Three May Keep A Secret - A Sherlock Holmes Adventure
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- CHF 11.00
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- CHF 11.00
Beschreibung des Verlags
When a meeting with a client goes disastrously wrong, Sherlock Holmes soon finds himself involved in a case of murder with two dead bodies and too few clues. From some clear pieces of glass and a raven's feather, the Great Detective must divine exactly who the client was and what prompted him to seek assistance at 221B. Fortunately, Holmes has a number of experts upon whom he can rely as well as his own vast store of esoteric knowledge. Treading a twisted path, Holmes soon finds himself matching wits with an unseen criminal, who appears to be the equal of the late Professor Moriarty. At the same time, he is tasked with sparing the monarchy any possible embarrassment that may stem from the investigation. It's a deadly game of cat-and-mouse that finds Holmes and Watson attending underground auctions, using rare and priceless artefacts as bait and holding a late night vigil in anticipation of deterring a theft, all the while trying to understand how a priceless antiquity fits into their investigation. Like his previous books, Richard T. Ryan's Three May Keep a Secret is a deft blend of history and mystery, interweaving real-life personalities and ancient artefacts with the gas-lit streets of Victorian England and the characters of the Canon. The end result is a pastiche that should appeal to anyone who appreciates a tangled skein spiced with a healthy dollop of suspense and intrigue.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At the start of Ryan's solid sixth Sherlock Holmes adventure (after 2020's Through a Glass Starkly), Holmes is irked to get a note from a stranger, Ralph Prescott, imperiously announcing that he will be at Baker Street that afternoon and expects the detective to be available. Instead, Holmes takes Watson shopping, but when the pair return they find Prescott dead in their sitting room of what appears to be strychnine poisoning, based on the victim's contorted facial muscles. The clientless murder inquiry leads to a probe of possibly widespread art fraud that threatens the reputation of the South Kensington Museum just as it's about to be renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum as a tribute to the monarch and her late husband. The warmth of the Holmes-Watson friendship makes up for some weak spots, such as Holmes's reference to Lestrade as a "culture maven" and his deduction that a visitor from out-of-town must be in London for the first time based on the man's clothing. Still, the book's strengths, including the imaginative setup, make Ryan's taking up Conan Doyle's mantle again welcome. Fans of traditional pastiches will enjoy this.