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The Devil's Grin (2013)

by Annelie Wendeberg(Favorite Author)

3.72 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Annelie Wendeberg

series

Kronberg Crimes

review 1: 2.5 starsPros: I found the premise fascinating. A young doctor in Victorian London is a woman masquerading as a man. She meets Sherlock Holmes and they intellectually join forces to solve a crime, including going undercover.A quick read Cons: I have been reading other books on vaccinations and couldn't get past the idea that the timeline for this seems wrong. Although Pasteur developed the cholera vaccine in the 1880s, the first tetanus vaccine was produced in 1924. This has it attempted in 1880s. There would not have been widespread acceptance of vaccines besides small pox. The romance felt contrived.The book ends abruptly with a twist that ideally makes one want to read the next book in the series without resolving the issues of this story.
review 2: A cleve... morer and compelling mixture of elements characterizes The Devil's Grin (and presumably the series of which it's the first book): a woman living as a man so she can practice medicine in 1890s London teams up with Sherlock Holmes to solve a mystery involving deadly diseases and testing of vaccines. Dr. Anton (actually Anna) Kronberg is smart and tough, but leads a complicated and sometimes dangerous life. She performs autopsies, scales walls and faces down dastardly men with aplomb, but with Sherlock Holmes she's out of her depth, (which promises further interesting developments in subsequent books).Anytime an author incorporates Sherlock Holmes into a novel, there will be strong reactions from readers. Wendeberg's version of the great detective is interesting, hinting at things never dreamed of by his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Wendeberg misses few of the expected details -- Watson, the violin, Baker Street, disguises, even the Persian slipper tobacco pouch and knife in the mantelpiece -- they're all present. Only the cocaine habit is missing, I assume for a good reason.The most compelling element of this book is the main character's assumption of the identity of the opposite sex (which she does very thoroughly). Because this is such a fundamental aspect of an individual, I was a little disappointed that the author did not create more opportunities to exploit it. Anna casually mentions that women are attracted to her male persona, but omits what would surely be even more problematic -- other men with such desires.The Devil's Grin is a fast-paced read with lots of action, much of it resulting in pain and illness. The author pulls no punches and her characters see the results in vivid colour and detail. This, added to the relative shortness of the book, makes it easy to overlook the fact that the plausibility factor holding the plot elements together isn't always the strongest. I was willing to forgive this, given the entertainment I derived from reading the book. Readers who like everything to add up, and those who prefer their Holmes straight up, may have other ideas. less

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