Historical crime novel set in County WEXFORD
A Sherlock Holmes Locked Room mystery – with a difference, set near CORFU
24th November 2025
The Final Problem by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, a Sherlock Holmes locked room mystery – with as difference. Set near Corfu.
Translated from the Spanish by Frances Riddle.
The concept of The Final Problem works really well. A disparate group of tourists on a yacht are caught in a raging storm off the coast of Corfu. They have to abandon ship and take shelter in a small hotel on the fictional small island of Utakos.
One of the guests – a lady travelling with her companion – is murdered in a manor made to look like suicide. Another guest is Ormond Basil. He is now in his twilight years but used to be a very big Hollywood star who played the renowned detective Sherlock Holmes in fifteen major films. Physically he looks like the illustrations of Sherlock Homes in the Strand Magazine, in which many of the original stories were published. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of all the stories and characters, including how the mysteries were solved. It seems obvious to the other guests that he is Sherlock Holmes and should lead the investigation pending the arrival of the Corfu Police (who cannot reach Utakos in the storm). He protests he is ‘only’ an actor, but to no avail – and secretly he is absolutely up for the challenge. Another guest is Paco Foxá, a somewhat jaded Spanish writer of cheap detective fiction. He fits naturally into the role of Watson to Ormond’s Holmes… They begin interviewing the other guests and hotel staff. Then there are two more murders, the killer is playing with them. Clues (both genuine and planted) abound. We progress through the book to a very strong denouement.
What is so good about the book is the way in which it mimics the investigative traits of the Sherlock Holmes 
books and how much Ormond and Paco (or is it Arturo Pérez-Reverte?) know and admire about Conan Doyle’s work. The Final Problem is full of quotes and insights from the originals.
The Final Problem is a locked room mystery with a difference. It is a good story, well written and well translated, in which Arturo has many opportunities to mine his inner Conan Doyle.
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