The Magic Bullet: A Locked Room Mystery Featuring Shadwell Rafferty and Sherlock Holmes

Set in St. Paul, Minn., in 1917, Millett's excellent sixth Sherlock Holmes pastiche featuring barkeep Shadwell Rafferty (after 2002's The Disappearance of Sherlock Holmes) offers a tantalizing, impossible crime. When financier Artemus Dodge is shot to death in his fortresslike office in the penthouse of St. Paul's tallest building, no one can figure out how someone was able to fire a bullet into the sealed room undetected. Rafferty assists with the investigation, which is complicated by the tyrannical chairman of the Minnesota Public Safety Commission, who's sure that anarchists are behind the killing, though plenty of others may have wanted Dodge dead. Millett effectively combines action sequences with theorizing about how the murder was committed. With Holmes appearing only in cameo, the engaging Rafferty proves more than capable of carrying a book on his own. John Dickson Carr fans will appreciate this intelligent homage to the master of the locked-room mystery. (Apr.)