A Slight Trick of the Mind

"Mitch Cullin has written a loving, sad tale of Sherlock Holmes in the era of Hiroshima, a Holmes who is not entirely sure of his powers, but who has come into his own humanity. When I was a child I believed that Holmes was a real person. After reading A Slight Trick of the Mind, I know he is." -- Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife It is 1947, and the long-retired Sherlock Holmes, now ninety-three, lives in a remote Sussex farmhouse, where his memories and intellect begin to go adrift. He lives with a housekeeper and her young son, Roger, whose patient, respectful demeanor stirs paternal affection in Holmes. Holmes has settled into the routine of tending his apiary, writing in journals, and grappling with the diminishing powers of his razor-sharp mind when Roger comes upon a case hitherto unknown. It is that of a Mrs. Keller, the long-ago object of Holmes' deep -- and never acknowledged -- infatuation. As Mitch Cullin weaves together Holmes' hidden past, his poignant struggle to retain mental acuity, and his unlikely relationship with Roger, Holmes is transformed from the aloof mythic figure into an ordinary man, confronting and acquiescing to emotions he has resisted his entire life. This subtle and wise work is more than just a reimagining of a classic character. It is a profound meditation on the faultiness of memory and how, as we grow older, the way we see the world is inevitably altered. Mitch Cullin is the author of six books, including Tideland Branches, a novel-in-verse. He lives in California's San Gabriel Valley, where in addition to writing fiction he collaborates on various projects with the artist Peter I. Chang. Reader Simon Jones has acted on Broadway, in films, and on television, including the role of Arthur Dent in the radio and television versions of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.