"Somewhere in the vaults of the bank of Cox and Co., at Charing Cross, there is a travel-worn and battered tin dispatch-box with my name, John H. Watson, M.D., painted upon the lid. It is crammed with papers, nearly all of which are records of cases to illustrate the curious problems which Mr. Sherlock Holmes has at various times to examine."

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

A Three-Pipe Problem (1976)

The exploits of wannabe or delusional Sherlocks were popular in the 1970s. There was the excellent 1971 film They Might Be Giants with George C. Scott, as well as a TV movie The Return of the World's Greatest Detective with Larry Hagman. This 1976 novel by Julian Symons picked up on the theme.

Small-time actor, Sheridan Haynes, had a rather unhealthy preoccupation with Sherlock Holmes. So when the chance came for him to play the famous detective in a TV series, it seemed his dreams had come true. And when London was plagued by a series of unsolved murders, well it seemed only natural for him to take his role into real life. Was this a case of a laughable and misguided actor, or was Sherdian actually on to something?

Title: A Three-Pipe Problem
Author: Julian Symons
Year: 1976
Publisher: Avon
Purchase: Amazon

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