Sherlock Holmes and the Eisendorf Enigma

2019
Author:

Larry Millett

A murderer who eluded him in Munich draws an aging Sherlock Holmes into a monstrous mystery in small-town Minnesota in 1920

Sherlock Holmes is preparing to leave Minnesota and return to England when a note slips under his hotel room door, from a vicious murderer he’d nearly captured in Munich in 1892, announcing his relocation to Eisendorf, a tiny village near Rochester, Minnesota. Holmes must match wits with a fiendish opponent who taunts him right up to a final, explosive confrontation. 

"I always look forward to a Larry Millett book. I’ve read every one of them." —Steve Thayer, New York Times bestselling author of The Weatherman

Dogged by depression, doubt, and—as a trip to the Mayo Clinic has revealed—emphysema, 66-year-old Sherlock Holmes is preparing to return to England when he receives a shock: a note slipped under his hotel room door, from a vicious murderer he’d nearly captured in Munich in 1892. The murderer, known as the Monster of Munich, announces that he has relocated to Eisendorf, a tiny village near the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

If Holmes is not what he once was, the same can be said for Eisendorf: once a thriving community founded by German idealists but now a dying town with only forty residents—two of whom have, indeed, died recently under highly mysterious circumstances. Replete with all the gothic richness of Larry Millett’s earlier Holmes novels, Sherlock Holmes and the Eisendorf Enigma links events in 1892 Germany with those in small-town Minnesota in 1920 in a double mystery that tests the aging detective’s mettle—and the reader’s nerve—as never before.

Guided by Eisendorf’s peculiar archivist and taunted by the Monster, Holmes finds himself drawn into the town’s dark history of violence and secrecy, and into the strange tunnels that underscore the old flour mill where answers, and grievous danger, lie in wait. No longer the cool, flawless logician of times past, Holmes must nonetheless match wits with a fiendish opponent who taunts him right up to a final, explosive confrontation.

Larry Millett is the author of twenty books, including seven mystery novels—mostly set in Minnesota—featuring Sherlock Holmes and St. Paul detective Shadwell Rafferty. A longtime reporter and architecture critic for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Millett is also the author of numerous books on architecture.

I always look forward to a Larry Millett book. I’ve read every one of them.

Steve Thayer, New York Times best-selling author of The Weatherman

Larry Millett breathes new life into the classic character of Sherlock Holmes in this intriguing, home-grown mystery. Sherlock Holmes and the Eisendorf Enigma is both elegant and entertaining.

Allen Eskens, author of The Life We Bury

Millett does a superb job of portraying Holmes without the familiar Watsonian narration and creating a creepy setting for his inquiries.

Publishers Weekly

Millett’s descriptions are lush and rich, and anyone who likes to craft a good visual in their head will appreciate his attention to detail with the setting. Minnesota is a beautiful place, and the author’s descriptions create a written picture that will match any photos you pull up on the Internet or in a book.

The John H Watson Society

A good adventure, told with detailed attention to historical and cultural plausibilities.

Reviewingtheevidence

Millett’s knowledge of local history and topographical information makes this as fascinating and plausible as any story set in traditional London.

The District Messenger