When an author chooses to write a novel where Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are the lead characters, they had better bring their A-game. In Doyle’s originals,both Holmes and Watson have such distinctive styles, both in their vocabulary and in their methods of questioning/interrogating witnesses. It’s probably why so many readers back at the turn of the 20th century believed them to be real people. And with such a large body of work to draw from, I would think a talented writer could do a better-than-passable job of bringing these 2 characters to life in a brand new setting with a brand new mystery. Apparently it’s more difficult than I had assumed.

Clearly Mr. Millett has skills. Unfortunately, capturing the style and wit of A.C. Doyle isn’t one of them. Write this story, and keep writing new mysteries. Just stop doing it with Holmes and Watson as the lead protagonists.

Also have to mention the narration. Similar to the writing, not awful. But compared to Stephen Fry’s Holmes and Watson, it’s a severe disappointment. The main problem… he uses the same voice and delivery style for both characters! It’s simply unforgivable. I recall one particular passage where Holmes and Watson were interviewing a witness. Holmes had just asked a couple of very leading questions, where it was clear from the wording that he was becoming irritated with the witness. But Mr. Hendrickson chose to ask them with a tone as though he were asking about the weather. That is something Watson would often do… but never Holmes!

Sorry, but this can only receive 2-stars, given that it was written in the Sherlock Holmes universe.