Sherlock Holmes--The Legacy of Deeds

Starred review from December 11, 2017
British author Kyme (Rebirth) instantly establishes himself as a top-notch pasticheur with his outstanding mystery, which is especially effective at capturing Sherlock Holmes’s dry sense of humor and warm relationship with Dr. Watson. In 1894, Edmund Garret arrives at Baker Street, distraught over his discovery of more than 30 patrons and staff members lying dead, without a mark on their bodies, in one of the chambers of the Covent Garden art gallery where he serves as assistant curator. Holmes follows a trail of clues to Damian Graves, the sponsor of the gallery’s exhibit of the art of Ivor Lazarus, who specializes in paintings with grim subjects. When Graves falsely claims to be Lazarus himself, this lie only raises more questions about his connection to the mass murder. After Holmes tricks Graves into revealing his fluency in Russian, the detective suspects a link between the crimes and the arrival in London of a Russian nobleman. The unusual delivery device for the poison is a clever touch, and the intelligent plotting is worthy of canonical depictions of Holmes and Watson. Sherlockians will look forward to more from Kyme.