Author | Nicholas Meyer |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Genre | Mystery novels |
Publisher | Minotaur Books |
Publication date | October 2019 |
Media type | Print ( Hardback |
ISBN | 9781250228956 (first edition, hardback) |
Preceded by | The Canary Trainer |
Followed by | The Return of the Pharaoh |
The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols: Adapted from the Journals of John H. Watson, M.D. is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel by Nicholas Meyer, published in 2019. It takes place after Meyer's other Holmes pastiches, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, The West End Horror, and The Canary Trainer. It is Meyer's first Holmes pastiche in 26 years. [1]
The story has Holmes debunk The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. [2] [3] As with Meyer's other pastiches, the novel features Holmes meeting real-life historical personages such as Constance Garnett, [2] Israel Zangwill [4] and Chaim Weizmann. [5]
The book made the bestseller list of The Los Angeles Times in November 2019. [6] [7]
Kirkus Reviews found the mystery "slight" and said of the purportedly previously undiscovered adventure "that [it] might just as well have stayed hidden." [5] Publishers Weekly said that "Meyer cleverly plays with his audience’s expectations" and posited that Sherlockians would want a shorter wait for Meyer's next adventure. [8] Joseph Goodrich of Mystery Scene positively reviewed the novel calling it a "a masterful concoction" and "an effective thriller, rich in atmosphere and period detail" [9] The Washington Post reviewer Michael Dirda felt that the book has some "fine Sherlockian flourishes" but ultimately "the novel often feels talky and perhaps unavoidably somber and portentous." [4]