by Sarah Erwin & Jeri Westerson

This week we have a review of Jeri Westerson’s latest Irregular Detective Mysteries, along with a fun Sherlock Holmes related guest post from Jeri. Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win an ebook copy of the book and a link to purchase the book from Amazon.

The Misplaced Physician (Irregular Detective Mysteries, Book 3) by Jeri Westerson
Review by Sarah Erwin

The Misplaced Physician is book three in Jeri Westerson’s “Irregular Detective” series, featuring Tim Badger and Ben Watson, private investigators working together, with financial assistance and mentorship from the great Sherlock Holmes. In their youth the two were members of Sherlock’s Baker Street Irregulars (street urchins Holmes used to gather information across London).

In this latest entry, set in London, 1895, Mrs. Hudson alerts Badger and Watson that Dr. John Watson has been kidnapped from 221B Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes is out of the country and out of contact so Badger and Watson must solve the case on their own, following the mysterious ransom notes that begin to arrive, as well as some of their own group of ‘irregulars.’

Thankfully the two have help from reporter Ellsie Littleton. Ellsie is a baronet’s daughter and has access to and comfort in places and situations the two young men have never experienced.

This Victorian mystery is complex, full of twists and humor. The pace is fast, and I was hooked from the very start. While this is book three, readers certainly can read this as a standalone.

The characters are authentic. I’m especially fond of Katie Murphy (Badger and Watson’s maid) and Ellsie. They both exude confidence in their own way. Badger and Watson are likable, if sometimes a bit bumbling in the best possible way. Surely there is a lot of pressure to be a mentee of the great Sherlock Holmes and the two gentlemen handle it well. They use a nice combination of Sherlock’s method and their own skill.

The setting is descriptive and helps to create an atmospheric reading experience. This continues to be such a clever and imaginative premise for a mystery series and I do hope to see more in the future.

Sarah Erwin started her career as a children’s librarian, later becoming a public library director and now she’s a stay at home mom. While her career might have changed, her love of reading has been a constant since 4th grade and she reads over 200 books a year. Read along with her on her blog Sarah Can’t Stop Reading or on Instagram. Sarah lives in St. Louis, MO with her two kids, her husband and a family dog and cat.

What Do Sherrinford and Ormond Have in Common? *Hint: It’s Sherlockian*
By Jeri Westerson

I’m Sherlock literate.

That is, I am becoming hyperaware of Sherlockiana in terms of Holmes’ history. And since I write my own pastiche that is Holmes Adjacent, I felt it was important to understand the background of where it all began. After all, in my An Irregular Detective Mystery series that focuses on one of Sherlock Holmes’ former Baker Street Irregulars (those street urchins he hired to be his eyes and ears in London), I consider the Doyle canon of Sherlock short stories and novels to be my “historical documents” on which I base my own series.

So where did it all begin? A Study in Scarlet, of course. Written in 1887 but set in 1881, it was the first Sherlock story ever written. But it might have been much different from what it was.

First off, he dithered about the name of his new hero. He thought he might call him Sherrinford Holmes, a philosopher and collector of rare violins. But since these early manuscripts were handwritten, maybe he thought better of such a long-winded name one would have to scribble over and over again. So he went back to his school days at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire and remembered classmate Patrick Sherlock, and used his name. (There was also the brothers John and Michael Moriarty, whom he remembered as strange boys, though John became attorney general for Ireland. Not quite sure what that says).

The story needed a narrator, he decided, which was the style of Victorian writing at the time. And he settled on the name Ormond Sacker. Ormond? Sacker? But thank goodness he thought better of it and changed the name of his companion to John H. Watson, a doctor of medicine. “Elementary, my dear Sacker” just doesn’t have the same ring (even though the phrase “Elementary, my dear Watson” never shows up in canon).

And like most authors, he even struggled about the title. He first thought was A Tangled Skein, a fairly ordinary effort, truth be told. A Study in Scarlet is more evocative. It’s a title that says “painting” at first, but then what is it that’s scarlet? Is it…blood?

Even Inspector Lestrade (pronounced luh-STRAYED, as reported by Doyle’s granddaughter who remembers how grandpapa pronounced it himself), started off life as Lecoq.

I think it’s helpful to see how successful authors struggled at first with the simplest parts of their famous books. And that their famous first books weren’t actually famous at first at all.

Doyle labored to get it published. He was rejected multiple times. But when it was finally taken up by Beeton’s Christmas Annual in 1887, a publication with several short stories, ads, articles and the like, it was not commercially successful. It took Doyle’s dedication to his characters when he wrote more short stories and finally got them published in The Strand Magazine, that they took off. Let that be a lesson to writers out there. Sometimes, it takes that kind of dedication and a willingness to keep going. And aren’t we glad he did!

You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.

To enter to win an ebook copy of The Misplaced Physician, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “misplaced” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen August 3, 2025. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. Also listen to our new mystery podcast where mystery short stories and first chapters are read by actors! They are also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify.

Jeri Westerson currently writes a Tudor mystery series, the King’s Fool Mysteries with Henry VIII’s real court jester as the sleuth, and An Irregular Detective Mystery series with two young detectives working under the mentorship of Sherlock Holmes with her latest release The Misplaced Physician, when Dr. Watson is kidnapped while Holmes is out of the country, and it’s up to former Baker Street Irregular Tim Badger and his colleague in crime fighting Ben Watson to save the day. See all of Jeri’s novels – paranormals, LGBTQ mysteries, medieval mysteries, and standalones – at JeriWesterson.com

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.