Nicholas
Meyer plays The Game. He presents his novel, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, as a found manuscript of John Watson,
friend to and chronicler of the adventures of Sherlock
Holmes.
Arthur
Conan Doyle’s detective
inspired pastiches
and fan
fiction even during the time when he was writing the canon of Holmes
stories. Meyer even mentions Doyle in the book, though in keeping with The
Game, he alludes that he is something like a literary agent, helping Watson
place his recollections in magazines.
The occasion
of the reference to Doyle is his connection to both Watson and Doyle’s medical
studies in Vienna,
where most of the story is set. According to Meyer, neither the real life or
fictional version of Doyle met another famous physician who resided in Vienna.
That physician’s expertise in a certain specialty is the reason Watson and
Holmes visit the European
mainland.
After Watson
marries and moves out of the Baker Street apartment, Holmes is more tightly
gripped by his addiction
to cocaine,
the seven percent solution mentioned Doyle’s The Sign of Four and the title of Meyer’s book. Overcoming
addiction was beyond the expertise of Watson and his medical colleagues, but
the work of a Viennese physician gave him hope. Watson conspires with
Sherlock’s brother Mycroft,
and even enlists the aid of the old Holmes family math
tutor Moriarty,
to trick Holmes into going to Vienna to be placed in the care of Sigmund Freud.
The first
half of the book deals with Holmes’ addiction and his treatment in the home of
Freud. This is more interesting than some may think it sounds, and even in this
section Meyer maintains the feel of a Holmes story.
In the
second half, Freud’s consultation in the case of a silent patient prompts the
kind of detective story you expect to see Holmes in. Freud is along for the
ride and his insights prove useful to the detective. The physical side of the
adventure ramps us in this part, too. The climax (can you do a spoiler alert
for a 40-year-old book) is a saber duel between Holmes and the story’s villain
on the top of a speeding railcar.
Meyer sticks
close to the canon, though he does it by discrediting certain “disputed”
stories. The long-retired Watson, dictating this after the death of his friend,
admits to fabricating certain tales in order to protect Holmes’ life and reputation.
If you’re
interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Meyer,
Nicholas. The Seven-Per-Cent Solution:
Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D. New York: E. P. Dutton,
1974.
