The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols

"this peculiar incident" [SIGN]

He was almost single-handedly responsible for the revival of interest of Sherlock Holmes in the 1970s with The Seven Percent Solution. Now, 45 years after his first novel about Sherlock Holmes, Nicholas Meyer, BSI ("A Fine Morocco Case") returns with The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols.

The case takes us to January of 1905, when Holmes and Watson are summoned by Mycroft to undertake a clandestine investigation. A British Secret Service agent was found floating in the Thames with a manuscript smuggled into England that cost her life. The pages are supposedly the minutes of the meeting of a secret group intent on taking over the world: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Holmes and Watson are sent to determine whether it's a hoax, what the perpetrators are trying to accomplish, and why they want to keep their work out of the hands of the Secret Service.

What's different this time around, some 19 years after his previous Holmes novel? Where did he get his inspiration? We talk to Nick about these things, plus his view of storytelling. To him, it has to be in service of something larger than a gimmick, and paraphrasing Victor Hugo, he said, "There's nothing so irresistible as an idea whose time has come."

Plus, be sure to tune in for the latest Canonical Couplet to see if you won. We have another opportunity for you to win a prize in the latest round.

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Links

• This episode: ihose.co/ihose178
• The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols (Amazon)
• Nicholas Meyer (Wikipedia)
• @NicholasMQ (Twitter)
• The Seven Percent Solution
• The West End Horror
• The Canary Trainer
• Full book tour schedule
• Previous episodes mentioned on this show:
• • Episode 85: Nicholas Meyer
  • Trifles Episode 97: Sherlock Holmes and Children

Music Credit Air Prelude by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100337 Artist: http://incompetech.com/

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Transcript

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