THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D. burst onto the bestseller list in 1974. More “reprints” followed. Then Nicholas Meyer, the “editor” of the “reminiscences,” became a mega-successful screenwriter and director (think: Star Trek), and there were no more Holmes and Watson adventures for 26 years.

At last they’re back, in THE ADVENTURES OF THE PECULIAR PROTOCOLS: Adapted from the Journals of John H. Watson, M.D. It’s 1905 now, and in the new century “crimes are getting bigger” and Holmes is getting older. We see him on the cusp of his 50th birthday, and though he doesn’t feel old, he senses a gloomy retirement ahead: “I’ll rusticate among flora and fauna.”

But at a birthday lunch with the now happily married Watson, his brother appears, with a fresh mystery for Holmes: a document found on the body of a murdered member of the British Secret Service. It refers to a meeting of a group bent on world dominance. Is this threat real?

"It’s a pleasure to spend a few hours again with this dynamic duo."

About the document: the title is “The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion.” You may recognize the title. It is a fake. But a very pervasive one. First published in Russia in 1905 --- Meyer is an accurate historian --- it found an audience in the United States when Henry Ford funded printing of 500,000 copies. The Nazis made potent use of it. When Donald Trump accuses American Jews who vote for Democrats of “great disloyalty,” he is indirectly echoing the Protocols.

Holmes knows how dangerous this document can be. His mission: prove it’s a fake. This will require him to cross a line --- to be both a detective and a spy. And off Holmes and Watson and a mysterious and beautiful translator go. Holmes hasn’t lost a step; he notices “a traveling salesman with a sample case too light to contain any goods.” He offers advice every spy should know: “Never take the first cab.” To read a tasty excerpt, click here.

There are trains. Hotels. Paris. London. A loaded gun. And an ending that took this reader by surprise, even though Meyer gives it away at the beginning. [To buy the book from Amazon, click here. For the Kindle edition, click here. For the audiobook, click here.]

The fact that the Protocols are fake creates a second problem: How do you counter a fake? Very clever, Mr. Meyer --- your smart sleuth deals with one of the biggest issues we face today. And there are nifty historical references. How did Houdini astonish the Tsar by getting a long silent bell to ring? He had a hidden sharpshooter fire on cue. With a Mannlicher. Anyone get the reference? Very clever, yet again.

It’s a pleasure to spend a few hours again with this dynamic duo.