The Adventure of the Found Note: review

A cry for help on a note stuck to the shoe of a night watchman sets in train a new adventure for Holmes and Watson in this page-turner of a novel.

The labyrinthine plot, in which nothing and no one can be taken at face value, leads us over the country from Baker Street and all over London, to a thrilling climax on a remote island off the north-east of England.

But while Holmes is off, in one of his many disguises, infiltrating at great personal peril the murky Ex Tenebris Club, Watson is faced with solving another mystery altogether. Ever a sucker for a pretty face, the good doctor agrees to help one Catarina Hill, whose beloved husband has disappeared. At the family house in Arundel, near Brighton, he makes a startling discovery, suggesting that Hugo Hill, too, is not quite what he seems.

Author M.J.H. Simmonds [seen left in his family’s ‘gentlemen’s emporium’ in Bedford, England, holding his earlier novel, ‘The Adventure of the Pigtail Twist‘] skilfully weaves the main plot and subplot together.

However, I found myself worrying for the state of Dr Watson’s liver, lungs and digestion. He seems to spend such an inordinate amount of time eating rich food, quaffing brandy and smoking cigars and pipes, that I wondered how he managed to keep a clear head, never mind shoot straight.

Nevertheless, in The Adventure of the Found Note, M.J.H. Simmonds has written a most engaging addition to the ever-lengthening list of pastiches of Sherlock Holmes.

The book is available in hardback, paperback and kindle from MX publishing: https://mxpublishing.com/products/sherlock-holmes-and-the-adventure-of-the-found-note

And NB: every book you buy from the publisher buys a meal for someone in need.

Also available for pre-order from:

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