Description: A decade before his death, Dr. Watson let it be known that with his passing he wished his nephew, Christopher Henry Watson MD, to be the executor of his will and guardian of all his personal and pecuniary affairs. One of the tasks he sanctioned was that his nephew should use his discretion in selecting for publication some of the three dozen or so cases involving Holmes and Watson which had not already seen the light of day. The six stories in this new volume are more overlooked gems. From the seemingly supernatural challenge of The Neckar Reawakening to the seasonal conundrum of The Yuletide Heist, there is, as ever, much to entertain and enthral us. As before, all of these tales are designed to contribute in some small part to the lasting memory of two extraordinary men who once occupied that setting we have come to know and love as 221B Baker Street. Once more, 'The game is afoot!' -- Back cover.
Review Quotes:
Mower ably emulates Conan Doyle in his solid fifth pastiche collection (after 2021's Sherlock Holmes-The Baker Street Epilogue). Two of the six stories stand out as worthy of the best pasticheurs. In "The Neckar Reawakening," the detective travels to Sussex after a 15-year-old maid is found drowned in a pond. The chief constable suspects foul play, as six months earlier a young woman died in the same place and the same way, wearing a similar necklace with a mermaid charm attached. That fatality was ruled a suicide despite the coroner's unusual choice not to conduct a postmortem, and the locals link the deaths to the legend of a water monster known as the Neckar. "The Misadventure of the Norfolk Poacher," in which a former Baker Street Irregular is charged with killing a poacher, highlights Holmes's deductive reasoning grounded in an observation of subtle clues. On the other hand, "A Diplomatic Affair," centered on Holmes's decoding of a newspaper ad suggesting a threat to the prime minister, and "The Case of the SS Bokhara," set when Watson believed Holmes had perished at Reichenbach, fall short of the promise of their openings. Pastiche fans will welcome more from Mower. - Publishers Weekly