1894:
Sherlock Holmes is bored with no case to occupy him so Watson
decides to cheer him up with a trip to see Swan Lake. This has
the opposite effect until the girl playing the White Swan is
found murdered on the stage. Shortly after the pair is called
to an art gallery to investigate the murder of a whole group
of people who are found lying dead beneath a strange and eerie
painting. How do these events connect with the apparent suicide
of a teacher at a remote school?
Throw in a visiting Russian grand duke, a mutilated corpse,
a mysteriously agile figure in black and a fencing aficionado
and you have a thrilling yarn. There are enough bizarre events
in it to make it a typical Holmes novel, as well as a fast pace
and plenty of surprises. Parts of it are rather far-fetched,
but you can say the same about the original stories, and the
way all the various strands come together is rather neat. Holmes
is his usual inscrutable and mysterious self and anybody who
enjoys the stories ought to find plenty to entertain in this
novel.