Conan Doyle's legendary detective is the main character here, but this isn't a new adventure in the manner of the inventive Dr. Watson's accounts. Holmes doesn't wear a deerskin cap; he doesn't smoke a pipe. And, as he says by way of Cullin, he never did. Rather, this is a quiet novel about an aging Holmes, still brusque and brilliant but also frail and forgetful. Relayed in part by Holmes himself, the story unfolds in three parts that entwine about the old detective like smoke from his mythical pipe. The first is a previously unrecorded case; the second is a musing about a visit to Japan during which Holmes meets a man whose father he once knew; the third, and most touching, deals with Holmes' friendship with his housekeeper's inquisitive son, to whom Holmes imparts his deep appreciation of nature, especially his love of beekeeping. Under Cullin's sure hand, the vibrant, assured detective we know gives way to a man who looks back with regret at missed opportunities in a manner that makes the larger-than-life figure surprisingly human. --Stephanie Zvirin Copyright 2005 Booklist

This wistful portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in old age is a real departure from Cullin's previous up-and-down fiction (Undersurface, 2002, etc.). We meet the Great Detective in 1947, aged 93, retired to his Sussex farm, physically and mentally impaired, though sustained by his many memories; the "beeyard" whose cultivation expresses his lifelong "desire to be a part of the original, natural order," and the restorative effects of royal jelly and other beneficent natural substances. Cullin's engaging tale has three deftly interwoven strands: Holmes's extended postwar visit to Japan, which includes a tour of destroyed Hiroshima and an investigation into his host Mr. Umeyaki's family history; an avuncular friendship with his housekeeper Mrs. Munro's son Roger, his devoted apprentice in the art of beekeeping; and the remembered case of "The Glass Armonica," involving a troubled marriage, alleged communion with both the dead and the unborn, and a woman Holmes could not save--for whose fate he may in fact bear a terrible responsibility. There are missteps: Though there's no hint of sexual misconduct, Holmes's habit of nude bathing with handsome young Roger does raise the eyebrow; and Cullin's generally very successful appropriation of Conan Doyle's plummy Victorian prose accommodates occasional anachronisms and barbarisms (surely Holmes would never have misused "like" for "as," as he does herein). But the meat of the story is Cullin's searching characterization of this ultimate rationalist perturbed and disoriented by decades of political, social and climatic change; unmanned by his lingering survival into a world grown so complex he can no longer do what he had hitherto done to perfection: observed and made sense of things. This extra layer of realistic complexity makes Cullin's immensely moving seventh outing one of the best of all the Holmes pastiches. A talented writer's bold step forward. Let's hope Cullin isn't finished with Sherlock Holmes. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

The Sherlock Holmes pastiche is a time-honored tradition, though most attempts are interesting primarily to Sherlockians who pick them apart, searching for mistakes. But Cullin (Branches; Tideland; etc.) has produced an ambitious, beautifully written novel that examines an enfeebled but still intellectually curious Holmes as he copes with the indignities of old age. It's just after the end of WWII: Holmes's brilliant brother Mycroft is dead, as is Watson ("You know, I never did call him Watson-he was John, simply John"). Now 93, the great detective has been retired for decades; he spends his days immersed in his lifelong passion, beekeeping, and in writing various articles and letters. One of his projects is an account of a case concerning a mysterious young woman who played the glass armonica. Holmes will complete the manuscript by the book's end, and the fascinating result will explain something of his peculiar character. Cullin gives Holmes a companion in his housekeeper's young son, Roger; their close relationship is a great solace to the prickly and famously solitary old man. It is this elucidation of Holmes's "true" character that is the purpose of Cullin's story. This look at Holmes near his natural death is a delight and a deeply satisfying read-more so than Michael Chabon's recent The Final Solution, which also features a nonagenarian Holmes. (Apr. 26) Forecast: Cullin's work is hard to pigeonhole-Texas noir (Tideland; Branches), coming-of-age novel (Whompyjawed), academic satire (The Cosmology of Bing)-but his talent is undeniable. This sophisticated spin on Doyle's perennially popular detective could take him up a notch recognition-wise. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

A 93-year-old Sherlock Holmes in 1947 Sussex struggles to keep his mind and emotions in check as his past is uncovered. Simultaneous Nan Talese: Doubleday hardcover. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.