Review: The Case That Time Forgot (The Sherlock Files #3)

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Xander’s classmate Karim tells him about a famous amulet carved in the shape of Thoth, the Egyptian god of time. It was thought to be so powerful that it could turn back time one day every hundred years. And that day is in a week!

The amulet disappeared from a London museum years ago. Xena and Xander’s celebrated ancestor Sherlock Holmes tried to find it, but had no luck. The twins are on the case—and so are mysterious foes who are trying to thwart and perhaps even harm them! Can Xander and Xena track down what Sherlock Holmes could not?


The Case That Time Forgot is a 2011 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.






Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

 
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Rating: 3/5 Stars

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I enjoyed this installation of Xena and Xander's life. They are back at home and they encounter a friend who has an ancestor who also knew their ancestor Sherlock for help. This case had been forced closed by HIM (Her Imperial Majesty) because of international issues between England and Egypt. The kids are taken on a thrilling adventure that has not only modern challenges (such as people used to be able to freely walk through Big Ben but now you need Parliaments permission to enter) as well as an unknown shadow figure who is following them and thwarting them at every turn. I think young readers will really enjoy this story!

We meet some new characters in this story, and one in particular that has a connection to the siblings that we find out later on. One thing that seemed to be a little flat was the lack of character development. This story is high paced and soli driven by solving the case. 

Now coming into this as an avid Sherlock fan, there are a few things that bothered me. Yet, I feel that this may be a personal issue. I remember Sherlock having almost an entire alphabetized bookshelf of case notes. It's been about a year since I read those, but I feel like the unsolved case book the kids came in contact in would have more. However, I understand it needs to be simple and relavent for this novel so no biggie. 

This grip seems a little bit more important. Several months before this book is when they figure out that their namesake is in fake due to the famous Sherlock Holmes. This fact to me would seem to have pushed me to read all of the things I could about my ancestor. Yet when they hear a direct quote, they seem to have never heard anything before. I think by now they should have read things... and Xander having a photographic memory would solidify his knowledge. This seemed odd to me. 

The ending also seems to happen and then the book is over. The abruptness is a bit discouraging. 

Overall a fun book for kids.

Review: The Beast of Blackslope (The Sherlock Files #2)

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Xena and Xander have been looking forward to their vacation in the peaceful country village of Blackslope. But when a huge monster begins to terrorize the town, the young detectives are faced with a mystery that seems impossible to solve.

Sherlock Holmes, Xena and Xander’s famous ancestor, investigated the case of a horrible beast in Blackslope, but that was nearly a hundred years ago. It couldn’t be the same creature after all this time—could it?







Excerpt taken from Goodreads.
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Rating: 4/5 Stars

 

  


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This story is the second in a series about a brother and sister who are the descendents of Sherlock Holmes. They have inherited their predecessor's notebook of unsolved mysteries and each book has them on an adventure solving one case at a time. The kids are on a week vacation out in the country away from London and they hear a monster howl. Superstition from the town makes them realize this was a sight Sherlock visited himself and did not solve the case of the Beast of Blackslope. 

Sherlock had been called in because he had solved the case of The Hound of the Baskervilles but was said to not have solved this one. If you are a fan of Sherlock, you know that he only gave us (or rather Watson) those cases he was successful in solving and there had been plenty he had not solved. For me, I think some of them were unsolved because he was a busy man and I wish that had been stated, more for the ending of this book because it seemed like something he could have figured out. 

That being said, this book put a modern twist on an old case and it worked out really well. I do get a bit lost when reading this book because it is so fast pace and the POV switches quickly from Xander to Xena, and sometimes I think it's because of their names both starting with an X, but other times I wonder if it's because their voices aren't distinct enough. That's the for the 4 stars... and the ending on how they solve so simply a hundred year old case so simply. That felt a bit tacked on but worked well.

I will be reading the next one now and believe this book is perfect for middle age kids who love reading detective/ mystery stories. It's a fast pace book and there are a lot of clues and potential suspects. The plot twists keep everyone engaged nicely. 

Now some people have given this one a poor rating and have commented that this feels like a plot from Scooby-Doo. I believe the premise of this story was to more closely be related to The Hound of the Baskervilles and I think this worked well.