The Return of the Pharaoh
From the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D.
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- £8.99
Publisher Description
In Nicholas Meyer's The Return of the Pharaoh, Sherlock Holmes returns in an adventure that takes him to Egypt in search of a missing nobleman, a previously undiscovered pharaoh's tomb, and a conspiracy that threatens his very life.
With his international bestseller, The Seven Per Cent Solution, Nicholas Meyer brought to light a previously unpublished case of Sherlock Holmes that reinvigorated the world's interest in the first consulting detective. Now, many years later, Meyer is given exclusive access to Dr. Watson's unpublished journal, wherein he details a previously unknown case.
In 1910, Dr. John Watson travels to Egypt with his wife Juliet. Her tuberculosis has returned and her doctor recommends a stay at a sanitarium in a dry climate. But while his wife undergoes treatment, Dr. Watson bumps into an old friend--Sherlock Holmes, in disguise and on a case. An English Duke with a penchant for egyptology has disappeared, leading to enquiries from his wife and the Home Office.
Holmes has discovered that the missing duke has indeed vanished from his lavish rooms in Cairo and that he was on the trail of a previous undiscovered and unopened tomb. And that he's only the latest Egyptologist to die or disappear under odd circumstances. With the help of Howard Carter, Holmes and Watson are on the trail of something much bigger, more important, and more sinister than an errant lord.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In 1910, tuberculosis threatens the life of Dr. Watson's wife, Juliet, in bestseller Meyer's disappointing fifth Sherlock Holmes pastiche (after 2019's The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols). Following medical advice, the Watsons travel to Cairo so that Juliet can be treated at a sanitorium in a drier climate. During a visit to a bar, Watson encounters Holmes, who's in the city investigating the disappearance of the Duke of Uxbridge. The nobleman, an Egyptologist in search of treasure stored in a pharaoh's unopened tomb, hasn't been in contact with his wife for months, and there's no sign of him at the hotel where he normally stays during his annual visits to Cairo. The ensuing inquiry, which the doctor eagerly joins in, soon becomes a murder investigation. The routine plot culminates in an action-packed climax out of an Indiana Jones movie, the mystery element is minimal, and Meyer touches on no larger themes as he's done in the past. Fans of the author's creative reimaginings of Conan Doyle's characters will hope for a return to form next time.
