The Holmes Affair
by Graham Moore
(Century, R215)
Two gripping murder mysteries in one – separated by more than a century in time, but inextricably linked by relevance to the legendary private detective, Sherlock Holmes, and his creator, Dr Arthur Conan Doyle.
In London in 1893, Doyle has had enough of Sherlock Holmes. More than a little envious that the detective has become a better known and more popular character than his creator, Doyle has Holmes killed in his next adventure.
The reaction in England is dramatic. Doyle is accosted in the streets by angry readers accusing him of murdering their hero detective. He realises that in the mind of readers, Holmes had ceased to be a literary fiction and had become a living person. This merely streng-thens his conviction never to write about Holmes again.
The angry mood against Doyle culminates in his receiving a parcel bomb at his home. From the parcel, and just before the bomb explodes, he retrieves an envelope with a news-paper clipping about the murder of a young woman in a sleazy London tenement building, and the wedding gown that was found in the room with the body.
On the envelope the bomber had written “Elementary” (the word Holmes used to describe the apparent ease of his efforts to his companion, Dr Watson).
Doyle sees this as an obvious challenge from the bomber and concludes that the only way of exposing the perpetrator of the attack against him would be to find the murderer of the girl. He persuades his good friend Bram Stoker, creator of Dracula, to join him in his quest.
In New York in 2010, Alex Cale, a foremost member of the Baker Street Irregulars, the world’s pre-eminent organisation devoted to the study of Sherlock Holmes, announces to the Irregulars that he has found the long-lost and avidly sought diary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and that he will reveal its contents at their next meeting.
On the night of his intended revelation, however, he is found dead in his hotel room. Harold White, a new recruit to the Irregulars, is one of the group who finds Alex’s body.
On inspecting the room, before the arrival of the police, he finds the word “Elementary” scribbled in red (later shown to be Alex’s blood) in a dim corner underneath the writing desk.
Another time, another challenge that Harold accepts with alacrity. His main preoccupation is to find the diary, and he realises that the first step in his search is to solve the mystery of Alex’s death.
His companion in this search is an out-of-work journalist, Sarah Lindsay, who has somehow wormed her way into the restricted company of the Irregulars. Her enthusiasm for the chase stems from motives other than those she is willing to share with Harold.
In their pursuits, Harold and Doyle apply to good effect the tenacity and methodology of deduction made famous by the legendary Holmes. Despite setbacks and changes of fortune, they continue doggedly with their investigations.
Graham Moore employs short, punchy chapters, alternating from one to the next between the two tales. The reader therefore does not lose the thread of the “other” story and as the two histories progress, one becomes aware of the connection between them. A thoroughly enjoyable read. – Conrad Linström