There are actually two stories here, the first of which is okay, the second of which is not so great. The first story finds Sherlock Holmes enjoying a quiet retirement after WWI. He does leave his apiary long enough to take on a case brought to him by Harry Houdini, who is trying to expose a pair of spiritualists who have suckered Arthur Conan Doyle and his wife into believing that they can communicate with the dead. This one's kind of fun.

The second story is relegated to the world of "what-if," in which Holmes & Watson are visited by Bess Houdini after her husband's untimely death. She wants the duo to prove that Houdini was murdered. Holmes and Watson have to journey to America, then find themselves in trouble in Hungary as the case takes on some bizarre twists. Not quite as good as the first story, but it was still a fun read. ( )