Fic Rec: The Adventure of the Bridegroom's Photograph

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Title: The Adventure of the Bridegroom's Photograph
Author: spacemutineer
Pairing: Gen
Length: 6547
Rating: G
Warnings: N/A
Verse: ACD books
Author's summary: There is more than one secret to be revealed when a young man comes to Holmes and Watson with a keepsake and a question.

Reccer's comments: This is a submission from Round 6 of acd_holmesfest, and I was rather surprised when the author stated in her original notes that this was her first attempt at a case fic. It is so assured, and absolutely gripping. What begins as the case of a young man worried about his origins then weaves in aspects of a real life historical mystery before eventually giving us a satisfying solution.

The author has caught ACD’s style while putting her own stamp on it. The characterisations of Holmes and Watson are bang on, and I love the way their friendship is portrayed: Watson both appreciative of the “strange, sweet respite of chaos” that Holmes gives to him and amusingly irritated by it at one point (though with very good reason). And I love the fact that when Holmes has the solution to the mystery, he then looks to Watson for advice on what to do with that information—which leads on to a rather touching ending.