Review of Sherlock Holmes and the Ripper File in The Sherlock Holmes Journal (Volume 36 Number 3, Winter 2023) by Roger Johnson (Honorary Editor)

Other writers have had Holmes and Watson actively investigate the Ripper murders alongside or in competition with the police. Mr James’s approach is less dramatic, but more credible, knowing what we do of the detective and the doctor. In this slim, usefully illustrated book, he casts a discerning eye over the known facts of the Whitechapel murders, as considered by the friends twenty years later. They visit the sites, then much as they were in 1888 – there have, of course, been drastic changes since – and examine the evidence. The facts discussed match the authentic records, the conclusion is logical, and the style is acceptably Watsonian. It’s a novel idea, effectively executed.

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