The catchy title is misleading because this collection of 12 previously published articles by New Yorker staff writer Grann (who also wrote The Lost City of Z, 2009) has only one story that has anything to do with Holmes.Readers expecting true crime may also be disappointed because Granns work here ranges from several actual crime cases through articles that have only a nod toward mystery, as in Life is Strange.

However, Granns in-depth reporting and vivid writing make this worthwhile reading for lovers of good journalism.The Holmes story, Mysterious Circumstances, traces the fate of a foremost Holmes scholar, about to bid on a lost archive of Arthur Conan Doyles, found garroted to death, surrounded by Sherlock Holmes mysteries.Another story, The Chameleon, examines a master imposters life.

Perhaps the most gripping is Which Way Did He Run?in which the only firefighter of Engine Company 40 to survive the World Trade Center bombing, an amnesia victim, tries to piece together whether he acted as a hero or as a coward.