cover image Sherlock Holmes, The Missing Years: Timbuktu

Sherlock Holmes, The Missing Years: Timbuktu

Vasudev Murthy. Poisoned Pen, $26.95 (304p) ISBN 978-1-4642-0454-8

Indian author Murthy’s colorful second reimagining of Holmes post-Reichenbach (after 2015’s Sherlock Holmes, the Missing Years: Japan) opens in classic fashion with the arrival of a client at 221B Baker Street. Antonio Rozzi, an Italian scholar who has come into possession of half of an ancient map, desires to match it with the missing half. Doing so, Rozzi believes, will lead to a treasure of immense value, as suggested by an accompanying letter on parchment signed Marco Polo. This challenge sets Holmes and Watson on a chase that takes them first to Venice and then the Vatican. The intrepid pair later cross the Sahara Desert in a camel caravan, mingle with members of the Arab and Tuareg peoples, and visit fabled cities before reaching their goal of Timbuktu, where they learn a surprising secret. Sherlock Holmes devotees will find much of interest, though some readers may be put off by the confusing multiple points of view and the uneven pacing. (Jan.)