Cook is a sucker for a good Holmes pastiche and the late Val Andrews wrote loas of them. Generally set in the period after the great detectve's retirement to Sussex and his bees, they often delve into the world of the theatre and particularly the magic show. This is no great surprise as Andrews had worked with many of TVs top illusionists including I believe David Nixon.

This particular story is a set of two parts and in part one Holmes is engaged by the stage magician and escapologist Harry Houdini to expose a spiritualist who is conning Sir Athur Conan Doyle (which is quite a neat idea in itself). In part two after Houdini's own death, Holmes is hired by his widow to prove that Houdini was murdered. Won't spoil anyone's fun by revealing what happens, but its quite quite a good story with some amusing incidents as the investigation takes Holmes and Watson from London to New York and Budapest.

Sadly even Inspector Barnaby of Midsummer could have worked out the conclusion way before its revelation, without even Joyce meeting the suspects at the WI or Cully going undercover at the local bookshop or riding stables, and the characters are a little thin. However the pleasure of reading Andrews's pastiches is in what he can tell us about the world of stage illusion and theatre and he knew a lot. A good way to pass a few hours in an afternoon