The Wilhelm Conspiracy

A London banker is found dead in a disreputable neighborhood, and hours later a charred body turns up on a Dover beach. Both deaths draw Sherlock Holmes's attention at the same moment the Secretary of War delivers catastrophic news: a new British superweapon has been stolen on the eve of war. Holmes's recently discovered daughter Lucy James, an actress who has inherited the family talent for deduction, insists on joining the investigation despite her father's objections, and the trail leads to Germany and a confrontation with Kaiser Wilhelm II himself.

Edward Petherbridge is a natural fit for Victorian-era mystery, bringing the theatrical confidence the story requires and giving Holmes the right combination of arrogance and brilliance. Lucy James emerges as a distinct presence in her own right, not merely a reflection of her father, and Petherbridge draws the distinction clearly. The cameos from Tesla and the royals are handled with the light touch the material warrants.