The Pandora Plague (1984)

Most know that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini were friends in real-life. But Houdini has also has a regular partnership with Sherlock Holmes in the pages of fiction. The Pandora Plague by Lee A. Matthias was one of their early encounters.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson team up with the master magician Harry Houdini in another thrilling mystery in the life of the greatest detective of all time. 

Houdini is entrusted with a strange locked box from the Far East and is asked to open it. But even he has no way of getting into it until Holmes and Watson join him in solving the riddle of its lock. And when the box is opened, the three investigators unwittingly become entangled with THE PANDORA PLAGUE.

Title: The Pandora Plague
Author: Lee A. Matthias
Year: 1984 (first published 1981)
Publisher: Unicorn Star Press
Purchase: Amazon

The Pandora Plague (1981)

The Pandora Plague by Lee A. Matthias was first published as a mass market paperback from Leisure Books (below). Because of financial problems, the publisher only gave it a limited release. It later appeared as a trade paperback from Unicorn Press cut down by 8000 words. The author self-published a revised and expanded 3rd edition in 2009.

PUZZLING EVIDENCE 

The theft of a seemingly innocuous pocket watch, and the appearance of a small and mystifying heavy box, began Sherlock Holmes' most challenging case. In an attempt to open the box, Holmes requested the presence of master magician Harry Houdini. 

Soon, a series of puzzling events accelerated into a crisis of shocking importance, and Holmes, Houdini and Dr. Watson were drawn into the evil machinations of a hideously sinister plot. 

Holmes' abilities were pushed beyond their limits, and a startling discovery by Madame Curie told the great detective that the world's fate rested in his hands!

Title: The Pandora Plague
Author: Lee A. Matthias
Year: 1981
Publisher: Leisure Books
Purchase: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

The Pandora Plague (2009)

First published in 1981, this is a revised and expanded 2009 edition of The Pandora Plague by Lee A. Matthias.

London, 1902: The theft of an unusual pocket-watch brings famed magician, Harry Houdini, together with the world's foremost consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes. When it leads to the appearance of a mysterious locked strong-box, it becomes a case that rocks the British Empire to its core. 

When the magician is blackmailed in order to best the box's lock, Holmes and his ally, Dr. John Watson, expose a plot against the crown, itself. Only Holmes's immense intellect, combined with the "Official" resources of his equally brilliant brother, Mycroft Holmes, can penetrate the mystery in time. 

In the tradition of Nicholas Meyer's "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution," and "The West End Horror," author Lee A. Matthias recreates Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's magnificent style and characters in "The Pandora Plague," a rip roaring adventure full of magic, mystery, and murder.

Title: The Pandora Plague
Author: Lee A. Matthias
Year: 2009
Publisher: BookSurge
Purchase: Amazon