Nicholas Meyer's pastiches always sound like weird fan fiction - Sherlock Holmes meets Sigmund Freud, Sherlock Holmes meets Bram Stoker (or rather breaks in his flat) and in this case: Sherlock Holmes meets the Phantom of the Opera - but they always manage to make a great and authentic Sherlock Holmes adventure. The Canary Trainer is no exception to that. Meyer captures the spirit and essence of Doyles iconic stories perfectly while simultaneously peeking behind the facade of Sherlock Holmes and making him seem more human, giving the character more depth. In this case we see a Sherlock Holmes who does make mistakes - he errs repeatedly in this story. Which, if you ask me, is quite refreshing, because the Sherlock-Holmes-is-always-right-and-can-foresee-everything-theme does get a bit old sometimes.
The end of the book is a little disappointing though, because there are some loose ends. The conclusion is not very satisfying. But I guess in this case 'the journey is the destination'.