What’s not to like about a Sherlock Holmes mystery. He is a genius detective and uses his keen powers of observation to unravel the deepest of mysteries. When he is presented a problem to solve, he is like a blood hound on a scent and never stops until he has found his quarry. The author has highlighted this and many other talents of Holmes in this wonderful tale of cat and mouse.
When a group of cameos, carved by the famous Michelangelo, is stolen from the Vatican, the Pope sends a courier to Bakers Street in London to employ Holmes to recover them. It is stressed to Holmes that this is a delicate matter and he must tell no one about the robbery because the cameos have been hidden for 400 years. They were carved to represent the seven deadly sins and images of members of the Curia at that time were used. If the public were to know of these cameos, it could cause a scandal that would shake the foundations of the church.
One of the things I liked about this book is that the story felt different. I liked that the setting was not England and that it involved a religious artifact. The author was very imaginative and I appreciated that he took a well known and loved character and brought him to life and gave him an interesting challenge.
I also loved all the historical information in the book. There were little tidbits I enjoyed, such as the origin of the saying, “Don’t buy a pig in a poke.” To the historical information about the two time periods in which the story takes place.
The pace of the book was excellent and I loved how I was pulled into both the 1901 world of Holmes but also the 1501 world of Michelangelo. The author moved the story seamlessly through both time periods and weaved intrigue into both. I was totally hooked from the start and read it in only two days.
Here is another example of wanting half stars for ratings. If I could I would give this book a 4.5 rating. Since I listened to the audio, and I had to take into account both the narration and story into my score, I choose four stars as my overall score (I reserve a five for books I loved and could read again). All in all, it is an enjoyable read and I recommend it to all lovers of Holmes mysteries and mysteries in general.
The narration was good. I liked the tonal quality and the speaking voice of the narrator. I appreciated that he tried to capture the essence of each character. One very small negative thing was the laugh, it did not always fit all the characters and by the end got on my nerves. I know it is kind of being nitpicky but I would have preferred no laughter. I give the narration 4 stars.
I received a free audio version of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. For more of my reviews, and author interviews, see my blog at www.thespineview.com. ( )

More contrived than clever. Alternating stories of Holmes and Michelangelo got annoying. ( )