Just Finished Reading: Sherlock Holmes & The Twelve Thefts of Christmas by Tim Major (FP: 2022) [272pp] 

Holmes was not impressed by Christmas. He had little time for the ceremony but what was worse was the dearth of interesting crime. Thankfully it began to look like this Christmas would be different. Within hours of each other two mysteries arrived at 221b Baker Street – a pair of tickets from someone who would never send them and a visit from Inspector Lestrade with a case that would not interest Holmes in the least, the theft of a worthless plaster statue. Where they connected? There was only one way to find out – a visit to the British Museum and a night at the opera. Intrigued by clues Watson could not see and could barely understand Holmes is fully engaged in a Christmas mystery. But Watson worries... Who exactly is pulling the strings? What does the recurring theme of theft without theft mean? Why is Holmes acting so oddly, happy, morose, agitated, secretive? Is it all to do with ‘that woman’? The only one to have bested Holmes, the only one he truly admires: Irene Adler. Is she back in England? Does she mean to harm Holmes or merely entertain him, and if so... Why? It’s only a few more days to Christmas and the game is afoot! 

Oh, this book just JUMPED off the shelf at my local Charity shop and into my hand. Not only was it another Sherlock Homes Adjacent (SHA) tome but it was a Christmas book. What better way to read up to the holidays? I was impressed from the first page. Not only did the author get the ‘tone’ of Conan Doyle’s work and characters spot on he also presented us with a series of puzzles that were quite delightful. Even more so, we see an intriguing (and previously unexplored) side of Holmes that throws a little more light on some of his cannon tales. I’d often mused on Sherlock’s relation with the women in his adventures. I never considered him a simple misogynist; he respects women too much for that. I’ve also never thought, despite his protestations, as completely uninterested in the ‘fair sex’. Again, things are more complicated – as we see between these pages. 

Told, as usual, from Watson’s perspective I was delighted that we see and learn more about his wife Mary who seemed to simply vanish in the original tales. It was good to see her character filled out a bit more. As is often the case there’s a foreign travel element to the tale (running concurrently and intermixing with the main thread) this time concerning the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen that I’ll definitely to read more about (together with his very accomplished wife). 

This is actually the 3rd book in the sequence, and I’ll most definitely be picking up the previous two. Naturally I’ll also be picking up some other winter/Christmas related SHA books for NEXT year! A FUN read and definitely recommended to any Holmes fan out there who has read the original works and wants more adventures with some of their favourite characters.