The thing is that I hate reading Sherlock Holmes stories when Dr. Watson is so stupid that I want to take my iPad and throw it away. And, in this one he was Nigel Bruce stupid. Ever seen the old Sherlock Holmes movies with Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes? He is brilliant as Sherlock Holmes, Unfortunately Nigel Bruce is awful as Dr. Watson. Incompetent and stupid. And, this book really made Watson out to be a fool.

I found the story in the beginning to be interesting as the three people that are killed are linked to three Sherlock Holmes cases. But then both Lestrade and Watson seem to think that Sherlock Holmes is behind it. Come one? Lestrade I can believe, but Watson thinking that? Idiot. The whole book, and it was not a thick book was just not that interesting to read. The story never really got interesting. The German threat felt reused and everything was so simple. And, the ending when the real culprit was revealed was a letdown.
A book that just not was for me. I didn't find the story entertaining or engaging and it's not hard for Mycroft and Sherlock to seem clever when everyone else is stupid.

 

I received this copy from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review! Thank you!

Ironically, in his spare time—heaven knows where he finds it!—he acts as a consulting detective and has been kind enough to say that he uses as his model a certain practitioner in Baker Street. I have warned him that if he follows my example any more closely, he will end up as the hero of some cosy detective stories written by some middle-aged lady with literary pretensions in which he uses his limited English and his little grey cells to solve some exotic conundrum. What a fate!

This is probably the biggest disappointment among the Barry Day Sherlock Holmes pastiches that I have read.

There is a string of murders being committed in which someone is mimicking old Sherlock Homes case files in an attempt to frame him for the murders. But, all of it is just the tip of the iceberg for some deeper reaching international intrigue.

I could never quite figure out why it was so important for the antagonists to draw Holmes into their plan. The overall mystery was never much of one and it is resolved with a third of the book still to go. The remainder of the book is left to allow the underlying plot to wind down. That's when it really starts to disappoint.

So many new characters are added that it becomes a muddle. And worse, none of the new characters are who you think they are. The author goes to the well too often with characters in disguise to the point that it gets to the absurd levels of the Mission Impossible movies. "Ha ha ha, I've solved the crime." "Oh no you haven't, let me rip off this mask and show you who I really am!" It got ridiculous.

2 STARS...based on a good idea that was just poorly executed.