Changes

In the London of World War One , there is a man amongst the masses cowering from the nightly Zeppelin raids who knows death a lot more than many. He is grieving for his nephew, lost to the killing fields of France; he is pining for his wife, evacuated to the country; and he is both grieving and pining for a past where he was more active, more demonstrably brave and verifiably useful – a past whose main constituent part has also gone to the countryside, to be a beekeeper near Brighton. That man is Dr Watson, and the other, of course, is Sherlock Holmes. Here they're reunited at the behest of Mycroft, for three individual deaths provide a thorn in the side of his secret operations, and only Holmes can pluck it out with his singular talents. But when the evidence in the case so often revolves around mysterious photographs claiming to be of people's souls, there is a hint that this new modern age is a step too far for the once-retired sleuthing friends.

This isn't exclusively a trip into the world of Conan Doyle for George Mann, for he also steps back in time in the company of his own creation – Victorian-era investigator of the unusual, Sir Maurice Newberry. The fact we get a bonus short story set in that world without other pre-formed characters is about the best thing in this book, for it shows to what great lengths and with what fabulous accuracy Mann has put a voice to Watson's writing style. There are churlish-seeming modern asides – I loved the one about Watson introducing Holmes as his associate, just because the latter always gets there first with the status the other way round – but on the whole , this is echt, kosher, the real thing.

For a further, completely unexpected, look at a different Holmes (and then some) we recommend [[Shadowfall: A Novel of Sherlock Holmes by Tracy Revels]]. You might also enjoy [[Art in the Blood: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure by Bonnie MacBird]].