In this era of public domain, there are literally thousands of titles purporting to be Sherlock Holmes stories. However, one of the first to boldly step into the shoes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was Nicholas Meyer, whose first Holmes novel, THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION, reads like it could have been penned by Doyle himself. His latest effort, SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE TELEGRAM FROM HELL, feels very different as it features an aging Holmes and Watson in the waning days of World War I.

When the story picks up in June 1916, Germany is on the precipice of winning the war in Europe, while the United States under President Woodrow Wilson sits idly by and remains uninvolved. With the US not providing any more financial aid to the nearly bankrupt European allies, all is over but the shouting of victory in the streets of Berlin. Watson feels the pain of this bloody war when his housekeeper, Maria, receives a telegram notifying her of the brutal death of her nephew, Harry.

"Being aware of the war’s outcome does not take away from the enjoyment of reading SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE TELEGRAM FROM HELL. This is a Holmes tale that no fan of his novels should miss."

Watson is then met by a disguised Holmes, sporting a black eye, a missing tooth and a cracked rib. He spent weeks in prison to get close to a traitor to the UK working for the enemy in this bloody war. They decide that they must get more involved and are contacted by the man known as “M.” The name serves two purposes for the head of the British Secret Service. It is an allusion to the codename used by James Bond’s handler with MI6 in Ian Fleming’s novels, while also supposedly being a reference to Holmes’ late brother, Mycroft, who worked for the British government and often called on Holmes for assistance.

M and his colleague, Admiral Hall, sign Holmes and Watson up for an assignment of utmost secrecy involving national security in the face of the deadly war going on around them. They are to board the Norlina, which will take them to the US where their mission is set. Aboard the ship is a small mix of European and American passengers and crew members, some of whom are not who they claim to be. A German man is stabbed to death in the room of a woman named Violet, who is heading to Boston to work as a voice teacher. Violet ends up being someone else who is on the side of Holmes and Watson, whereby the German was an enemy seeking to pass messages about their mission to the other side. It will not be the last time that the mysterious Violet intervenes on their behalf.

The novel is mixed with real and fictional characters, as well as various events taking place during this WWI period. A young J. Edgar Hoover is called to investigate the murder on board the ship once it arrives in the US. Shortly into their landing, a man leaps to his death from a building. It is reported in local papers that the renowned Sherlock Holmes took his own life. Hoover and our protagonists know that this is an unhappy Holmes fanatic, but they agree to allow the ruse of Holmes’ death to exist for a short while to allow Holmes and Watson to get on with their assignment in clandestine fashion.

Assisting them is Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the daughter of former President Theodore Roosevelt. She is seeing a German ambassador who is part of a cleverly coded telegram being sent to Von Bork, a German spymaster and one of Holmes’ archrivals. The letter is easily deciphered by the trio, and its destination is a Western Union office in Mexico City. The intended recipient is the “late” Mexican president Huerta, but that may be a name being utilized by someone else for subterfuge.

Holmes and Watson board a train to Mexico City after Watson is nearly killed by a gunshot in one of many skirmishes they must face. They need to be there to intercept and stop the telegram from hell, as Longworth refers to it, for it may lead to the final push Germany needs to win the war. With the US still standing on the sidelines, Germany is confident that a submarine war featuring their impressive U-boats will put them over the top. The historical intrigue continues around our pair as they witness many US soldiers aboard their very train who are heading to Mexico City to apprehend Mexican fighter Pancho Villa.

The resolution of this epic tale is as unpredictable as everything that has preceded it. In order for WWI to end in favor of the Allies, Holmes and Watson’s mission must be a success. Being aware of the war’s outcome does not take away from the enjoyment of reading SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE TELEGRAM FROM HELL. This is a Holmes tale that no fan of his novels should miss.