Publication Date: February 10
Publisher: Mulholland Books
Pages: 320
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 5/5
The Final Problem is a wonderfully clever meta mystery that I will be thinking about for a long time to come. This book takes place in the 1960’s on a Greek island during a storm that has cut the guests of a hotel off from the rest of the world. When a murder takes place the group decides that our protagonist, Ormond Basil, who is a mostly retired actor, famous for portraying Sherlock Holmes in the movies, should take the lead in investigating while they await the storm ending and the police coming.
Ormond was a fantastic character to follow. Perez-Reverte did an incredible job of making old Hollywood come to life through him. Not only is Ormond known for playing Sherlock Holmes he also embodied him perfectly. I was a huge Holmes lover when I was in high school and reading this book reinvigorated that love for me. There was also a thriller author on the island, Foxa, who was Ormond’s Watson and their banter and almost cat and mouse way of interacting and investigating together kept me on the edge of my seat.
Not only were they investigating a murder but they were also dismantling the mystery novel and movie. As a huge fan of mysteries dating back to elementary school (thank you Nancy Drew) I found all of their talk fascinating. Meta mystery novels seem to be the newest thing taking over publishing and this one is hands down my favorite. I was so swept up in trying to figure out the clues and following along with the “rules” of the genre that I completely missed the ending. It was such a clever way to tell the story and I will forever remember my joy at realizing what was happening at the end.
Being an Old Hollywood actor Ormond knows plenty of famous actors and movies and that was a heavy part of the story. In fact, I do think it messed with the pacing of the mystery but it also helped to capture the time and place this story was taking place in. Because of that though, I do think that this book won’t be for everyone and others won’t be as enthralled with the story as I was. However, I’m also a fan of Old Hollywood and the glamour and stories from that time period so I equally enjoyed those parts as well.
While I was in the middle of this story I actually paused my reading to see what else this author has written and was pleasantly surprised that I have read a book from him before. Which is slightly funny since it is blurbed on the book cover and synopsis but I must have forgotten. I rated Club Dumas by him 3 stars but I did really love the way t hat story was laid out and I am discovering that I love the way Perez-Reverte plots out his books. For that reason I am making it my mission this year to read more of his backlist.
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