Fic Rec: Murder in the Family

[swissmarg]

Title: Murder in the Family
Author: OTB221B
Pairing: John/Sherlock, John/Mary
Length: 50,374 words
Rating: Mature
Warnings: None
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: Post Season 3, Mary Watson goes missing, and John has been keeping secrets from Sherlock.

Reccer's comments: This is a post-series 3 fic in which Mary's past catches up to her and everyone associated with her when John sets out on a one-man mission to eliminate everyone who poses a threat to his family. One thing I particularly liked about this was that so often in fics, John has a reactive role, but in this, he actually goes out and gets in trouble without Sherlock and that ends up being the catalyst for everything that follows.

The fic is also full of awesome things like Sherlock getting Valentine's Day right, a badass clown/bodyguard, John using his gun the way it was meant to, a mid-story twist that takes us down a completely unforeseen path, Sherlock taking heinous advantage of the situation, and lots and lots of love. The unvarnished kind you see here:

( Excerpt... )

Despite all of that good stuff, it's really quite angsty and involves child endangerment. This fic also contains infidelity, but I thought it treated Mary fairly and redeems her by the end. Although, it's a bittersweet ending. Tissues might be good to have at hand. (No character death.)

Fic rec: The Adventure of the Seal in the Living Room

[dogandmonkeyshow]

Title: The Adventure of the Seal in the Living Room
Author: Bold_as_Brass
Pairing: Gen
Length: 6900 words
Rating: G
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Author's summary: An unexpected visitor to Baker Street leads to an impromptu trip to the seaside.

Reccer's comments: This fic is simply adorable. Not cutesy or fluffy, just downright lovely and good-hearted. Sherlock saves an animal from a burning building, then ropes John and Greg to help him get it to a shelter. While the boys have a fun day at the seaside, the reader gets to enjoy some wonderfully in-character banter, see glimpses of John and Mary coping with new parenthood, and find out what Greg does on his day off. And to top it all, Mycroft saunters in and steals the show in a lovely scene involving an octopus. And possible world domination.

Read the fic here on AO3.