The Oriental Casebook of Sherlock Holmes

Review: This book includes a Preface by Dr. John Watson, nine tales told by Holmes and edited by Watson and an Afterward, again, by Watson. Professor Riccardi (Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University) has added "A Further Note" explaining the source of the tales.

The atmosphere of the book is rich and exotic. It breathes with the scents and clatters with the sounds of the fabled East. Each of the nine tales explores several curious pathways or by-roads that bring back the wonder of the pulp fiction of the 20's and 30's. The settings are as compelling as any I have read, perhaps even better than the Harold Lamb tales of the 20's. Sinister figures skulk in and out of forbidden temples and forgotten ruins; slave girls, thieves and adventurers loom up through the mists and mahrajahs lurk around the corners. Curiously, the villains, under their make-up and exotic attire, are not the traditional power-mad mandarins or wily pathans or lascivious lamas, but are very real and compelling, nonetheless.

The exotica turn out to be real places, people and things, described with lavish and loving detail and the villanies are those of the real world; greed, egotism and despite. Sherlock Holmes wanders through this marvelous backdrop of gorgeous complexity and applies his touchstone of logic and observation of details to unlock the riddles and reveal the common, human motives that underlie all crime and cruelty. Holmes is not always the prime mover and his observations do not always resolve the situations, rather he is a stranger in a strange land who wanders on, chronicles his observations and nudges events as he can.

For Holmesians, this book is both a delight and a disappointment. The contents conform to the elements of the Canon that cover the Great Hiatus. Holmes visits Lhasa and other places mentioned. He relates the affair of the Giant Rat of Sumatra and recounts something of the Atkinson Brothers of Trincomolee. Holmes also absorbs eastern philosophy and performs missions for the British Government under the direction of his brother, Mycroft. All of the elements are present and the details mesh with the Canon, but the intricate mysteries do not sing the song of Sherlock. Instead, they have more of a flavor of Agatha Christie and her nasty villains and vain and shallow drawing room populace.

The tales are intriguing and the details are correct and lush, but the character is simply not the Master and I cannot say why. The author has prepared the way for further tales and I hope they will be forthcoming. If I could point to an element that jars or that is contrary to the Canon, I would feel much better about this book. As it is, I am left with a sense of loss and discordance. These stories were intriguinging and the hero was interesting, but he was not Holmes, despite disclaimers and explanations. I only wish I knew why.

Reviewed by: Philip K. Jones, July, 2003, [originally appeared in Issue XI of "The Strand" ]