The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal

The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal
K.J. Charles, 2015

Premise: Journalist Robert Caldwell has told the world about the exploits of famous ghost hunter Simon Feximal for years, but he has never before revealed how they met, or their true relationship.

In the spectrum of works inspired by other works, there is more than enough room for delightful books like this one. You can see from the very premise that something is owed to Holmes and his ilk, but it is not as simple as a Holmes story with a paranormal/LGBT overlay. It turns out to be a love letter to Victorian adventure and occult stories.

The book itself is structured as a series of linked short tales. Characters from works of the time come in and out like Easter eggs for the reader, but not being familiar with them doesn't detract anything from the experience. There is a list of references in the back of the book for the curious.

As always, this author crafts her characters to feel incredibly accurate to their time period, and the supernatural elements are often viscerally creepy.

I have enjoyed many books by this author and I especially appreciate how different she makes each relationship. In the fabulous Charm of Magpies series, the main couple is largely effusive and talkative about their frustrations and feelings, and the reader follows both characters closely. Here, the stoic, quietly powerful Feximal and articulate but tentative Caldwell provide a subtler romance than is to everyone's taste. (Don't worry, there's still lots of sex.) Caldwell is also the sole narrator, which is a better match for the stories this is a homage to.

In short, I found this to be an engaging and exceedingly well-written story.

4 Stars - A Very Good Book