Holmes Entangled. Gordon
McAlpine. Prometheus Books. March 2018. 191 pp. ISBN#: 9781633882072.
Jorge
Luis Borges hires a private investigator in Buenos Aires, Argentina to read an
unpublished manuscript with the title of “Uncertainty,” purportedly written by
Sherlock Holmes. Since he found the
manuscript, Borges has narrowly escaped being shot and he wants to know who
attempted to kill him and why. So begins
a tale that contains other stories and associations by famous writers such as Edgar
Allen Poe and Ernest Hemingway.
Our
story begins with Sherlock Holmes living incognito as a famous physicist. It seems Holmes has been studying and
lecturing at Oxford University and other institutions of higher learning and
does not want to be found. Imagine his
shock when a “middling” author, Arthur Conan Doyle, appears at Holmes’
residence, saying he knows his real identity because he was informed of his
name and residence at a séance in which a living Prime Minister, Stanley
Baldwin, appears to give Doyle the information about Sherlock Holmes. Seances
are where dead people appear to the living, correct? So what is this frightening phenomenon and
what is the case that Doyle asks Sherlock to help solve?
Then
begins what just might be the last known case of the famous Sherlock
Holmes. It brings the reader into the
relatively new field of quantum mechanics which we learn is far older than
previously known. Rather it involves
investigations and experiments with the appearance of humans in “parallel
worlds.” It would be of no great import
if the mystery were just about the science of inquiry, but murders and physical
attacks begin to occur with anyone associated with this subject.
The
story is fascinating but the writing is frequently difficult to follow, yet
worth the effort. An interest sideline
within the story concerns Holmes’ comments about his late buddy, Watson, whom
Holmes claims was “stuck” in the Victorian world and thus did not reflect the
true personality of Holmes.
Holmes Entangled is a fascinating read both as a mystery
and as an introduction to the world of quantum mechanics. The final scene closes with a shocking
presence! Enjoy the romp through another complex historical mystery!
