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THE CASE OF THE CAT WITH THE MISSING EAR by Scott Emerson

THE CASE OF THE CAT WITH THE MISSING EAR

Book One, The Adventures of Samuel Blackthorne

by Scott Emerson & illustrated by Viv Mullett

Pub Date: Sept. 1st, 2003
ISBN: 0-689-85861-2
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Emerson casts this Holmes-ian homage with dogs and cats, and moves the locale from foggy, gas-lit London to foggy, gas-lit Old San Francisco, but otherwise stays stoutly faithful to the premise, tone, and character types of the originals. Newly retired naval doctor Edward Smithfield is swept up by his new roommate, a diminutive but “singular and highly unique” Yorkie with an ego big as all outdoors, into a case involving a shanghaied accountant, a ruthless politician out to take over every casino and racetrack in town, and a variety of raffish street people. Puzzled, annoyed, and astounded in turn, Smithfield rides Blackthorne’s tweedy coattails through a string of encounters and revelations to a less-than-rousing climax. Still, complemented by Mullett’s rare but artful pencil drawings of dogs in Victorian-era togs, the author adds humor to the mix by playing off size differences among the various breeds of canine San Franciscans. A clever pastiche, but more likely to tempt readers to take on the originals than to demand sequels. (Fiction. 11-15)