The Adventures of Mary Darling by Pat Murphy
Rating: 3.75/5 stars

First Impressions:
The Adventures of Mary Darling is a fun and adventurous reimagining of Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes, blending historical fiction with classic literary characters in a fresh and subversive way. With familiar faces taking on new roles, the story brings a unique twist to well-known tales, making for an engaging and unpredictable read.

Plot & Pacing:
The story is full of twists and turns, taking readers on a thrilling journey across the world. The fresh take on these beloved characters works wonderfully in some cases, but in others, certain well-known figures felt like they got the short end of the stick. While the adventure was enjoyable, I sometimes wished for a bit more depth, as there were a lot of moving parts, and I was left with quite a few unanswered questions by the end.

Writing Style:
The writing is fun, engaging, and—importantly for me as a dyslexic reader—easy to follow. However, I did struggle with certain stylistic choices. The frequent breaking of the fourth wall and info dumps occasionally felt too heavy-handed, making it harder to stay immersed in the story. Perspective shifts and jumps between POVs within the same chapter sometimes took me out of the moment and required extra effort to get back into the flow.

Characters:
Mary was a fantastic protagonist—bold, resourceful, and fun to follow. Watson was another standout, bringing warmth and familiarity to the story. The other characters were a mix of hits and misses; some felt wonderfully reimagined, while others didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

Final Thoughts:
Overall, The Adventures of Mary Darling is a fun, adventurous read that offers unique twists on well-known characters and stories. While the narrative structure and pacing had some challenges, the creative reimagining and engaging writing style make it a worthwhile read for fans of literary retellings.

I had the wonderful opportunity to read this book as an ARC reader through NetGalley, for which I want to express my gratitude! This review is my honest and voluntary opinion, and I am thrilled to share my thoughts.

I received this arc from NetGalley and Tachyon Publications. This book is a kind of retelling of Peter Pan that focuses on Mary Darling’s journey to find her children after they are taken to Neverland by Peter Pan. One thing I really liked about this book is that Sherlock Holmes also played a part in this story. Dr Watson is Mary Darling’s uncle and raised her after her parent’s both passed away. Throughout the story, it's revealed that both Mary and George Darling spent some time in Neverland as children, and it’s actually how they originally met. When Nana alerts George and Mary that something is wrong with the children, they rush home only to find that Wendy, Michael, and John are all missing. Mary sees the open window and immediately knows that Peter Pan has taken her children to Neverland. From there she forms a plan to return to Neverland to bring her children home. While Mary is trying to do everything she can to find her children, Sherlock Holmes is investigating the case and his theory is that Mary is behind the children’s disappearance. On her journey she has to reunite with people from her past including the pirate, Captain Hook! Overall, I really enjoyed this book and rated it 4 stars! If you like the story of Peter Pan, the Lost Boys, and Neverland or if you are a Sherlock Holmes fan, then you will definitely want to check out this book when it releases on May 6th!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for the opportunity to read The Adventures of Mary Darling by Pat Murphy in exchange for my honest review.

The Adventures of Mary Darling is an imaginative retelling that brings together the worlds of Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes. The story follows Mary Darling on a desperate search for her three children after they mysteriously vanish from their beds.

While the premise was really compelling, the execution didn’t always hit the mark. The beginning felt a bit slow and disjointed, taking longer than I expected for the adventure to pick up, making it harder to stay fully immersed in the story.

It’s also worth noting that if you’re picking this up for Sherlock Holmes, you might be a little disappointed—he’s more of a side character, while John Watson plays a much bigger role. Personally, that didn’t bother me, but it’s good to know going in! A few other side characters (Sam and Ruby) add richness and depth to the story.

The pacing was a challenge. While Mary’s journey and interactions with the fascinating supporting cast—were really engaging, the ending felt rushed. After so much buildup, the final confrontation didn’t quite land the way I hoped, and some character arcs felt unresolved. George’s actions early on definitely deserved bigger consequences, so his resolution felt a little underwhelming.

That said, The Adventures of Mary Darling offers a unique and creative take on classic stories. While the pacing and some of the connections weren’t always seamless, the novel shines when it focuses on Mary’s adventure and the beautifully researched world around her. If you love historical reinterpretations and feminist adventure stories, this is still a journey worth taking!

Thank you to the publisher for this advanced reader copy! This one wasn't the right fit for me for my mood reading during this time.

I'm sucker for a Peter Pan retelling that surpassingly not about Peter Pan. So when I saw this one and it's from Mary Darling Wendy's mother's point of view I knew that I had to read it. And I'm glad I did because I loved it. As a teen and adult I've always wondered what Mary was feeling and thinking with her children missing and this author's take is spot on.

This enthralling tale set in the world of Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes tells of the globe spanning adventures of Mary Darling who will go to any lengths to rescue her three children who were kidnapped from their London upstairs bedroom. She has skills no one would expect of a proper early 20th century mother as well as diverse friends. Unputdownable and quite possibly the best, most entertaining book of the year.

This was a really fun read, and it continually kept me on my toes as Neverland seeped through all of these characters!

I was intrigued when I heard that this is the story of Mary Darling (Wendy, John, and Michael's mother). It takes place when the children go to Neverland with Peter, but we stay in London with Mary as she sets out on a journey not only to find her children, but to find herself as well. I felt that Victorian England was the perfect backdrop to explore women's roles in society and it felt very seamlessly woven in rather than feeling like an in-your-face-feminist book. I liked the added layer of Mary's uncle being John Watson (which allows Sherlock Holmes to enter the investigation of the missing children, determined to find a logical reason for their disappearance that doesn't involve magical worlds). The writing style was entertaining - very self aware of the story this is telling - and overall I had a really fun time getting to explore all the characters and their backstories! I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for Pat Murphy's work now that she's on my radar!

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is an incredibly intelligent and crossover. Even though aspects of it bothered me, it was overall an excellent read..

The combination of Sherlock Holmes and Peter Pan is unique and well-done. Mary Darling is a great heroine who will go to the ends of the Earth to save her children, and the story has some unforgettable new characters as well such as Sam Smalls and Ruby. The critique of Sherlock Holmes is pretty unforgiving but mostly true to his character, while the portrayal of Peter Pan as a villain flips the traditional Captain Hook story on its head a la Wicked.

Still, this wasn’t quite a five-star read for me. It was sometimes too far-fetched even for a fantasy story (George Darling in a dog kennel? Everyone has a secret past and they’re ALL connected?). Additionally, the breakings of the fourth wall/info dumps were sometimes too heavy-handed, with big perspective shifts. I also felt the book’s portrayal of prostitution was too rosy. Yet I enjoyed learning more about history, and this story’s heart is in the right place with its postcolonial and feminist aims.

Even knowing how the story would end, I didn’t want to put this book down because it was that compelling.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tachyon for the free eARC. I post this review with my honest opinions. This review is cross-posted on Goodreads and will be posted on Amazon upon the book’s publication.

Content notes: kidnapped children, mentions of death (including the deaths of children) and genocide, sword fights and violence, mentions of brothels and prostitution, mentions of cruelty in the guise of mental health treatment, a man who dresses as a woman bathes naked near an unrelated girl who is also bathing (which is creepy regardless of what gender the man identifies as)

The Peter Pan/Sherlock Holmes mash-up I didn't know I needed.

I'm a big fan of taking old stories - especially well-loved ones - and either putting women in, or re-telling the women's stories to give them more agency, or just flat-out actually making them a character rather than sexy (or maternal) lampshades. Here, Murphy gives life to Mary Darling: wife to George, mother to Wendy, John, and Michael - and previous inhabitant of Neverland, courtesy of Peter Pan. She grew up in Cooktown, Qld; is the niece of Dr John Watson; and is generally awesome.

The story is partly Mary's story, as she goes off to find her own children - recognising all the signs, as she does, of a Peter Pan abduction - and partly Watson's story, as he (along with Holmes) follow in Mary's wake to try and find Neverland. Along the way there are adventures, including other Victorian lady adventurers, and brothel-keepers, and several pirates. There's also flashbacks to Mary's childhood, as well as to the experiences of various members of the party: Sam, a South-Sea Islander friend from Mary's childhood; some of the pirates; the people who become known as Princess Tiger-Lily and her family; and George Darling himself.

Murphy has made Barrie's (and Conan Doyle's) much richer by restoring the women and people of colour who would really have existed in London, let alone the rest of the world, to the story. She's also written a zippy tale of adventure and family and identity that kept me completely enthralled.

Holmes does not come out of this story very well. Nor does Peter Pan. I was naturally reminded of AC Wise's Wendy, Darling, which is a very different book but likewise asks questions about exactly who, or what, Peter Pan could possibly be.

This was brilliant. Loved all of it.

I am a huge fan of twisted fairytales, and I love it even more when protagonists who are objectively not great people (good characters sometimes, but not necessarily good people) aren't depicted as heroes in the retelling. I also really like it when the 'hidden' part of the story is explored, like Mary Darling and how she would have dealt with the disappearance of her children. Pat Murphy does a great job of bringing to the forefront of the story characters that were (or could have been) in the background of the story but ignored in favor of Peter as the hero. I enjoyed this book immensely.

some of the connections were fun, some were a little farfetched and some were kinda pretentious
unique retelling of two famous works and overall a quick little classic children literary jaunt

As warm and nostalgic as Cocoa with your Grandmother and as exciting as your first road trip with friends.

I adored this book. Mary Darling is my new hero and I actually want more of her adventures. It often put me in mind of the Goonies, adventures are all very well and good in theory, but in reality are cold, wet, hungry and far more uncomfortable than you think. The myth of Peter Pan is also far darker then Disney led us to believe. Adding Sherlock into the mix made me nervous because he is also a beloved character from my literary life and I was concerned that he would be some kind of Pink Patheresque fool that would change my perception of him, but Murphy did a wonderful job of staying true to Conan Doyle's most beloved (and loathed if rumours are to be believed) character while bringing a new insight and depth to both Watson and Holmes that was both brilliant and believable.

Sam is a wonderful character whom I would love to know more about and the author handled the sensitive cultural and political aspects of BIPOC characters quite well without glossing over or shying away from uncomfortable truths. Every character was well developed and 3 dimensional and so well realised that I found myself wanting to travel their paths as well, my hope is the author plans to pave some of those paths in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley, Tachyon Publishing and Pat Murphy for providing me with a free copy of this book. The views above are entirely my own and freely given.

In theory, a Sherlock Holmes x Peter Pan crossover should be incredible. I should be excited to open the book/my ereader every time I continue reading it. I should love Mary Darling.

Unfortunately, I don't. This book feels unedited at points, and somehow repetitive without lines or plot points being repeated over and over. In general, just a slog to read through, which is why I dnf-ed it at 37%. I didn't care for the entire Sherlock Holmes-part of the novel up until that point, and the Mary/Marty-portion of it came very short so far.


@NetGalley and Tachyon Publications: Thank you guys for the ARC!

My first book of the year and it was a great start I devoured this in two days. Who is Peter Pan? What is Peter Pan? Nobody ever questioned the existence or being that is Peter Pan. This story goes into the adventures of Mary Darling the mother of Wendy, John and Michael Darling who are whisked off to Neverland by Peter Pan in the novels. Their mother Mary had her own past with Peter and this is her story. We also get Dr. John Watson and Sherlock Holmes in this novel which always makes me happy. I was swept away and every bit of this story was enjoyable from beginning to end.

Adored! Such a fun reimagining. I was pulled in from the first page to the last. I love a historical mystery, and this did not disappoint. I especially liked reading a POV of an older woman and mother (being a mother myself). Completely refreshing.

Lois Johnston
36 reviews
January 3, 2025
I really enjoyed this book, I had received this book as an advanced reading copy and am really happy I did. It had all the right things to catch and keep my attention. Mystery, fantasy and an excellent plot. From the first page to the last page it was a great read

Think Sherlock Holmes + Peter Pan, with brave mother Mary Darling leading the investigation into her missing children. Mary is a heroine for the Victorian ages while Sherlock plays second fiddle because he's just not up to her sleuthing excellence. Such fun!

2,5 stars
I was very excited for the premise of this book, but unfortunately the excecution fell a little flat for me. The story really excelled when we got to follow Mary on her journey, and it is very obvious that the author has done a ton of research to flesh out the world.
But for me the start dragged a lot. Connecting the story of Peter Pan with Sherlock Holmes did not work for me, and all of the random connections between many of the characters felt a bit forced. I was past the 100 page mark before I really felt like I was getting the story I was hoping for, and I would have loved to spend more time in this part of the story, because I really liked to read about this version of Neverland.
As for the language, I much prefer it when more is left up to the readers interpretation and not spelled out. The description of Sherlock Holmes´ actions should be enough for you to understand his character without the author having to explain it to us as well, and a few of the info dumps about victorian society felt unecessary and like an unmotivated breaking of the fourth wall.

Wonderful twist on the original story. Loved the ideas, as well as the historical items tied into the piece. Self defense classes for women have been around for a long time. Too bad we need them!

Here's a Victorian mix of the worlds of Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes, with a feminist perspective. The heroine here is Mary Darling, who is the niece of Dr. Watson in this pastiche. Her three children have been abducted from under the nose of their canine nanny, and of course she must seek them. The tropes are set on their heads as Sherlock is not very bright, Mary is savvy, and she recruits many of the female characters of various backgrounds to aid her along the way.

I enjoyed the book, and think it will be a bit of a tongue-in-cheek romp for people used to seeing a bit of the period patriarchy subverted. Generally light reading, but a little heavy-handed sometimes.