description:  An introduction states two canonical Holmes adventures were fabrications. They're The Final Problem, in which he apparently died at Moriarty's hands, &amp; The Empty House, wherein he reappeared after a 3-year absence &amp; revealed he hadn't been killed after all. The Seven-percent Solution's Watson explains that they were published to conceal the truth concerning his "Great Hiatus". The novel begins in 1891 as Holmes 1st informs Watson of that Prof. James Moriarty is a "Napoleon of Crime". The novel presents this view as nothing more than the fevered imagining of his cocaine-sodden mind. It further states that Moriarty was the childhood mathematics tutor of Sherlock &amp; his brother Mycroft. Moriarty meets Watson, denies he's a criminal &amp; reluctantly threatens to sue Holmes for slander unless the accusations cease. The novel's heart consists of an account of Holmes’ recovery from his addiction. Watson &amp; Mycroft induce him to go to Vienna, where Watson introduces him to Sigmund Freud. Using a treatment consisting largely of hypnosis, Freud helps Holmes shake off his addiction &amp; delusions about Moriarty, but neither he nor Watson can revive his spirit. What finally does the job is a mystery. One of the doctor's patients is kidnapped. Holmes’ curiosity is aroused. The case takes the 3 on a breakneck train ride across Austria in pursuit of a foe who's about to launch a European war. Holmes remarks during the denouement that they've succeeded only in postponing conflict, not preventing it. He would later become involved in a "European War" in 1914. A final hypnosis session reveals a key traumatic event in Holmes' childhood. His father murdered his adulterous mother, then committed suicide. After Moriarty broke the news to him &amp; Mycroft, he then became a malignant figure in Holmes' unconscious. Freud &amp; Watson conclude that Holmes, consciously unable to face the emotional ramifications of this event, has repressed them while finding outlets in fighting evil, pursuing justice, &amp; many of his famous eccentricities, including a cocaine habit. They decide not to discuss these subjects, believing he wouldn't accept them &amp; it would needlessly complicate his recovery. Watson returns to London. Holmes decides to travel alone a bit, requesting Watson to claim that he'd been killed. Thus the famed "Great Hiatus" is preserved. It's during these travels that the events of The Canary Trainer sequel occur.
language: English
title: Seven Per Cent Solution
titlecomplete: Seven Per Cent Solution
characters: Sigmund Freud, Sherlock Holmes, James Moriarty, Dr. John Watson
genres: Fiction, Historical, Mystery, Thriller, Detective, Mystery Thriller, Classics, Historical Mystery, Historical Fiction, Crime
ratings_count: 23184
series: Sherlock Holmes Pastiche by Nicholas Meyer
awards: awardedAt: 157795200000
name: CWA Gold Dagger
publisher: Hodder Stoughton (London)