As a massive fan of both Sherlock Holmes( who is surprisingly social in this book) and Dracula, I was quite intrigued how combining the two would go. I knew I was either going to love or hate this, and to my entertainment it was definitely the former. Can’t say too much without spoiling the plot- however I can say this is highly entertaining, enjoyable and a quick read. If you love either of these characters, this book will be an absolute treat for you.

Legends from two different worlds join together against a common villain. Surprisingly that villain isn’t Dracula. I went into this first installment of The Classified Dossier with expectations because you can’t keep calm after hearing Dracula and Sherlock Holmes TOGETHER!!

I’m so glad the story turned out to be an entertaining one - mixed with Holmes’s curiousness and Dracula’s morally grey vibes! The atmosphere the story set is so apt that this reads almost like the gothic original. Not gonna spoil anything, but the murder mystery type story was a fun one to read!! I believe Holmes is in the second part but his partner in crime differs in each book!

Thank you Titan books via Netgalley for the reader’s copy.

I love vampires and all things Dracula. I also love Sherlock Holmes (honestly who doesn't?). The fact that Klaver found a way to put these two together and do it relatively well is awesome!

When I first requested this book I didn't have high hopes for it honestly. I figured it would be a fun read but I didn't put too much stock into how well the writing would be. That was an oversight on my part. I think sometimes I read so much that instead of new ideas being as exciting to see in the written world, they can sometimes seem silly. Though not perfect, the writing was well done. And honestly, there isn't anything wrong with something just being a fun read. I forget that sometimes.

The story follows Sherlock Holmes as he takes on the case to find Dracula's missing wife, Mina. The author does a really great job of meshing the supernatural with the mystery elements. The Characters are well written and easy to relate to. Overall I was very surprised with how much I liked this story.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

WOW! This is a really AMAZING book! (end review). lol

Christian Klaver knows his Sherlock Holmes and has definitely done his research! This book reads EXACTLY like an original Holmes story would! I myself have read all of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories and if someone told me this was also an original, I would believe it! Klaver does a wonderful job of mentioning bits and pieces of Sherlock's previous adventures and history which liven the book up and make it truly feel like it's part of Doyle's original world.

Dracula (as mentioned in the title) is also in this book and brings such LIFE (see what I did there?) to this book! It is such a twist to bring Dracula into the Holmes world and yet Klaver does an incredible job of melding them seamlessly together. You might not have ever pictured them all being together, but I assure you when reading this book you wonder why it hasn't been done before!

Character fan-girling aside, the book on its own is an action packed, enjoyable story. Even if you have never heard of Sherlock Holmes or Dracula, you will love this book! The story has some twists, some turns, and once I started, I could not put it down. I truly hope this book does well and Klaver decides to write more because I think this new combo of heroes could easily turn into a series. I am desperate for more!

If you love Dracula/vampires or a good mystery/Sherlock Holmes this is the book for you! A joy to read, easy to get through, fun and completely enjoyable !!! This is THE book!

As a huge fan of Dracula and the Sherlock Holmes stories, I was very excited to be granted access to this novel that brings some of my favourite literary characters together!

Dracula's wife, Mina, is missing and so he seeks out the help of renowned detective Sherlock Holmes to get her back.

I really enjoyed the spin that the author put on the Dracula story but I would have liked to read a little but more of him and Mina. In typical Sherlock Holmes style, this one is narrated by John Watson, so it's his POV alone. This can be quite limiting but I also enjoyed that it was traditional and read as if it could be an original Sherlock Holmes story - minus the vampires!

Overall, this was a fun read and I want to thank the publishers for the chance to read and review.

Both Sherlock Holmes and Dracula are intriguing characters and putting the two together as allies does incite curiosity. Finally, Watson has permission to access the "classified cases" and there are evidently more cases to come. I didn't exactly love this one, but neither did I ever want to abandon it. :)

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Classified Dossier: Sherlock Holmes and Count Dracula was such a fun book to jump into. I liked the twist of Watson and Mary becoming vampires. Then Count Dracula and Sherlock Holmes becoming acquaintances throughout the book was enjoyable. Mostly because of the bantering but they all really worked well together too.

On top of all that, Mary going into the dark side and becoming Maggie was an interesting twist. I did feel bad for Watson though because he really did love her. Then their whole journey of vampirism was different to. Again, she went to the dark route while Watson didn't. He had Holmes to keep him grounded and I'm glad that he did.

As for Holmes. He was pleasantly brilliant. With so many murders, betrayal, and unknown villain - Mariner Priest, every chapter was easy to devour. Or maybe it was just me. I wanted everyone to just get a run in with mysterious villain. Then with each clue, it was pretty easy to figure out who the villain was going to be.

In the end, Holmes and Count bamboozling a certain someone was easy to spot coming. It was still quite enjoyable to read everything though. I'm also wondering if there's going to be another adventure with everyone based on how this one ended. I would totally read it if there is one. If not, I will move on to the next Holmes adventure.

Oh, what a fun little romp this was!

The tales of Sherlock Holmes have always been part mystery, part adventure, part wry humor, and this new addition to the Holmes storyline is no exception. Our tale is told, as always, by Dr. Watson. With the death of Holmes, Watson is now free to share a selection of the most secretive of cases on which he and Holmes worked, cases which were by necessity kept quiet and hidden until the great detective's death.

For you see, Sherlock Holmes has been cavorting with vampires.

We begin around a dozen years after the (supposed?) death of Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls. Presented in four parts, each a separate but related case, we learn of the existence of vampires, of a cunning vampire lord called the Mariner Priest, and of the Priest's plans to raise a vampire army and overtake London, among other places.

Holmes and Watson find a surprising ally in the legendary Count Dracula, though the story the Count presents varies greatly from the one Stoker wrote about him. Mina, his bride, is at his side, as they face down enemies and work alongside the detective and the doctor to discover the identity of the Mariner Priest and stop his nefarious plans from coming to fruition.

Fans of Lovecraft will especially appreciate Part Two: The Innsmouth Whaler, though I'll not provide any more information on that because of spoilers.

The tales herein are fast paced and fun, dark and dangerous, twisty and clever and full of daring adventure and battles and Holmes outsmarting everyone around him (of course). I had a great time reading this, a bit of lighter fare but still full of the monsters and darkness horror lovers adore.

Near the end, when things are wrapping up, Holmes presents to Watson a sheaf of letters, cases for him to consider:

"I have been sifting through my correspondence to locate the most outre for you, but this last bundle rather outdoes itself. We have tales of disappearing men and talking animals, cadaverous monsters and magical portraits...."

These cases speak to the continuing story of Holmes and Watson's 'Classified Dossier', and it seems that the author, Christian Klaver, intends to put the great detective's mind to work dealing with all of the classics of Gothic horror. I think we are in for a real treat as this series continues.

I was very excited by the premise of a Holmes and Dracula mashup. Holmes is in character and it was nice to see some development of Dracula and Mina. Watson is the narrator, as expected, and it is very much his story more than Holmes, I think.
The plot has some interesting twists and some interesting side characters. It was a little slow at times in the middle but the beginning and end were entertaining to read.

My thanks to Titan Books and NetGalley for this eARC. This is my honest review.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

as i was reading this book i kept seeing basil rathbone playing this formidable holmes and his bungling sidekick watson.... though not so bungling in this one

this is a vast story of holmes against a powerful foe that he has never before encountered and though there are some other stories in this book there is alway a hint of something behind it..

i did struggle with watson though and the deep sorrow i felt for him...

but on the whole a delve into holmes and watson and their many escapades made a dull weekend more enjoyable...

will be keeping an eye out for more of this authors works

Lots to love about this mash-up, but at times Holmes's narration suffers from prose that borders on purple (even with the style considered). There is a good bit of redundancy that could be culled, and a subplot that does nothing to further the overall story. Still, really loved this unique twist.

Hmmm... I have no problems with the idea of scrunching Sherlock Holmes into the same story as Dracula, nor for making a book out of a whole four-story cycle of such tales. But in tackling the first of these, I found that for every mention of Stoker getting it wrong about his Romanian creation, according to the opinion of said count (sorry, Voivode), it also had a way for Watson to be far too different, far too important and far too un-Conan Doyle for the pastiche to work. Another problem came along that may be a sheer misconception, but from looking on goodreads and audible, I'd seen that the first three novellas in this collection were sub-150 minutes audio books, and that in text and in sound the fourth equally-sized work somehow bulked the whole four-parter to a twelve hour marathon.

And yet several hours later I was still only halfway through the first story, and losing the will to live. It starts out hitting every beat of Conan Doyle wondrously – it's not a three pipe problem, but seven and up, Holmes is as musical with his violin as Adele with her latest relationship failure, and so on – but soon finds a reason to go very awry. Sorry, did I say 'soon'? This became a drag, and far too much of one. And I was left with the impression, that I might be wrong with entirely, that succinct, brief genre clashes that ran to a couple of snappy hours, had been rewritten for this galumphing stodge and made four hours each.

Either way, the first story left me at the midway point nowhere near the end, and nowhere near where I thought I'd be narratively. I was perfectly OK with some neck-biting action, and I was more than willing to see Holmes and Watson (having performed professionally as both, don't'cha know) enter the world of the macabre. But all evidence suggests that something has changed from the 150-min stories of a couple of years ago to the 4-hr+ yawn-fests. Sure, websites can make mistakes (like, who knew?!) but – if it is the case here – so can authors. I was promised Holmes and Dracula working together, and left this disappointed with them barely working and certainly not exactly together. One and a half stars.

An interesting read, that starts slowly but builds in suspense. The author does a good job of presenting the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to the original by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A mixture of 2 of my all time favorite favorite books and characters Sherlock Holmes and Dracula, usually I don't go for retellings but this one I'm glad I gave a try to because the author somehow pulled it off, he brought all of the characters to life, and had me wanting to set back and just read .

Netflix should take this book and make a series of it, the author knows his Sherlock lore and he introduces the reader to his very interesting view of history and how it could have been, loved it, more please

My thanks to Titan Books for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Classified Dossier - Sherlock Holmes and Count Dracula’ by Christian Klaver in exchange for an honest review.

The book contains four linked tales featuring supernatural threats to Great Britain. In the opening case Sherlock Holmes is approached by an unusual client, Count Dracula. The stories cite references to Holmes’ earlier cases as well as to events and characters from Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ with some tweaks.

In his Introduction Watson states that readers may note inconsistencies between his account and the novel by Stoker bearing Dracula’s name. He writes: “Again, I can only beg the reader’s indulgence, but these small trivialities are necessary to preserve the secrecy under which Holmes and I have been sworn on many of his most delicate cases.”

Dr. Watson relates these previously classified cases with the breathless intensity of a Victorian penny dreadful. There are also elements of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos woven into the stories, especially the second, ‘The Innsmouth Whaler’.

I felt that Christian Klaver did well in vividly capturing the late Victorian setting as well as remaining true to these iconic characters.

Overall, I found this very entertaining. I enjoy works that blend Gothic horror and historical mysteries and felt that this was well done with an admirable attention to detail. Hopefully Dr. Watson will be releasing further cases from this classified dossier in the future.

This book should come with a warning, something like "You will not be able to put it down until you turn the last page". It's high on a "sleep deprivation" and fun scale.
The Holmes&Watson are very "canonical"and very original at the same time. All the elements of the canon are there and they work very well in a paranormal setting.
I thought this was going a sort of Sherlock Holmes vs Dracula sort of story but I was wrong and got more than I bargained. The Count Dracula is a sort of side characters but I got plenty of vampires (and some elements taken from other historical horror series).
The author did an excellent job in mixing the different world and making them fresh and original.
The plot is complex, there's plenty of unexpected twists and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It's a highly entertaining story that I strongly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I honestly knew nothing about this book before I began reading it. I saw the title, saw how pretty the hardcover release for it was and went 'hell yeah I'm reading that', so I hadn't even glanced at the blurb before beginning to read the book. I think if I had it would have saved me from the first surprise of the book, that this wasn't going to be another story that pitted the great detective against the world's most famous vampire, such as Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula which was also published by Titan Books, but would see the two icons working together.

Like with the vast majority of Sherlock Holmes books this tale is written from the perspective of Doctor John Watson, who has chronicled many of Holmes' adventures. What marks this one as more unusual than most, however, is that this story has waited until the titular detective has died before being published. The introduction from Watson begins by telling us that Holmes is dead, and only now can a series of cases from his 'black box' be shown to the world.

The story begins when Holmes and Watson are presented with a strange piece of evidence by Scotland Yard, a severed woman's finger. Whilst this is grizzly and strange enough in itself it only becomes more and more disturbing when the finger doesn't act in a way you'd expect, and doesn't seem to be normal dead flesh. Even stranger, it reacts violently to both sunlight and silver. This pushes Holmes towards a shocking conclusion, that the finger must have come from a vampire.

This deduction is only confirmed when the two of them are approached by Count Dracula himself. Not only do the two of them now have to wrestle with the idea that vampires are real, but that the account made of Dracula within Stoker's novel was far from the truth, and the 'monster' from the story is a man who needs their help in order to save his kidnapped wife, Mina.

Over the course of their investigation they discover that London has become targeted by mysterious 'elder' vampire working from the shadows, known only as the Mariner Priest, who is amassing an army of newly turned creatures. Not only that, but tragic events will befall Holmes and Watson that will forever change their lives, and change the way that you look at the stories Watson has shared with the public. Over the course of this first volume they will learn of other, even more amazing creatures as they battle to stop this mysterious menace from turning London into a nest of vicious vampires.

From very early on in the book Christian Klaver does one of the best things that he could do for this story, he gets Sherock Holmes on board with the supernatural. I've seen stories where Holmes has had to deal with monsters and other paranormal entities, and his staunch belief in science and things having a rational explanation often drag down the start of those tails, making the detective feel a little foolish because we know he's wrong in those assertions. But this story not only has Holmes getting on board with vampires being real, but does so withing the first dozen or so pages. Yes, he believes that vampires are rooted more in science than curses and magic, but he fully accepts that they exist.

Once that particular hurdle is out of the way we're able to get into the real meat of the novel, which is seeing our two leads getting to grips with the supernatural being real. They still engage in investigations, and use their past experience and knowledge to get them through the trials that they face here, but they also come prepared with silver bullets too. The book is split into four interconnected stories, spread out over roughly a years time. These stories begin by introducing the world of the supernatural, show how Holmes and Watson adjust to this knowledge and deal with these challenges, before finally coming round to dealing with the threat of the Mariner Priest; though leaving enough dangling at the end to set up for further supernatural adventures.

The book incorporates the supernatural elements into the Holmes canon really well, and it feels like a pretty natural fit for the most part. It doesn't contradict too much, and in the introduction Watson talks about things not quite lining up perfectly with the other stories hes released due to having had to change certain details and pieces to hide the truth from the public on a whole. This is a pretty reasonable explanation, and it does fit with some of the stuff that readers will be familiar with for sure.

Despite the name, Sherlock Holmes and Count Dracula, the Count isn't in a huge amount of the book. The focus here is very much Holmes and Watson. I think that this is a smart choice. Dracula is one of those characters best used sparingly. Even in his own original story he was a presence that dipped in and out of the narrative, rather than being the dominant focus. To use him in a similar way here is a good choice. It means that we get the much more human connection with Holmes and Watson, and we get to learn about this new supernatural world through the eyes of people freshly exposed to it, rather than someone who has been a part of it for centuries.

The book doesn't just introduce us to vampires, however, as the final pages of the book have Holmes showing Watson several letters asking for assistance with bizarre and unusual cases that seem to involve ghosts and other strange entities. This give the reader some hints at the kinds of things that may come in future volumes, and assures us that the duo's time dealing with the paranormal will be far from over; but it also gives an indication that there are more than just vampires in the world. The second main chunk of this book also does that too, as it deals with a mysterious body and a strange ship docked in London that travelled from Innsmouth. I'm sure that name will ring bells with certain readers, an I won't say more about that particular part of the book other than it's a rather interesting adventure that begins to introduce creatures other than vampires to the series.

Outside of the supernatural elements, Klaver does a wonderful job at bringing Holmes and Watson to life. Watson goes through a lot over the course of the book. I won't go into too many details so as not to spoil the book, but the events of the story will forever alter his life, and those of his loved ones, and because of this we get some times where we see Watson having to grapple with some truly dark and painful emotions. But Klaver is also one of those writers who seems to understand Holmes too, and doesn't make him insufferably rude.

There are a lot of versions of the character, and one of the things I think people who don't read a huge amount of Sherlock Holmes fiction seem to conclude, and put into their versions of the character, is that Holmes is a rude person. They write him as being so much smarter than the people around him that it ends up with him looking down on other people, treating them like they're beneath him, or simply being cruel because he has no desire to be nice. This, for me anyway, is the complete opposite to what Holmes really is, and Klaver seems to get that. Holmes does feel removed at times yes, but he's also incredibly kind and caring throughout this book. He's polite to others, he cares about Watson, and he makes jokes with people, not at others expense.

Sherlock Holmes and Count Dracula is an incredibly imaginative new take on these characters, and Klaver not only brings a fresh spin to Holmes and Watson, but the Dracula mythos too. It establishes a bold new status quo for the world's greatest detective, one that I can't wait to see more of in future volumes.

The classified dossier:sherlock Holmes and count dracula by Christian Klaver.
Classified dossier book 1.
In this thrilling supernatural mystery, Sherlock Holmes and Count Dracula must join forces to banish a terrible enemy...
I did like this book. I do enjoy sherlock Holmes. This was told by Watson. Great story. Read in a few days. 5*.

Thanks to Titan Books and netgalley for letting me read this book.