Sherlock Holmes has vanished and his trusty sidekick, Dr. John Watson, has been convicted of murder in The Crimes of Dr. Watson: An Interactive Sherlock Holmes Mystery (Quirk Books, 60 pages, $24.95), by John H. Watson, M.D., edited by Duane Swierczynski.
It's a clever, gimmicky, beautifully put together little mystery book that allows you, the reader, to solve the mystery that could save the innocent Dr. Watson from rotting in Coldbath Fields penitentiary.
In a letter to a "Colonel Harry" in Philadephia, Watson recounts everything he knows about the events leading up to his arrest. The book becomes interactive with the inclusion of facsimile clues such as a train schedule, telegram, newspaper article, matchbook and the complete text of "The FInal Problem," Watson's famous account of the death of Holmes.
The reader then gets to put his own powers of deductive reasoning to use by trying to solve the mystery. When you think you have it, you can unseal the final pages, which reveal the rest of the story.
Elementary, my dear Watsons!
