Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has received much fame from his fiction writing, especially from the character Sherlock Holmes. He has grown rather weary of Holmes and goes in search of rest and relaxation in Switzerland’s Reichenbach Falls. The calm scenery and fresh air should do Doyle a bit of good and put him in the right frame of mind once again. However, the trip is far from uneventful.
An annoying man, Holloway, joins Doyle on the train and takes a keen interest in accompanying Doyle everywhere. This becomes increasingly a problem after a man named Peter Brown, staying at the same hotel as the two, is found dead. Doyle is suspicious, and as he investigates, Holloway insists on helping find the possible murderer. This creates tension and eventually brings suspicion upon Doyle himself. He must exonerate himself by finding the real killer in a small town full of possible suspects.
Not having read many Sherlock Holmes novels in my life, and having read those few when I was much younger, I can’t say how true to Holmes Doyle was in the story according to the author Booth. However, I did feel as if I learned a lot about both Doyle and Holmes as the story progressed and I enjoyed the tone and style of writing. There were long paragraphs and even pages of interior monologue, which, though popular in older writing, I found a bit tiresome at times. But all in all the story was easy to follow and had nice characters and side plots to keep the reader busy and happy.
While not a “Christian” novel at all, it is mostly clean. The author, an Anglican priest, may have interjected a bit of himself in the novel’s priest Father Vernon. In fact, he was my favorite character. Endearing but not preachy. A true helper to Doyle, even though Doyle admits to having fallen away from the Church. (As a matter of fact, the real Doyle becomes ensconced in spiritualism for much of his life.) So, while there is not much to ponder in the area of faith, the story is still a good mystery.