Sherlock Holmes and the Unholy Trinity

Drawing on brief references to two of Dr. Watson’s untold tales, Gilbert sacrifices fidelity to Conan Doyle’s originals for an action-filled, globe-trotting plot in his fifth excursion to Baker Street (following 2013’s The Annals of Sherlock Holmes). In 1896, the pope requires the assistance of Sherlock Holmes after someone slits the throat of one of his likely successors, Cardinal Tosca. The invitation to the Vatican comes shortly after a sword-wielding Bedouin visited 221B to warn Holmes not to interfere with matters that aren’t his concern. Once in Italy, Holmes learns that the dead cleric was translating a scroll from Aramaic recently arrived from Egypt, and he follows the trail of clues to that country. The secret behind the crime will be all-too-familiar to readers of religious thrillers. Watson’s efforts at disguise are laughably inept, and Gilbert displays an inordinate fondness for exclamation points (“I tore the communication open with a feverish excitement for it bore the unmistakable red, gold, cross-keys crest of the Holy See!”). (Feb.)