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Chris Dolley
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The Unpleasantness at Baskerville Hall (Reeves & Worcester Steampunk Mysteries Book 4) Kindle Edition

by Chris Dolley (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 549 ratings
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Wodehouse steampunk version of The Hound of the Baskervilles!

“Jeeves and Wooster meet Holmes and Watson with a touch of steampunk in the hilarious first full-length Reeves and Worcester tale ... This laugh-out-loud parody works on several levels ... With razor-sharp wit and fast pacing that plays fair with the reader, this is an excellent genre mash-up that fires on all cylinders.” - Publishers Weekly

An escaped cannibal, a family curse ... and Reginald Worcester turning up on the doorstep. Could things get any worse for the Baskerville-Smythe family?

As the bodies pile up, only a detective with a rare brain – and Reggie’s is so rare it’s positively endangered – can even hope to solve the case.

But... there is the small matter that most of the guests aren’t who they say they are, the main suspect has cloven feet, and a strange mist hangs over great Grimdark Mire.

Luckily the young master has Reeves, his automaton valet, and Emmeline, his suffragette fiancée, on hand to assist.

This stand alone novel is the fifth Reeves & Worcester Steampunk mystery and is set a few months after The Aunt Paradox. The first two mysteries were published in the ebook What Ho, Automaton! The first four were published in the trade paperback What Ho, Automata.

REVIEWS

"A sheer delight to read and Mr. Dolley channeled Wodehouse beautifully." - Mary R. Fairchild

"Dolley melds steampunk with Wodehousian manor house mystery, with a dash of Sherlock Holmes and Oscar Wilde thrown in, making a delightful whole that had me laughing out loud." - Sherwood Smith

"Totally awesome." - Elizabeth Sorenson

"Chris Dolley has perfectly recreated the characters and storytelling style of P. G. Wodehouse. "The Unpleasantness at Baskerville Hall" is very highly recommended." - Midwest Book Review

"I haven't read a series of books in my entire life that made me laugh out loud at least four times and uncountable chuckles. Every one was absolutely hilarious and certainly the best parodies of Holmes and Watson that I have come across." - Peter S Jasion

"Chris Dolley has created a pastiche that evokes as many laughs as the original Bertie and Jeeves, if not more." - Kadlady

"Very clever writing and I laughed out loud." - Sally Evans

"This book is a delight. It perfectly catches the spirit and the humour of the original PG Wodehouse works while adding a whole new dimension." - Hopback

"Chris Dolley does an excellent job of imitating Wodehouse's writing style and pays a bit of homage to Oscar Wilde. Reading Reggie's attempts to emulate famous detectives and solve this Baskerville mystery is hilarious. Laughs abounded. I highly recommend this book." - Howard Poston
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  1. Book 4 of 5
    Reeves & Worcester Steampunk Mysteries
  2. Print length
    252 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    February 9, 2016
  6. File size
    708 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
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  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Jeeves and Wooster meet (or run face-first into) Holmes and Watson with a touch of steampunk in the hilarious first full-length Reeves and Worcester tale (previous ones were collected in What Ho, Automata). This laugh-out-loud parody works on several levels. Reginald Worcester might not be very bright, but he's smart enough to know that when his fiancée, Emmeline, runs off to visit the movie-making Baskerville-Smythe family, trouble is likely to follow. When the Baskerville scion turns up dead, a disguised Reginald and his automaton butler, Reeves, are the only ones who can prevent more deaths. The jokes, wordplay, and satire come fast and furious in the opening pages and continue through to the ending, even when the sleuths are reviewing clues for the reader. Reginald's heart is in the right place, but he's not what one would call competent, leading to amazing set pieces such as a sequence involving fingerprints and flour. Dolley limits the speculative elements to talking robots and Mary Shelley-style reanimations, which feel organic to the setting. With razor-sharp wit and fast pacing that plays fair with the reader, this is an excellent genre mash-up that fires on all cylinders." -- Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Chris Dolley is a New York Times bestselling author. His first Reeves and Worcester Steampunk Mystery - What Ho, Automaton! - was a WSFA Award finalist.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B017SVMJW0
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Book View Café (February 9, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 9, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 708 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 252 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 549 ratings

About the author

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Chris Dolley

Chris Dolley

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Chris Dolley is a New York Times bestselling author, a pioneer computer game designer and a teenage freedom fighter. That was in 1974 when Chris was tasked with publicizing Plymouth Rag Week. Some people might have arranged an interview with the local newspaper. Chris created the Free Cornish Army, invaded the country next door, and persuaded the UK media that Cornwall had risen up and declared independence. As he told the police at the time, 'It was only a small country, and I did give it back.'

In 1981, he created Randomberry Games and wrote Necromancer, one of the first 3D first person perspective D&D computer games.

In 2004, his acclaimed novel, Resonance, was the first book plucked out of Baen's electronic slushpile.

In 2012, his novelette, What Ho, Automaton! was a finalist for the WSFA Small Press Award.

Now he lives in rural France with his wife and a frightening number of animals. They grow their own food and solve their own crimes. The latter out of necessity when Chris's identity was stolen along with their life savings. Abandoned by the police forces of four countries who all insisted the crime originated in someone else's jurisdiction, he had to solve the crime himself. Which he did, and got a book out of it - the International bestseller, French Fried: One Man's Move to France With Too Many Animals And An Identity Thief.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
549 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Dee Arr
5.0 out of 5 stars A Comedic Tale in the Steampunk World
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2017
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It’s been a long time since I read a farcical tale that was so immensely enjoyable. “The Unpleasantness at Baskerville Hall” was reminiscent of Connie Willis’ “To Say Nothing of the Dog” in terms of the lighthearted serious tone that runs through the entire novel.

Reggie Worcester is a wannabe detective, stumbling along in the footsteps of Sherlock Holmes. Reggie is aided by his manservant Reeves and his girlfriend companion Emmeline. Together they embark on an adventure that slightly resembles Doyle’s “The Hound of the Baskervilles.” Reggie is not totally inept, although he is constantly steered toward a better path by Reeves (who is an automaton).

The steampunk aspect dresses the book in an entirely novel flavor, and is a major part of the mystery. Although there are murders, the usual graphic depictions (as well as any sex scenes) are missing from this book. Author Chris Dolley’s writing is exceptional and the characters are fun, flawed, and likeable. For those who hate to read a book with objectionable language, you will have none of those worries with this story. Although “Unpleasantness” is the fourth in the series, one is not lost if the first three books haven’t been read. The author does refer to a couple of former adventures, but these mentions are fleeting and the book is able to stand on its own. I highly recommend this book, and reading it has convinced me I need to pick up the first three books in this series. Five stars for this one.
6 people found this helpful
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Mike Reeves-McMillan
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, despite needing more copy editing
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2018
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I enjoyed the first of this series enough that I was willing to take a chance on this one, even though the third was a bit disappointing. I'm glad I did; it's a genial, funny parody not only of Wodehouse, but of other British literature. I caught references to Cold Comfort Farm and Dorothy Sayers as well as Conan Doyle, and I'm sure I missed some. Mixing all of these together does take each of them away from their roots; for example, the relationship between Emmeline and Reggie is much more based on the couple in Sayers than on any of Bertie Wooster's regrettable engagements (which he always strives to get out of).

It deserves better editing. The author needs to learn how to punctuate dialogue, especially the rule that says that when you interrupt a single sentence of dialogue with a beat in the middle, you don't punctuate the second half as if it was a new sentence. He uses "may" instead of "might" in past tense narration, confuses enormousness with enormity and definitive with definite, writes loathe for loath, apparently thinks "vouchsafe" means "confirm," omits or misplaces apostrophes, omits question marks, occasionally omits necessary commas, doesn't know how to hyphenate compound adjectives, sometimes uses "that" twice in a single sentence, gets noun-verb number agreement wrong on occasion, writes "lawsuits," "northwestern" and (oddly) "ago" as two words each, refers to the same weapon as both a shotgun and a rifle, and confuses "who's" and "whose". It's not the worst-edited steampunk book I've seen, but that's only because steampunk books are almost without exception terribly edited. It's especially disappointing because the first two in the series made it to my "well-edited" shelf.

The solution to the mystery is also a bit of a cheat, relying on information that the reader has not had access to in order to present the comedic spectacle of Reggie attempting a traditional denoument without actually knowing who the murderer was.

All of that aside, though, I did enjoy it, and there are moments of wonderful cleverness in the writing: "Lady Julia shook her head and gave me the kind of look that came with its own pin and wax effigy," for example, or "Knowledge is power, Reeves. And the appearance of knowledge is power without all that absolute corruption business." The characters, while stock, are used well, and the plot (apart from the cheat on the solution) works in its own right, as well as being a vehicle for the comedy.

I will probably buy the next one, but I really hope the author invests in a good copy editor.
15 people found this helpful
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jtass
3.0 out of 5 stars Well, isn't this....interesting
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2019
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This is the fourth book in a steampunk send up of the Jeeves and Wooster series.

Bertie Worcester is a wealthy rather dimwitted young Englishman who has a talent of getting into absurd difficulties due to his insistence on pursuing halfbaked schemes. He is inevitably rescued by his manservant Reeves, who just happens to be a superior sort of steam powered robot.

In this (mis)adventure Bertie has once again fallen in love but his lady's family is opposed to the match and whisked her off to the countryside. Bertie has decided to follow, incognito, in order to be near her. Once Bertie and Reeves manage to install themselves in Baskerville Hall they discover theirs is not the only deception taking place at the Hall. Bertie's ladylove, Emmeline and her traveling companion have traded identities but before anyone's true identity can be revealed the house is cut off from civilization by a storm just as a murder begins picking off members of the household. Bertie, of course, decides to pass himself off as an experienced detective - what could possibly go wrong?

The convoluted plot manages incorporate not just Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories but also Poe's "Murders of the Rue Morgue", Doyle's "Hound of the Baskervilles" and other classic mystery stories into the adventure. The result is fun, at least for a time.
One person found this helpful
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R. Scott Adams
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book!
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2019
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Chris Dolley's Reeves and Worcester novels are an absolute delight! These books blend compelling mysteries with all the color and wonderful dialogue that fans of P.G. Wodehouse will relish. Dolley absolutely captures the feel of Sherlock Holmes with a terrific weaving of Wodehouse-as-steampunk. While all four of the Reeves and Worcester novels are fantastic, I think The Unpleasantness at Baskerville Hall is my favorite. Great writing, fun characters, and a good mystery all rolled into one.
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Top reviews from other countries

Terry Stubbs
5.0 out of 5 stars A good bit of fun
Reviewed in Canada on March 26, 2019
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Well thought out and cleverly reminiscent of....well let’s just say good night Jeeves !!! A nice read. I do recommend.
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Ashok Tomar
4.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining spoof
Reviewed in India on May 4, 2017
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A good and entertaining spoof, though a trifle too long. The story had a lot of twists and turns, but the author's writing style kept the story going. The end, however, was a bit abrupt.
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Jon Morgan
5.0 out of 5 stars Humorous detective story
Reviewed in Australia on April 24, 2017
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Enter Reginald Worcester, consulting detective, into the mad world of Baskerville Hall. With liberal helpings of Sherlock Holmes and PG Wodehouse, and lots of twists of plot and humour, it's fortunate that Reeves is around to save the day.

For a sample of the detecting style:
“The dénouement, Reeves. I shall announce it at breakfast.”
“Would that not be premature, sir?”
“Defeatist talk, Reeves. We may not know the identity of the murderer, but the murderer doesn’t know that. We shall keep them off balance, draw them out and they shall reveal themselves.”
“Are you certain, sir?”
“Positive. The dénouement is a powerful tool. Even Moriarty would feel a certain chilliness of the corpuscles if called upon to attend.”
“I believe it usual, sir, for the detective to know the identity of the murderer before commencing the dénouement.”
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Helen Elizabeth Isabella Alexander
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous frolic!! Brilliant Read!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 1, 2016
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This book was simply wonderful and a joy to read!! The story held my attention all the way through!! Although I have to confess reading the Reeves and Worcester parts in Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry's voices!!! 10/10 read!!! Bring on the next adventure!!!
3 people found this helpful
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Urgic
4.0 out of 5 stars One Up on Wodehouse
Reviewed in Canada on October 15, 2017
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Witty modern cyberpunk take on P.G. Wodehouse style - I actually found it more amusing
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