Board Game Review: Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Case 8: The Thames Murders
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 six cases in this collection: The Munitions Magnate, The Tin Soldier, The Mystified Murderess, The Lionized Lions, The Cryptic Corpse, The Mummy’s Curse and The Banker’s Quietus.
The eight case is called The Thames Murders.
The Thames Murders is the case for which the boxset is named, so obviously it is one of the most important cases in the boxset, and one of the best thought-out and complex cases.
Bodies are washing up in the Thames, and the latest one is the reason why Holmes and his Irregulars are asked to solve this case. It is related to the other Thames murders, or is it a stand-alone case with a perhaps even more complex solution? Is Moriarty involved somehow? It’s up to you as Detective to figure this out.
The plot of this case was multi-layered, just the way I like my Holmes cases. It was not easy and straightforward, it had hidden motives, and by the halfway mark, I had more questions than answers, but in the end, with some out-of-the-box sleuthing work, we were able to solve this case. And it feels good to have solved it and get the same answers as Holmes.
It is my favorite case in this boxset, and reminiscent of everything you expect in a case waiting to be solved by Sherlock Holmes.
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.