This is the fourth full-length Sherlock Holmes novel (and the seventh in the series, counting the short story anthologies) and I have to say that it’s potentially my favourite one. This might be a somewhat unexpected perspective though, as while Holmes and Watson themselves have always been what I love most about the series, in this one, their involvement largely feels like a framing device for a story set in America.
However, while Holmes and Watson themselves have roles that feel diminished, I’d say that the cast of this story are the most interesting characters Arthur Conan Doyle ever created for the Sherlock Holmes series (outside of Irene Adler and Moriarty). Set in a place called Vermissa, the character, known as Douglas in the ‘present’ of the story, gets involved with a criminal gang working under the guise of a trade union.
The characters in Vermissa feel a thousand miles apart from those you usually encounter in Baker Street (I guess that’s because they are). The way Douglas gets entwined with the criminal world, and the relationships that he builds with other members (including the leader of the gang) is so enticing. You even begin to understand the twisted sense of morality that they operate under and feel sympathy for them – it makes you realise how somebody really could get involved with something like this. There’s also a massive twist that I never saw coming.
The novel also loosely ties into Holmes’ pursuit of Moriarty, so is evidently intended to take place before The Final Problem. Continuity-wise, I don’t think it meshes perfectly with The Final Problem, as he seems to tell Watson about Moriarty for the first time in both of them, but as far as I’m concerned it’s a very minor problem in the light of such a gripping story.
Even if you’ve never read a Sherlock Holmes story before, I think that this could be an excellent place to start, as you really don’t need any knowledge of the other stories. It’s especially worth reading if you enjoy gritty crime dramas. It’s a bleak novel, for sure, but it did a tremendous job of immersing me in its world.
Rating: 9.3/10
