Who is your favourite literary detective?

Manga Classic: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Written by: Arthur Conan Doyle

Illustrated by: Noh Yi-jeong

Published by: Button Books

Published on: October 2024

Price: £12.99

First line: I had seen little of Holmes lately.

Genre: Detective, Classic

Age: 10+

Thanks to the UKLA for the review copy. See their 4-11 magazine for the full review.

What’s it all about? I am a big Sherlock Holmes fan.  Here they have chosen five classic tales from the whole collection, some more well known than others. The ‘Red-Headed league’ is a classic: an advertisement for men with red hair is paying an exorbitant fee for doing little. What dastardly criminal plot is behind it all? The relationship between Sherlock and John is exposed in depth during the greatest female antagonist story: ‘A Scandal in Bohemia’.

Why should I read it? The aim of this series of books is to introduce classic stories to new audiences, and it will certainly do that. The drawings, as you would expect, are fantastic, although seeing such a young Holmes and Watson was a bit disorientating. I don’t quite get that feeling of dark, smoky London streets; the warm, pale light shining only on 221B Baker Street; the uncouth and cultured criminals; and Sherlock’s cold, in-depth reasoning, as you do from the original, but it is a great starting point.  The language used is straight from the original, which again is a little strange, as it is very old fashioned, and a large number of the words would be difficult for a young audience to understand; however, I applaud the idea, as this would challenge and inspire new readers. I was quite surprised that, as a book that is introducing characters to new audiences, that there wasn’t some sort of introduction before the stories themselves start. Great to read to, or with, Year 6 students.