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conversations.value: What is a description for a book titled The Oriental Casebook of Sherlock Holmes about Holmes, Holmes's, Watson with the genre: Literature & Fiction, United States?
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conversations.value: With only partial success, the author builds on Doyle's references to Sherlock Holmes's travels in Europe and Asia during the Great Hiatus, the three-year gap between Holmes's supposed death and his dramatic return to life. The nine original short stories in this collection focus on the master detective's efforts to apply his talents to a variety of mysteries in such exotic settings as Sumatra and Tibet. Given the uncertain grip of the British Empire over its colonies, the murders and other mayhem Holmes confronts often have potentially grave political repercussions. Since he wasn't present for these adventures, Dr. Watson is unable to serve as a sounding-board for Holmes's theories or as an effective stand-in for the reader struggling to make sense of baffling clues or seemingly motiveless crimes. Like many recent Holmes pastichers, the author transforms the original thinking machine into an Indiana Jones-like character facing century-old deathtraps and charged with recovering legendary jewels. Holmes does little detection, in one instance even violating his basic rule by theorizing in the absence of data. Nonetheless, these well-written tales, with their convincing local color, do entertain, and should the author return Holmes and Watson to their customary roles in future volumes, Sherlockians would have reason to anticipate them with pleasure.<BR>Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.