Sherlock Holmes and The Final Reveal

This is a slim, volume that consists of a single tale about the size of a novella.To the best of my knowledge, this is the author’s first attempt at Sherlockian fiction and it is a doozey. The explanation is that the author received an anonymous recording delivered by messenger with a request that he publish it as fiction written by himself. The recording claimed it was created in 1940 by John H. Watson using an old wire recorder that was given to Holmes by a grateful client.The narrator claimed that he was nearing the end of his life and felt that he had to share the events surrounding the death of Sherlock Holmes with interested readers of his “Canon,” a designation that he did not feel was appropriate. The narrator told of receiving a wire from Holmes requesting his presence in July, 1930. He knew that Holmes was dying of lung cancer and felt that Holmes was asking him to come and share his last days.This turned out to be the case and Holmes and “Dr. Watson” shared four days of discussions and digressions while Holmes awaited his death. The treatment of these events is handled very well by the author, with the essence of Holmes seeming to loom over the discussion and remembrances in very much the fashion one would expect Holmes to face death. The revelations made are unexpected and startling. I had some doubts about the ability of Watson to keep secrets from Holmes for more than fifty years, but the thesis is plausible, given the details of the revelations. Some details are hinted at but not revealed as well, leaving room for additional “Reveal”s. In any case, it is an interesting and well-written book and it follows the old stage advice, “Always leave ‘em wanting more.”Reviewed by: Philip K. Jones, July, 2013