While a young medical student at Edinburgh, Arthur Conan Doyle famously studied under the remarkable Dr Joseph Bell. Taking this as a starting point, David Pirie has woven a compelling thriller which partners Bell and Doyle as pioneers in criminal investigation, exploring the strange underworld of violence and sexual hypocrisy running below the surface of the Victorian era. The Patient's Eyes moves from Edinburgh and the strange circumstances surrounding Doyle's meeting with the remarkable Joseph Bell to Southsea where he begins his first medical practice. There he is puzzled by the symptoms presented by Heather Grace, a sweet young woman whose parents have died tragically several years before. Heather has a strange eye complaint, but is also upset by visions of a phantom cyclist who vanishes as soon as he is followed. This enigma, however, is soon forgotten as Doyle finds himself embroiled in more threatening events - including the murder of a rich Spanish businessman - events that call for the intervention of the eminent Dr Bell.
But despite coming to Doyle's aid, perversely Dr Bell considers the murder of Senor Garcia a rather unimportant diversion from the far more sinister matter, which has brought him south: the matter of the patient's eyes and the solitary cyclist...
It might have been a better idea for me to read more Sherlock Holmes stories before reading this fictional take on Arthur Conan Doyle and his supposed inspiration, Dr. Joseph Bell. I've read a handful, here and there, over the years, so I recognized Holmes' famed methodology in Bell, but I do wonder if I missed any references due to not being more well-read. I should have read my two complete volumes of Sherlock Holmes stories first, but those are packed away in storage, and this book was sitting on the shelf in the library beckoning to me.
Regardless of all that, it was an intriguing mystery. A little disjointed as far as the flow of the story, but pretty solid overall. There are two more books that follow this one up, and I plan on starting on them right away.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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25 August, 2008:
Finished reading
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25 August, 2008:
Reviewed