The Holmes Inheritance

Rating:
Summary: Not One of Freemantle's Best
Review: At the outset it should be noted that the Publisher's Weekly review (above) is quite misleading. Fans of Sherlock Holmes know that Mycroft is not anybody"s "rival politician" but a Mandarin of the permanent civil service and for amny years a very powerful man. And Sherlock Holmes, in this story, is as vigorous as ever; his apparent disability is a device to throw off the evil plotters. I would have to take issue with Mr. Freemantle as this is not his usual fare and the attempts to recreat Doyle's style is not a complete success. The plot itself reflects the Holmes pastische much more than it does Doyle himself.

The plot revolves around Winston Churchill's efforts to learn if the German's are (this is on the brink of World War I) trying to undermine the neutrality of the United States in Germany's favor. Churchill is played as himself. The character Sebastian Holmes is played as a headstrong youth who should probably not have been sent on this mission. But the story is strong enough to carry the characters along and it has an ending which helps to pick up the pace at the end. In fact, pacing seems to be a real problem here. And, having Sebastian keep up with the news on the radio in 1914 is a big stretch. I've read about 20 of Freemantle's novels. This is not one of his best.