother, which gives their sibling dynamic a breath of fresh air – less antagonistic, still distant at first, yet ultimately filled with more love than I recall seeing with Mycroft in many iterations. Yet, each relationship in this book has its ups and downs as discoveries are made and truths come out – but to me, this is what made it work so well.

Because nothing came easily to any of the characters, and they all had their demons to grapple with – literally and figuratively – each element ensured a certain layer of complexity to the story as tensions ebbed and flowed throughout as the rather unlikely crime solving crew gathered information and evidence to find out what – or who – was behind what happened in Edinburgh, and what was happening to cryptids but also in the cryptid world.

As ancient and modern worlds, mythology and reality collide in this book, I found that this unique Holmesian adventure was brilliantly executed, and managed to traverse the fae traditions in a modern context to allow the story to work well and come to life as part of the Holmesian cannon of literature that has captured the imaginations of many since the stories were first published.