This book is exactly what it sounds like. Sherlock Holmes & Count Dracula is the first book in the Classified Dossier series by Christian Klaver. Sherlock Holmes is approached about an unusual incident where a finger was found on a dead body but by all indications the finger has many interesting properties that indicate it may have come from a vampire, something Dr. Watson is rather reluctant to believe. Shortly thereafter they are approached by Count Dracula who wishes to have them try and find his wife, Mina, who has apparently been kidnapped. Agreeing to work together they try to do just that only to find both incidents are actually part of a wider conspiracy which leads them to continue investigating even after closing the original cases of the mystery finger and Mina’s kidnapping. With Dr. Watson now being a vampire they must find ways of protecting London from other vampires which leads them to further unusual cases that seem to tie back in unknown and mysterious ways to the original incidents. Things continue to get rather dark and murky as they must find out what is going on and who is actually behind it, something not as easy as it appears.
I am going to admit that I did not know what to expect when I decided to read this but I mostly grabbed it because of the name and description. That being said, I found it immensely intriguing and was drawn in from the very beginning of the book. In the spirit of honesty, I have never read an original story about Sherlock Holmes but I have read the original Dracula several times. I am semi-familiar with the characters of Holmes though. Either way I found this depiction of all of these characters to be new and engrossing while seeming to stay faithful to the originals. Something that is not necessarily easy to do. This really did seem to be a mere continuation of the legend of Sherlock Holmes and to a lesser extent the story of Dracula. At the same time the stories also depart, sometimes rather drastically, from the originals in many ways. I highly doubt the original Holmes ever had supernatural cases like this one. The plot was intricate and well thought out and progressed over several different related cases. While not familiar with the original Holmes books to know if they did something similar, the format did seem to fit this story. By breaking it up over several different cases which happened over a rather lengthy period of time it allows us to really see how these ideas of the supernatural became enmeshed in the greater story of Sherlock Holmes. While I don’t typically like lengthy time skips they actually felt appropriate for this story and didn’t seem to disrupt the overall flow of the narrative like they so frequently do. I can legitimately say that I not only enjoyed this modern take on these two classics but I am also seriously looking forward to reading the rest of the series. This book gets 4.5 out of 5 stars from me and they are well deserved.
In terms of genre this book is a bit of a mix as it is primarily a mystery with minor elements of horror or the gothic mixed in due to the presence of the vampires. I would recommend this primarily to readers who prefer mysteries and don’t mind the presence of the vampires. It probably would hold little appeal for readers who prefer horror or gothic stories due to its primary focus on the mystery elements though. However, if it sound even remotely interesting you should consider trying it because it was pretty good. The age range for its readers is probably adults primarily as it does contain some graphic violence at various points, they are fighting vampires quite frequently after all. I would suggest no readers younger than about sixteen as that is probably the only content that would be an issue. Either way it is a good book and I hope you will consider it. If you do feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.