Many people enjoy Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories about the famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, and his friend, Dr Watson. But who know remember that Holmes and Watson were real people? Everyone has forgotten that they lived before Conan Doyle gave them life in his book.
Dr Watson died in 1926. He was seventy-three. He left behind him a locked box, and order that it must not opened for fifty years. For fifty years the box lay hidden in a dark room below a bank. Years came and went, and the world changed in a thousand ways.
In 1976 the box was opened. It contained a packed of papers. They tell a terrible story. Some people say it cannot be true. They say Watson was lying, or that he was sick when he wrote it. After so many years we cannot be sure. We have checked all the facts that we can. All we know is that the story could be true. It is possible. We think it is probable. Now you must read it and decide for yourself.
The Editors.
I understand why this Sherlock Holmes novel is controversial among, even hated by some Holmes fans, who are used to one interpretation of the detective, but I found it to be fascinating and very well rooted in the canonical “Holmesian” texts. It’s sophisticated (and darkly Gothic) psychological look not only at Holmes (who I found to be poignantly redeemed at the end, contrary to what I'd expected from other reviews) but also at the wonderful Dr. Watson who kept me very interested.
I thought the "Holmes and Watson were real people, and Arthur Conan Doyle intentionally 'fictionalized' them" approach was well realized. Whether or not you accept this interpretation of Holmes, I think it's clear this work is both carefully and lovingly crafted with sincere attention to canonical detail. It's not my absolute favorite pastiche to date, but it's a very important and compelling one, and I'm very glad I’ve read it.
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