The Strange Case of the Dutch Painter

In the aftermath of Sherlock Holmes’s death, Dr. John Watson finds an amazing document--the Lermolieff manuscript.

Paris, 1890. When Sherlock Holmes finds himself chasing an art dealer through the streets of Paris, he’s certain he’s smoked out one of the principals of a cunning forgery ring responsible for the theft of some of the Louvre’s greatest masterpieces. But for once, Holmes is dead wrong. He doesn’t know that the dealer, Theo Van Gogh, is rushing to the side of his brother, who lies dying of a gunshot wound in Auvers. He doesn’t know that the dealer’s brother is a penniless misfit artist named Vincent, known to few and mourned by even fewer.

Officialdom pronounces the death a suicide, but a few minutes at the scene convinces Holmes it was murder. And he’s bulldog-determined to discover why a penniless painter who harmed no one had to be killed–and who killed him. Who could profit from Vincent’s death? How is the murder entwined with his own forgery investigation?

Holmes must retrace the last months of Vincent’s life, testing his mettle against men like the brutal Paul Gauguin and the secretive Toulouse-Lautrec, all the while searching for the girl Olympia, whom Vincent named with his dying breath. She can provide the truth, but can anyone provide the proof? From the madhouse of St. Remy to the rooftops of Paris, Holmes hunts a killer—while the killer hunts him.

Reviews

Timothy Miller’s second ‘Strange Case’ novel features a witty amalgamation of Sherlockian investigation with historical oddities.

-Claire Rhoden, Historical Novel Society

Their inquiry takes them through the Parisian art world in the waning nineteenth century and features encounters outlandishand entertaining. Holmes investigates van Gogh's suicide and crosses swords—literally—with Gauguin, while Lermolieff gets the world's first electroshock treatment. It's a fine tale, stylishly written.

— Don Crinklaw, Booklist

While the book contains deft Holmesian plotting and a plethora of historicaltidbits, the real draw for me is the extraordinary voice of Miller’s narrator:hilariously pompous, erudite, and evocative. The sheer riot of his descriptions captivates and invites readers to linger over the sentences rather than rush headlong through the story.

--Trish McEnulty, Historical Novel Society

I hope Miller continues . . . he had great fun with Eliza Doolittle . . . and it will be interesting to see what his next book's about.

--Peter Blau, Sherlockians and Doyleans.