The Disappearance of Alistair Ainsworth (The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes Mysteries)
This is the third in Goldberg’s mystery series featuring Joanna Blalock, the daughter of Sherlock Holmes. Joanna, who has inherited her father’s deductive abilities, is now married to Dr. John Watson, Jr., who narrates the series. The couple lives with Watson, Sr., at 221b Baker Street.
In 1915, the elder Watson receives a visit from a colleague, Alexander Verner, who has been summoned to the bedside of an ailing man who is obviously being held against his will. The man turns out to be Alistair Ainsworth, an expert cryptographer, who is part of a top-secret codebreaking operation employed by the Royal Navy. German agents have taken him prisoner, with the help of a spy within Naval Intelligence. The next day, a notice about Ainsworth appears in the newspaper. Joanna and the Watsons then find Verner murdered in his office. The Germans have fled, taking Ainsworth with them. Joanna must find him, and discover the identity of the traitor, before the Germans can turn Ainsworth to their side, because they can use his codebreaking skills to figure out the Royal Navy’s war plans.
The book is very suspenseful and entertaining, with many twists and turns. Joanna is a worthy successor to her father, and her twelve-year-old son Johnny shows signs of becoming another great detective. Joanna employs the Baker Street Irregulars, as well as a hound named Toby Two, with the keenest nose in London, to help her with her cases, and they make a great addition to the series. It helps, but is not necessary, to have read the previous two volumes. Since Joanna is a trained nurse and the two Watsons are both doctors, there are plenty of medical details in the books. This is one of the best Sherlock Holmes series since Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell books.
