The Execution of Sherlock Holmes

Starred review from March 12, 2007
The five long tales in Thomas's third Sherlock Holmes collection (after 2002's Sherlock Holmes and the Voice from the Crypt
) offer gripping plots and masterfully evoke the flavor of Doyle's original stories of the great detective. Holmes's legendary powers of logic are deftly displayed in "The Case of the Greek Key," in which a German cipher must be cracked to preserve some vital military secrets, and "The Case of the Peasenhall Murder," in which he finds evidence that a parson accused of a brutal murder has been framed. The high point is "The Case of the Phantom Chambermaid," in which Holmes's intervention on behalf of a fired servant leads him to foil a diabolical murder plot. Few authors have done as well as Thomas in bringing these beloved and familiar characters to life, and Sherlockians everywhere will hope that less time passes before Thomas again delves into Watson's fabled cache of untold adventures.

April 1, 2007
Once again, Thomas masterfully presents tales of the iconic Holmes and his loyal assistant Watson, this time in settings that vary from a resort town and a university museum to a foul cell in the pit of Londons abandoned and infamous Newgate prison. New and longtime fans of things Sherlockian will enjoy how Thomas captures the essence of Doyles Baker Street hero, moods, eccentricities, and all. In "The Case of the Phantom Chambermaid," a petulant Holmes bemoaning the weather and given to "periodic outbursts of self-pity" snaps to focused excitement when a servant dismissed from a Brighton hotel reveals a key player in the case, scholar-spiritualist Edmund Gurney. The title story of riveting Holmesian analysis and action finds our hero shackled and imprisoned by a consortium of his enemies with the hangmans noose a certainty and no hope of flight. Throughout the collection, Sherlocks steely intelligence and devilish attention to detail totally absorb the reader in heart-pounding adventures and mind--pleasing puzzles.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)