| The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols | |
| Author: | Nicholas Meyer |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Mystery novels |
| Publisher: | Minotaur Books |
| Release Date: | October 2019 |
| Media Type: | Print (Hardback |
| Isbn: | 9781250228956 |
| Isbn Note: | (first edition, hardback) |
| Preceded By: | The Canary Trainer |
| Followed By: | The Return of the Pharaoh |
The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols: Adapted from the Journals of John H. Watson, M.D. is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel by Nicholas Meyer, published in 2019. It takes place after Meyer's other Holmes pastiches, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, The West End Horror, and The Canary Trainer. It is Meyer's first Holmes pastiche in 26 years.[1]
The story has Holmes debunk The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.[2] [3] As with Meyer's other pastiches, the novel features Holmes meeting real-life historical personages such as Constance Garnett,[2] Israel Zangwill[4] and Chaim Weizmann.[5]
The book made the bestseller list of The Los Angeles Times in November 2019.[6] [7]
Kirkus Reviews found the mystery "slight" and said of the purportedly previously undiscovered adventure "that [it] might just as well have stayed hidden."[5] Publishers Weekly said that "Meyer cleverly plays with his audience’s expectations" and posited that Sherlockians would want a shorter wait for Meyer's next adventure.[8] Joseph Goodrich of Mystery Scene positively reviewed the novel calling it a "a masterful concoction" and "an effective thriller, rich in atmosphere and period detail"[9] The Washington Post reviewer Michael Dirda felt that the book has some "fine Sherlockian flourishes" but ultimately "the novel often feels talky and perhaps unavoidably somber and portentous."[4]