Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Beyond the book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Apr 2005, 272 pages
Paperback:
May 2006, 272 pages
Book Reviewed by:
BookBrowse Review Team
Buy This Book
From the book jacket: It is 1947, and the long-retired
Holmes, now 93, lives in a remote Sussex farmhouse, where his
memories and intellect begin to go adrift. He lives with a
housekeeper and her young son, Roger, whose patient,
respectful demeanor stirs paternal affection in Holmes. Holmes
has settled into the routine of tending his apiary, writing in
journals, and grappling with the diminishing powers of his
razor-sharp mind, when Roger comes upon a case hitherto
unknown. It is that of a Mrs. Keller, the long-ago object of
Holmes's deep--and never acknowledged--infatuation.
Comment: Cullin's Holmes is a rather nice old fellow. He's still the exceptionally acute observer he always was, but
age has added a welcome layer of humanity to his character.
Not
only has he lost "the arrogance of my youth", but as he points
out, he never was the person people took him to be - he never
wore a deerstalker or smoked a pipe, these - he says - were just figments
of the illustrator's imagination; and he's quite willing to
admit that he and John ("you know, I never did call him
Watson--he was John, simply John") bungled a number of
important cases but "of course, who wants to read about the
failures?"
I thoroughly enjoyed this tale with its three interlinking
strands - Holmes' recent visit to Japan, the
previously untold case of 'The Glass Armonica' and his
life in rural Sussex tending to his bees. Like the
reviewer below I would be happy to read more Holmes stories by Cullin, but I
think it's unlikely that he will write more. It felt to me as if he'd
achieved what he set out to do in this one story, and to write further on the
same subject would only dilute.
"This extra layer of realistic complexity makes Cullin's immensely moving
seventh outing one of the best of all the Holmes pastiches. A talented writer's
bold step forward. Let's hope Cullin isn't finished with Sherlock Holmes." -
Kirkus.
This review
first ran in the May 22, 2006
issue of BookBrowse Recommends.
If you liked A Slight Trick of The Mind, try these:
by Laurie R. King
Published 2007
Kate Martinelli is investigating the death of Philip Gilbert, an avid Holmes collector who even transformed his home into a copy of 221B Baker Street, when she discovers what could be the motive: a previously unpublished story from Arthur Conan Doyle that could be worth millions
by Julian Barnes
Published 2006
An utter astonishment that captures an era through one life celebrated internationally - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; and another entirely forgotten - George Edalji.
The Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
