Unlike so many other new Holmes stories, this one doesn't bother with the folderol of pretending to find an "undiscovered" manuscript, it just jumps right into the story.

It's an over-the-top adventure in the grand tradition, with secret agents and globe-spanning threats--and a Watson who is both bumbling and indispensible. It doesn't try to impress with its knowledge of Holmes arcana, it just wants to tell a good story. ( )

"in the great tradition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle", a load of rubbish.
"A dying man arrives at 221B Baker Street, an eccentric burglar scandalizes Sussex, the legendary sword of Mohammed surfaces, then disappears...
This sends Sherlock Holmes and Watson on a strange odyssey, from Baker Street to the back canals of Venice, from Berlin to exotic Egypt and the Valley of the Kings - in search of the sacred sword and a false prophet who threatens to trigger a Holy War in the Middle East." - Pinnacle Books jacket notes. I never like these pastiches as much as the original Conan Doyle stories. Those by Nicholas Meyer are much better than this one. ( )