The Devil’s Blaze (Sherlock Holmes in WWII)
Fans of Sherlock Holmes will welcome this latest addition to the great detective’s myth. Robert J. Harris sets this novel at the dawn of World War II, with Hitler’s threats forcing the British to ramp up their intelligence endeavors.
Enter Sherlock and Dr. Watson, and unfortunately, the dastardly Professor Moriarty, whom the Whitehall politicians believe can prove useful in cracking enemy codes. (Mycroft is off on a job of his own.) Moriarty has built a remarkable machine that can not only decipher codes and ciphers, but can also predict future behavior (potentially useful for bribery and blackmail activities—don’t you know?). Unlike the politicians, Sherlock is not persuaded of the professor’s altruistic patriotism. Thus begins one of the most dangerous matching of wits between these two great minds. The action keeps readers thoroughly engaged.
A subplot that involves various men dying by spontaneous combustion adds intrigue and horror. A female evangelist proclaims that these deaths are the devil’s doing. The person who figures out the cause behind these macabre deaths is none other than an attractive Scots woman scientist. Will Sherlock be tempted? One wonders… Another subplot reveals a murderous colonel who tests Holmes’ skills as a swordsman. And then, there’s the embittered scientist…
The Devil’s Blaze is taut and absorbing, particularly as the hero and anti-hero attempt to devise strategies to defeat each other. Sherlockian humor also finds its way into the story. Added to that, the novel is leavened with traditional inclusions of Sherlock’s Deerstalker hat, his Stradivarius playing, and his history of drug frailties.
