Board Game Review: Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Case 3: The Mystified Murderess

Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective is a solo or co-op board game that is ideally played by 1-4 players. It takes place in Victorian London (the 1880s-1890s) and you are trying to solve mysteries alongside Sherlock Holmes and his faithful companion, Dr. Watson. The goal is supposedly to beat Holmes – solve the mystery with fewer clues than he does – but the real fun is if you follow all the clues, and get a picture of the entire mystery, including the parts Holmes doesn’t touch upon.

I previously reviewed the first case in this collection: The Munitions Magnate, and the second case: The Tin Soldier.

The third case is called The Mystified Murderess.

This is arguably the worst case in the collection, judging by reviews I have read online. At the moment of writing, I haven’t finished all cases in the collection yet, so I can’t say for sure, but this was definitely my least favorite of the seven cases I’ve played and reviewed so far.

At Halliday Hotel, a man named Guy Clarendon was found murdered. Miss Frances Nolan has been charged with the crime and is currently detained at Old Bailey. Gerald Locke has requested the aid of Sherlock Holmes, the world’s greatest detective, in order to solve this crime, as he is convinced Miss Frances Nolan is innocent, despite evidence pointing to the contrary. It’s up to you to figure out who really killed Guy Clarendon; Miss Nolan, or someone else…

In this case, the title of the case already insinuated a lot about how the case would turn out, which was a bit disappointing. Holmes, in his solution, jumped to conclusions as usual, but there is never really any solid evidence presented for the outcome of the case. Even when visiting all the leads, like we did when playing since we were still not entirely convinced of the potential culprit, the evidence is circumstantial at best. The eventual culprit has no real motivation for committing the murder, at least not a sufficient motive, in our opinion, and evidence actually points to another suspect – one who apparently, in the original version of the game, actually was the murderer!

Some people recommend to skip this game, but I don’t recommend to skip it: you might miss out on information that could be useful in other cases. I think it’s best to give the case a shot anyway, but keep in mind that it’s not a very spectacular or even logical case.

If you like Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, then I recommend…

A Study in Shifters (The Adventures of Marisol Holmes Book 1)

“The game is afoot.”

Seventeen-year-old Marisol Holmes wants to live up to the family legacy; after all, she is the great-great-great granddaughter of Sherlock Holmes. What’s more Holmesian than a grisly murder? The Conclave, an underground organization of detectives solving supernatural cases, is giving her just one chance to catch a killer and join them. After all, as a half-blood jaguar shifter, Marisol is uniquely qualified to solve this murder—since every scrap of evidence points toward the culprit being a fellow jaguar shifter.

“There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.”

There’s more to this than just evidence. Is one of her own people really involved, or is this all a ploy to kick Marisol’s mother off the shifter throne?

When Marisol discovers her handsome best friend, Roan, is missing, she realizes Roan may be the killer’s next target. The stakes just got higher than political intrigue.

“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

Just when things couldn’t get worse, Marisol’s ex-boyfriend-turned-nemesis, Mannix, starts leaving sinister clues for her. In her last case, Mannix broke her heart and ruined her case, and Marisol isn’t sure which is worse. Marisol fears this case too might be far more personal than she could’ve imagined.

“Elementary.”

It’s time for Marisol to prove her worth, or her people could fall into chaos while her best friend loses his life.

This book is perfect for fans of: shapeshifters, steampunk, paranormal, high school drama, teen romance, Sherlock Holmes and deadly intrigue.

Purchase from Amazon.