I enjoyed Chabon’s The Mysteries of Pittsburgh when it burst onto the literary scene in the 1980s.
Reading The Final Solution, I discovered something important that Chabon and I share: we are both Sherlockians. That is, we share a passion for the Sherlock Holmes stories.
The title The Final Solution evokes Conan Doyle’s “The Final Problem,” as well as Nicholas Meyer’s famous Holmes pastiche The Seven-Per-Cent Solution.
In the English countryside lives a brilliant, retired eighty-nine-year-old detective who is also a beekeeper. The unnamed detective happens to use a magnifying glass, and he is in a league above the local police. It is through his sharp eyes that we see all the elements of an impossible-to-put-down whodunit. Let’s call the detective Holmes.
In this story set in 1944, Linus, a mute Jewish boy who has fled Nazi Germany, is a deep presence and, besides Holmes, the most vivid character, despite never speaking. Linus’s close companion is an extraordinary African grey parrot named Bruno, who reels off strings of numbers that appear to be the key to something. Someone is willing to kill for the bird, and now the parrot has disappeared.
The writing is sharp and evocative. The characters’ voices are authentic, and each is easy to visualize.
The Final Solution: A Story of Detection by Michael Chabon reminded me of the best of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I couldn’t wait to find out what the numbers meant and who did what to whom in the dramatic conclusion. Unfortunately, I did not feel fully satisfied. The mystery is resolved; we do learn who killed whom. But the ending left me with questions. You should judge for yourself. It’s worth the effort to get there.
Find books by Michael Chabon on Audiobooks, Amazon/Audible, and Bookstores who are not Amazon.
You might enjoy the Some of the Best Mysteries and Thrillers Ever.
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