The year is 1920… The Great War has finally ended. Death and destruction have taken their inevitable toll and now hang like a heavy fog over the streets of London. Churches are full to the brim once more, but a new phenomenon has raised its head too, Spiritualism.
Meanwhile Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has another matter to consider, to fulfill his obligation to The Strand Magazine he must write one final installment. Unfortunately he is suffering from a stubborn case of writers block. Inspiration appears in the form of an invitation from his erstwhile friend Harry Houdini. Doyle’s creative juices begin to stir as he conjures up a cast of strange and dubious characters to populate what could be his last book, each has a hidden secret which only the creator of Sherlock Holmes could uncover. Murder is off the agenda but everything else is on the cards.
The action primarily takes place in Doyle’s study, where he is joined by his ever faithful housekeeper.
Sir Arthur’s imagination takes us to The Fox sister’s parlor, in which we are invited to witness their rather idiotic attempts to perform a fake séance, with the help, would you believe of the local vicar? Finally we arrive at Houdini’s library where the great escapologist has his own ideas on how to prove whether life exists after death?
Amidst all this Doyle weaves a tale of blackmail, deception and criminality, but will he finish his book in time? Join us and find out.
