The Year of High Treason

This book is the third Sherlockian publication by this author. Others include his collection of novellas about Holmes and Watson in India titled Holmes of the Raj and a play, “Sherlock Holmes and the Pirates of the Horn,” which was published in his collection, Different Millennia: Three Plays. Raj and Treason are available on several book services. Abebooks, Biblio and Alibris.This book is a sharp contrast to his Holmes of the Raj, which I reviewed some years ago. Where Raj is a celebration of the richness and splendor of India and its people, Treason is a celebration of 19th Century popular heroes hanging on into the 20th Century. The story involves discovery of a threat to the King-Emperor at the 1911 Durbar, to be held in Delhi. This event attracts all of the rulers of parts of the Subcontinent to one spot and draws most of the heroes and prominent people of the age as well, for various reasons.I am fortunate in that I have most of the relevant books into my library, so I did not have to check elsewhere for the Raffles stories of E. W. Hornung, the Arsene Lupin tales of Maurice LeBlanc and the Tarzan sagas of Edgar Rice Burroughs. I also had both of the ‘Streltzau’ books by Anthony Hope and most of the ‘Fu Manchu’ books by Sax Rohmer. I couldn’t place my copy of Michael Strogoff: Courier of the Czar, but I have read it and remembered its ‘flavor.’ I was surprised that none of H. Rider Haggard’s heroes showed up as well.This deluge of heroes and villains is overwhelming. Each segment employs characteristic narrative styles, with references to earlier adventures and acquaintances. The problem is that people are often not what or who they seem. Separating friend from foe is more than difficult, it is impossible. Familiar characters wander in and out of the tale and one is never quite sure just which face or ‘avatar’ each is wearing. Indeed, this is a new Century and Victorian stereotypes no longer apply. The shadow of the Great War looms over all and the participants each view its onset from their own, limited positions and experiences. All have interests they wish to protect and all can only see bits and pieces of each others views and, finally, none can see the total upheaval that the War will bring to their world.This book would be a romp through nostalgia for people who love these icons of Victorian fiction were it not for that impending ‘East Wind’ that will blow away so much and so many. In seven years, the world will have changed out of recognition and new heroes and villains will be required. Some of this sadness permeates what would otherwise be a fine story of ‘Good Guys’ and ‘Bad Guys.’ As it is, we are forced to realize that it is a world of half-good and half-bad guys AND gals.Reviewed by: Philip K. Jones, March, 2011