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potted_music at 02:56pm on 20/12/2012
potted_music at 02:56pm on 20/12/2012"The Bone Fiddle" by htebazytook and Vulgarweed (Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, casefic, NC-17)
Appalachian AU! In November 1973, Vietnam vet John Watson returns to his family's old home in Arthel County, West Virginia, deep in coal country. His low expectations include recuperation and boredom. Instead he finds a ruined landscape, a series of grisly murders, and one of the world's weirdest neighbors.
I know nothing of the region this fic is set in (neither the actual place nor its literary reputation), yet it felt wonderfully alive in this story: the place functions as one of the protagonists, if not actually the main character. While the case is on the more developed side of the ff murder mysteries, it is still rather perfunctory, but, regardless, it shows how well the whole SH premise could have worked in a small town (way better than in a contemporary megapolis, imho, where it takes some serious suspension of disbelief); also, it provides opportunities for the rationality to meet folklore, and stuff (and my favourite ACD stories were always the ones that played on this: Baskerville, Speckled Band, etc.).
Anyway, the fic has wonderful descriptions (Sherlock's front yard "looked like a gang of marauding Amish had looted NASA"), smart details (John switches dialects depending on who he's talking to!), and Sherlock driving a hearse: how awesome is that?
Highly recommend.
Appalachian AU! In November 1973, Vietnam vet John Watson returns to his family's old home in Arthel County, West Virginia, deep in coal country. His low expectations include recuperation and boredom. Instead he finds a ruined landscape, a series of grisly murders, and one of the world's weirdest neighbors.
I know nothing of the region this fic is set in (neither the actual place nor its literary reputation), yet it felt wonderfully alive in this story: the place functions as one of the protagonists, if not actually the main character. While the case is on the more developed side of the ff murder mysteries, it is still rather perfunctory, but, regardless, it shows how well the whole SH premise could have worked in a small town (way better than in a contemporary megapolis, imho, where it takes some serious suspension of disbelief); also, it provides opportunities for the rationality to meet folklore, and stuff (and my favourite ACD stories were always the ones that played on this: Baskerville, Speckled Band, etc.).
Anyway, the fic has wonderful descriptions (Sherlock's front yard "looked like a gang of marauding Amish had looted NASA"), smart details (John switches dialects depending on who he's talking to!), and Sherlock driving a hearse: how awesome is that?
Highly recommend.