Holmes confronts the Giant Rat of Sumatra
This is the third Sherlockian book by Paul Gilbert and he seems to have hit his stride with this novel. His earlier collections of shorter stories showed ?growing pains? as he worked with his writing techniques. In this novel his prose is balanced and well edited and his characters are firmly developed and consistent.
The story begins with the arrival of the ?Matilda Briggs,? a steam-powered, tea packet from India, which appears one morning at an unassigned dock in London. It is two days late and missing all its crewmembers other than a dying ?cabin boy.? Holmes is called to investigate by the Insurers and by Inspector Lestrade. His findings are cryptic at best and require examining both the ship and the cadaver of the ?cabin boy.? To complete the preliminary investigation, Holmes and Watson interview the manager of the shipping line that owns the ship.
As Holmes and Watson return to Baker Street, they find that a new client is awaiting them in their rooms, being fed tea by Mrs. Hudson. He has letters from his famous explorer father and wants Holmes to verify the contents and to find his father. This task turns into a marathon of reading and discussing the letters and the father?s adventures, which have taken him to the Dutch East Indies.
The two cases progress slowly, tangling into one another. The ?cabin boy? is discovered to have been killed in a most peculiar fashion. The logs and manifests of the ship are missing and the explorer?s path seems to be taking him to the same ports as the ?Matilda Briggs? left. The journey appears to be as much philosophical as physical and its narration from the letters seems to weigh heavily on the son
The nature of the Giant Rat and the purpose of the ?Matilda Briggs? are eventually uncovered, much to the surprise of all concerned. In the process, Holmes explores the techniques for meditation he learned during his ?hiatus? and Lestrade is given a glimpse of the larger world that surrounds Metropolitan London.
This is a well-written, complex novel. It certainly hangs together and provides glimpses of some extraordinary lives and events. Holmes appears to be ?softening? somewhat as he grows older. His temper fits and biting sarcasm are appearing less frequently and he seems to be growing a true awareness of other people, but only just a bit of one.
Reviewed by: Philip K. Jones, May, 2011
