THE ADVENTURE OF THE PERFIDIOUS MARINER

From 2012, The Adventure of the Perfidious Mariner by Jonathan Barnes sees Sherlock Holmes (Nicholas Briggs) and Dr Watson (Richard Earl) in the aftermath of the Titantic disaster.

It’s 1912, and Sherlock Holmes has been retired for many years.  He’s busy keeping bees and has no interest in revisiting his past life of detection.  He’s almost afraid of the concept.

A harassed Dr Watson visits Holmes at his Sussex cottage, berating him for his lack of interest in the sinking of the HMS Titantic and admonishing him for not reaching out when the list of dead included Dr Watson’s own wife.  He’s extremely angry and disappointed in his old friend.

In the midst of their arguing, it turns out that Watson was followed to Holmes’ secret bolt-hold by the MD of the White Star Lines, the man Watson holds personally responsible for the death of his wife – largely because he survived the disaster.

Nevertheless, they agree to hear the reason for the visit.  J Bruce Ismay (Michael Maloney), the MD of White Star, has spent many months in front of many courts explaining all that he can and has been cleared of personal responsibility.  However, he’s been haunted by a vision of a mysterious woman that no one else can see.

I’m not far into this story so far but, as a single-disc offering, it’s considerably cheaper than some of the others (£8.99 CD, £6.99 download).  As such, it’s more affordable, but whether you’d want to leap straight into a “retired Sherlock Holmes” adventure rather than a regular Holmes adventure depends a lot on your interest in the character.

So far, though, I’m enjoying it as I’ve enjoyed all of the others in this range.