A STUDY IN TREASON

Dr. Watson, his son, and the daughter of Sherlock Holmes solve a case of treason in 1914.

Joanna Blalock Watson, the daughter of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler and the wife of Dr. John Watson Jr., gets a chance to test her own formidable deductive skills when Sir Harold Whitlock calls at 221B Baker St. to ask the elder Dr. Watson for help in a case of espionage. After Watson insists that Joanna and John be included, Sir Harold tells them of the theft of a new treaty with France from the Duke of Winchester’s carefully guarded country estate, where the Duke’s son was making copies. The Germans would clearly love to see this document. Since all the doors and windows were locked in the five minutes that the Duke’s son, Harry Halifax, was out of the room, Inspector Lestrade has thoroughly examined the place for secret passages. But Joanna finds an entrance to an unknown attic space, where footprints in the dust indicate that a large man who’s a heavy smoker spent time waiting for his chance to steal the document. Settling in at a nearby inn, the sleuths find that one of the guests in a ground-floor room is never seen and has all meals delivered. Although suspicion falls on Roger Bennett, the son of the Duke's family butler, who’s friendly with the German-born groundskeeper, Joanna goes further, suspecting even the families of the Duke and his daughter-in-law, both of whom are in financial difficulties. When the butler is found dead, apparently of carbon monoxide poisoning, Joanna thinks he’s been murdered. Using many of the same skills as her father, including his mastery of all things related to tobacco, she bids the Baker Street Irregulars watch the room of the unknown guest while she continues to hunt down clues.

Goldberg (The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes, 2017) matches the style of Conan Doyle’s stories and adds the fillip of a female protagonist.