Customer Reviews

A Three Pipe Problem

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Actor Sheridan Haynes is really Sherlock Holmes. Well, not really. But he does play him in a British television program. He has a bit of an obsession about the detective. They share the same initials. He even has a flat on Baker Street. If only life were as simple as it is in the books.

In real life, his Watson is an open homosexual, which bothers the intensely private Haynes. His wife is sleeping with the producer. They've rewritten his scripts to include a hint of romance. Traffic is horrible. And everyone seems to be laughing at him.

So when a new series of murders has all of London talking, Holmes - I mean Haynes - is determined to solve the case. Using the great detective's own methods, surely he can identify the murderer before Scotland Yard!

He starts by finding his own set of Baker Street Irregulars. The suspects - none other than his fellow cast members. Haynes seems to be getting close enough in his investigation to get himself into danger. Things escalate until no one - not Haynes, not the police, and not the reader - can tell who to trust.

I really enjoyed this book. The ending and the identity of the murderer was in question almost until the very end of the book. So many people looked guilty. This is more of a psychological mystery than a straight murder. Symons is brilliant at creating this sort of book, where you don't know what to expect at all. If you like cozy mysteries, this is very different, but if you prefer a book where there are more shades of gray than black and white, you will like this one. A well done twist on the classic Holmes story.

This isn't a book in which Sherlock Holmes appears, rather it is set in the 1970's and the main character is a TV actor that plays Holmes.

Although I quite enjoyed this book there is one glaring oversight that the author makes (I will mention it here because it won't give away who the guilty party is) - at the end of the book the crook is killed and "Holmes" is knocked unconscious. Only these two people knew who the crook was, yet when "Holmes" comes to he is hailed as a hero and everybody now knows the full story. Who told them?