221B Recs

Title: All the Dead Lie Down
Author: blacktofade
Pairing: Holmes/Watson
Length: 30,000 words (for all three parts)
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Character Death, Ghost!Holmes, NSFW artwork within text
Verse: Ritchie Films

Author's summary: The ghost of Sherlock Holmes haunts John Watson and reveals that there is a mystery to be solved. Watson has to figure out how Holmes died and why Holmes has chosen him, of all people, to visit beyond the grave. Written for holmes_big_bang 2010. Artwork by lokeloke

Reccer's comments: In three parts. Link goes to the Masterpost.
shockselectric is the fic LJ for blacktofade, to clear that one up. Note that while this fic deals with character death, it does not really have an unhappy ending. I wouldn't call it "happy" - how could it be - but it won't tear your heart out, either. Also, the artwork is amazing.

This is a long-ish fic, so budget some time, because you won't want to put it down until the end. Blacktablet rachets up the tension right from the very beginning and never lets go of you all the way through.

The story starts with Holmes's death, for which Watson blames himself, and hurtles on from there as Holmes visits Watson in a dream state and Watson progresses from his initial disbelief to the realisation that yes, he is being haunted by Holmes. The dream sequences are plausible, the sex is smoking hot (yes, with a ghost!) and the interlude with Gladstone in the park is a sweet relief in the midst of the action.

Even from beyond the grave, Holmes manages to nudge Watson in the correct direction to solve the mystery of his own death and somehow, although the ending is certainly bittersweet, it manages to be bearable.