Murder By Decree by Robert Weverka (1979) Post 3

Murder By Decree,

novelization by Robert Weverka,

screenplay by John Hopkins

I think it’s fairly safe to say that the single historical event that is played out most often, again and again and again, by Sherlock Holmes pastiche writers is nothing less than the Whitechapel murders of 1888—Jack the Ripper. Doing a quick check online, I’ve found 12 that fall into this category. I am certain I could find others as well if I wanted to devote more time to the project, but I ‘m pretty sure that listing these 12 goes a long way to prove my point.


•            A Study in Terror, novelization by Ellery Queen and Paul W. Fairman, screenplay by Derek Ford and Donald Ford (1966)

•            Murder By Decree, novelization by Robert Weverka, screenplay by John Hopkins (1979)

•            An East Wind Coming by Arthur Byron Cover (1979)

•            The Last Sherlock Holmes Story by Michael Dibdin (1987)

•            The Whitechapel Horrors by Edward B. Hanna (1993)

•            Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson by Lyndsay Faye (2009)

•            Whitechapel: The Final Stand of Sherlock Holmes by Bernard Schaffer (2011)

•            Sherlock Holmes and the Whitechapel Vampire by Dean Turnbloom (2012)

•            Jack The Ripper: Newly Discovered Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Holy Ghost Writer (2014)

•            Sherlock Holmes and the Autumn of Terror by Randy Williams (2016)

•            The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Ripper Legacy by David Stuart Davies (2016)

•            Sherlock Holmes and the Whitechapel Murders: An Account of the Matter, by John Watson M.D. by Mark Sohn (2017)

            It appears that the first two “novels” within this category began as films with the screenplay “novelized” to be ready to sell when the film was released. My attention here is focused on the second novelization, Murder By Decree, which followed A Study in Terror by 13 years.

            I have selected the novelization of Murder By Decree as the third book of my new blog—“Ruminations on Sherlockian Books”—for the dual reason that first, in my opinion, it is an outstanding novelization—one of the best I’ve read (at all times maintaining the conceit or illusion that I am actually in the presence of the doctor and the consulting detective, which is no easy task.) Also, if one thinks of all these books as pre- and post-The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, as far as I can tell, Murder By Decree appears to be the first Ripper/Holmes mash up after 1974’s The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, being released in April 1979, while An East Wind Coming was released in November 1979. I view Murder By Decree as important because it was written soon enough after Nicholas Meyer’s The Seven-Per-Cent Solution that it can legitimately be considered the first Holmes/Ripper book to be part of the ensuing flood of knock-offs that followed Meyer’s hit novel.

            The credited novelization author is Robert Weverka; it turns out he novelized a great many films and TV series during the 1970s, including the Academy Award winning The Sting, The Circle of Iron, The Waltons, and The Magic of Lassie. Of course, the movie and the book don't match perfectly. There are many scenes that have changed during the translation from screenplay to novel. Another point I admire is that most of the novelization text seems to feature more of Robert Weverka than of Hopkins by a 2 to 1 ratio. Or, it may be that the final film was dramatically cut, leaving screenplay pages on the floor.

            I have never read or viewed A Study in Terror, but everything I‘ve read about it indicates that it and Murder By Decree have similar plots, namely that Jack the Ripper in actuality was some manifestation of the British government at the time.

            Lastly, I did have one complaint about the novel when compared to the film:  whereas James Mason as Watson in the film was exceptional, and the filmmakers throughout the film clearly went out of their way to portray Watson as elegant, brave and loyal, in the novelization Watson is consistently portrayed as a dolt.

Next up:  The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Ken Greenwald (1989) - Post 4