Sherlock Holmes: Misteri Yang Tak Terpecahkan

A Slight Trick of the Mind. Although this is a book about Sherlock Holmes, it's really not a mystery. Instead, it is a novel about Holmes as a 93 year old man, frail and forgetful, long retired, but still encountering celebrity worship from people who know him from Dr. Watson's stories.

The Holmes in this story is vigilant about protecting his privacy and not allowing celebrity seekers to disturb his life. He has trouble keeping a housekeeper–he's so crabby that they leave before a year is up. This sounds consistent with the Holmes of Conan Doyle's stories, but in this novel we are allowed to see more of the complexity of his thoughts, his care for others, his confusion in emotionally difficult situations, his deftness in some situations and clumsiness in others. Near the end of the story, an angry woman asks him, “What would you know about love?” and while we have sympathy with her, it's also clear that the people Holmes meets have difficulty letting him be an ordinary person instead of the hero who knows all from the stories.

This is a delicate, beautifully written book about existential loneliness and what fuels a person through life.