Elementary!

Do you like a good crime plot, to closely follow the investigation, to pay attention to the clues,to discover where the incoherence lies, to anticipate the protagonists? Are you prepared to read cases, hear testimonies, record facts? Have you ever dreamed of being Sherlock Holmes or his faithful companion, Dr. Watson?

If you answered yes to all the above, then it is very likely that you will enjoy bringing to life the cases present in Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective – The Thames Murders & other cases!

This game, designed by Gary Grady, Suzanne Goldberg and Raymond Edwards, superbly illustrated by Pascal Quidault, Arnaud Demaegd, Nerlac and Bernard Bitler, in an edition of Space Cowboys, France, reinvents, in some way, the adventure game books, in which the story unfolds according to the actions we choose, jumping from one paragraph to another.

London. March 12th, 1988. A body is found. The investigation begins.

We won't be Sherlock! But he's the one who calls us in, introduces us to the case and sends us on a mission.

We're one of the Baker Street Irregulars. Street people who live by the shadows, watching and listening, helping the most famous detective.

The first information about the case, the circumstances of death, the first reports, people to contact in search for relevant information.

On the table, the map of London, full of places that may prove important, or to lead us into dead (no pun intended) ends.

The newspapers of the previous days, filled with current news, social events, births, marriages and deaths, the economy, the sport, the arts, the international scene, the trivia, the classifieds.

Will they enable us to gather clues, names, new knowledge? Will they allow to confirm, or to dismiss, alibis? Will they lead to unsuspected motives? Or are they just irrelevant to the case?

The London Directory, with the alphabetical list of people, institutions and addresses.

Musgrove, Lord Gordon, 79 NW, the same as saying 79 northwest.

Winchester Arms Co, 21 EC, East Central, under Gunsmiths.

Addresses to search for in the map.
Map to reveal new addresses.
Distance and time to be measured.

The Thames River, the Parliament, the American Embassy, the New Scotland Yard.
Regent Street, New Oxford Street, High Holborn.

Familiar names to anyone who's been there before.
Names that will become familiar throughout the history, in this London of some 230 years ago.

The game play is simple: choose a location, based on the available information, to visit or to interview someone; Find the matching paragraph in the book of the case; Read the new information; Reflect upon it and repeat the process.

It is important to know that we can always rely on some important characters, such as Sir Jasper Meeks, the coroner of Saint Bartholomew's Hospital, Porky Shinwell, the owner of the Raven and Rat Pub, Langdale Pike, social columnist, or Holmes himself, among others.

In the end, we compare our deductive reasoning, and the result obtained, with the master's very own solution. Will it be close enough?

The experience began in solo mode, but it will undoubtedly be more fun with two or three more detectives around, exchanging opinions, discussing what to do, formulating hypotheses.

And after a case is solved, which will probably need a good couple of hours, there are nine more on the line! And after solving all of them, how about becoming a narrator for a new group of players?

An excellent game to read, to discover while reading, while talking over.

Night falls over London.