Price: $1.99 Score: 8/10 Category: Books
Sherlock Holmes for the iPad is an iPad app developed by GUTENBERGZ INC. This version of the classic Sherlock tales comes complete with original art and music, plus secrets on every page!
The art in Sherlock Holmes for the iPad a bit like Guztav Klimt and Edward Gorey had a love child: it’s not what I see in my head when I read Sherlock Holmes, but it totally works, and makes the app stand out from the other Holmes apps available for the iPad. Still, the original Sidney Paget illustrations will always be number one in my heart.
There are five stories in all, spanning 100 pages. Each page contains an interactive element of some kind, whether it’s a beautiful woman whom you need to unveil, or a man who needs to be examined more closely under a magnifying glass.
One thing I didn’t like was the use of European-style punctuation, particularly as it related to how lines of dialogue were presented. Rather than quotation marks, hyphens are used. Worse, it is used inconsistently in combination with American quote marks in some instances. It would have been nice if there was an option to select European or American-style punctuation for quotes, simply for ease of reading.
There are only five Holmes stories included in Sherlock Holmes for the iPad: The Five Orange Pips, The Red-Headed League, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet, and The Adventure of the Speckled Band. For those of you keeping track at home, that’s only five stories, out of 56 short stories (and 4 novels!) It would be nice if there were more stories included in this app.
If you want your Sherlock Holmes to be delivered to you with a unique visual experience (including interactive elements,) this is the app for you. If you want a more complete Holmes catalogue, however, look elsewhere.
Sherlock Holmes for the iPad is compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.