The fascination with Sherlock Holmes has endured across time and generations. Fans cannot have enough of this great fictional detective and his associate, John Watson. More recently, their adventures have been adapted and recreated for television and cinema, sometimes with a very modern upgrade. Every spin-off has worked remarkably well, a testimony to the genius of Arthur Conan Doyle’s original creation. So it is that Holmes has been dragged into even more adventures, four of which have been penned by the authors of The Sherlock Holmes Connection, created specially for the reading pleasure of teens. The adventures in this book are set in two countries, India and Sweden, and span a period of over a century. Martin Widmark’s story is set in Stockholm towards the end of the First World War. The distraught 12-year old, Stefan, has just discovered that his mother, who was believed to have committed suicide, was actually murdered. Employed as an engineer, his mother was requested to build a machine that would assist in the cure of certain diseases.
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To her utter horror, she discovers a ghastly conspiracy where innocent lives were being staked at the altar of profit. Before her murder, she leaves behind clues across Stockholm, which Stefan is intent upon discovering, even as his own life stands threatened. The magnifying glass that he finds under the Christmas tree at home helps him on his quest. The second story brings the reader to India, 1976. Anushka Ravishankar weaves a thriller into the events of the Emergency. Varun’s parents have mysteriously packed him off to stay with their friends, while they themselves disappear. The bored youngster starts a Sherlock Detective Club with some of his new friends. They are mostly solving unimportant mysteries till a real one hits them— why did Varun’s parents disappear. Times are turbulent for journalists like Varun’s father. Not only are they being stopped from reporting truthfully, but being turned into criminals for doing so. Varun and his clever friend Jyotsna, discover a sheaf of recipes tucked away in his luggage, and while playing with a magnifying glass loaned to them by an elderly foreign lady, they stumble upon a world of secret codes that leads them to Varun’s parents. The third adventure takes the reader back to Sweden in the 1990s, but this time, the mystery takes place in the Swedish countryside. Julia is feeling like a misfit in the new town she has moved to along with her parents. Bustling, busy Stockholm gave her anonymous comfort, but here, she feels like everyone is scrutinizing her. Even the house they move into has an eerie air about it, making her feel like she is being watched constantly. A series of events lead her to befriend the odd little girl, Siri, and together, they retrieve a missing heirloom for a sweet old lady using a magnifying glass that has been loaned by her. The fourth story brings us to India, to a boys’ school full of, well, boisterous boys. A chemistry lab accident implicates a student in a possible police case, and there is fear of his arrest. But Hriday and his classmates stumble upon some information that throws light of criminal activity, involving a drug-cartel, taking place in the school premises. To their utter shock, the boys discover that quite a few of the teachers are involved, and conspiracies are being hatched in the staff room. The only way to get to the truth is to break quite a few school rules. In the process of breaking the rules, they bump into an elderly lady, who, instead of ratting them out, gives them a magnifying glass to help solve the case. The magnifying glass that appears in every adventure has the letters ‘S.H.’ inscribed on it’s elegant handle. It seems to appear, along with an elderly lady, wherever it’s need is felt. But is it the magnifying glass that solves the case? The old ladies in each story emphasize that the tools can only help when one is using one’s mind, much like Holmes himself did. But is Holmes the star of this story? Intriguingly enough, all of the elderly ladies go by the surname Watson. While the young detectives go around sniffing for clues, the unobtrusive Watsons are the ones leading them towards those clues, so imperceptibly that one could well imagine that the Watsons of the world had no role to play in the greatness of the Sherlocks of the world. That, by far, is the best mystery that the book unveils. The adventures are clever not just because of the thrills involved, but also for the social and political lessons woven into every story. In the times that we live in, where truth is frequently a casualty to cruel ideologies, power grabs, crime and a general incivility and callousness, it’s imperative that the young minds of country be able to access material that helps them identify and process these events for what they are. What better than to learn these things in the most fun way possible—through stories that speak to them. And finally, if the book succeeds in creating a whole new generation of Sherlock Holmes fans, then you are a better man than I, Gunga Din!