20 August 2025.
ISBN: 978-0-85495708-8 (PB)
The story is from the memoirs of Arthur Stamford, the young medical man who was the predecessor of Dr Watson and assisted Holmes with his early investigations. It is 1878 and Stamford knows that it is inevitable that his friendship with Holmes is on the verge of change. Holmes’ studies at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital embrace a wide field of knowledge and are open-ended, but Stamford has just passed his final exams and has been offered the post of junior surgeon at Barts. Stamford is delighted to accept this new post, which will involve accommodation, albeit basic, and being on call whenever he is required. It will mean that he is independent of his parents, who are far from wealthy and have made many sacrifices to facilitate their son’s career.
Since he first started to assist Holmes, Stamford has allowed his friend to use his lodgings to interview his clients, and has always dropped everything to accompany him on his investigations. Now he is struggling to find the right way to warn Holmes that all of that will have to change, because he intends to concentrate on his medical career and save what money he can, so that, in the remote future, he can purchase his own practice. However, when an eminent solicitor that has employed Holmes before asks them to take on another commission, Stamford decides to join his friend for what appears to be a reasonably straightforward case, before he breaks the news of the imminent changes.
Ineson, a successful and respected solicitor, is concerned because one of his wealthiest and most important clients, Mrs Beauregard, the widow of a wealthy financier, is determined to make a major and potentially unwise investment, and Ineson asks Holmes if he will assess the validity of the proposed investment. Mrs Beauregard has become interested in an invention that is being developed by Dr Baumann, a Swiss scientist, who claims that he can create a machine that produces vast amounts of energy by combining water and air. Such an invention that would be of immense value to society, and extremely profitable to investors. Holmes is interested because he has heard of similar claims by an American inventor, John Keely, whose work has failed to impress the scientists who have assessed it. Keely has been called a fraud and Holmes is intrigued to investigate whether Dr Baumann’s invention has any greater validity.
Holmes and Stamford travel down to a watermill near Waltham Abbey where John MacKenzie Young has allowed Baumann to use part of his toolmaker factory to develop his machine. Ineson has arranged for them to attend a demonstration that is being held for investors by Baumann and his mechanic Mr Gorrie. Although the demonstration appears to be successful, Baumann will not allow anybody to examine the mechanism because he claims that he has not yet patented his design and is afraid it will be copied. He also claims that the machine will be ready for full use within six months, which seems to make his mechanic very nervous. As well as investors who are interested in profits, there are several earnest investors who believe that this new invention will be of great benefit to humanity. Chief amongst these is Mrs Beauregard who lectures Holmes and Stamford about how Baumann’s invention channels something called the etheric force, and she announces with pride that Dr Baumann has told her that she is sensitive to channelling this force. Stamford and Holmes realise that Mrs Beauregard is infatuated by the inventor, who has gone out of his way to charm her and overwhelm her good sense, and it is going to be difficult if not impossible to convince her that he may be a fraud. Stamford does not have the technical knowledge to evaluate Baumann’s claims, but he can tell that Holmes is sceptical.
When they report back to Ineson, he asks them to continue with the investigation. Holmes and Stamford stay in Waltham Abbey and, almost immediately, things start to happen: a mysterious disappearance, violent death, and an exciting encounter with Pinkerton agents. Stamford has always maintained that he is not a courageous man, but when his doctor’s instincts are aroused, he surprises himself with his brave and resolute actions. Stamford is aware that, as his circumstances change, this case may prove to be one of the last that he and Holmes work on together, and it is certainly one of the most complex investigations they have undertaken, and potentially the most dangerous.
Sherlock Holmes
and the Power Principle is the ninth book
featuring Holmes and Stamford. The narrating character is very engaging, and he
presents Holmes in a likeable light. The plot is complex and interesting, and
the historical details are fascinating and convincing, vividly illustrating the
struggles that Victorian society encountered as it attempted to assimilate
technological and scientific inventions and match them to the teachings of the
Church. This is a very enjoyable read, which I recommend.
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Reviewer: Carol Westron
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