Rafferty’s Last Case: A Minnesota Mystery Featuring Sherlock Holmes

Set in 1928, Millett’s subpar ninth and final mystery starring barkeeper/sleuth Shadwell Rafferty (after 2017’s Sherlock Holmes and the Eisendorf Enigma) opens on a dramatic note. The 84-year-old Rafferty expects to die soon from natural causes, but instead he’s fatally stabbed in his own home, a St. Paul, Minn., hotel room. His corpse is found by his best friend and business partner, George Washington Thomas, who alerts Sherlock Holmes, who’s in the States on a lecture tour. In their investigation, Thomas and Holmes focus on the likelihood that Rafferty was killed because he was nearing a solution to the murder of Daniel St. Aubin, a blackmailer. Along with Dr. Watson, they look into Rafferty’s five prime suspects in St. Aubin’s shooting: “a policeman, a poet, a priest, and two politicians,” including the city’s mayor. Scenes in which unnamed men discuss both murders eliminate much suspense, the depiction of Holmes is less convincing than in Millett’s best work, and the inquiry into the crimes is slow-moving and not fairly clued. Fans of this intriguing series will be disappointed. (Apr.)