This is an excellent little detective story. What is not to love about 1) An old man who keeps bees yet has an innate knowledge of people and their motivations. 2) The love between a boy and his pet - his unique pet. 3) An espionage, WWII, secret code, mystery. All this is wrapped in a short, fast-paced little gem. Michael York is an excellent reader of this if you get the audio version.

posted Aug 15, 2009 at 9:33AM

This is an excellent little detective story. What is not to love about 1) An old man who keeps bees yet has an innate knowledge of people and their motivations. 2) The love between a boy and his pet - his unique pet. 3) An espionage, WWII, secret code, mystery. All this is wrapped in a short, fast-paced little gem. Michael York is an excellent reader of this if you get the audio version.

posted Aug 15, 2009 at 9:36AM

A very nice look at an elderly Sherlock Holmes who maybe infirmed, but his mind is still sharp as Damascus steel.

posted Sep 11, 2009 at 1:03PM

What do an eighty-nine-year-old detective-turned-beekeeper and a nine-year old Jewish boy from Nazi Germany have in common? A mystery, of course. The boy is young Linus Steinman, a refugee whose sole beloved possession is a gray African parrot named Bruno who speaks, sings, and quotes strings of numbers—all in German. When Bruno is stolen and a man is murdered, the beekeeping old man is moved to assist the local constabulary—but only because he wants to restore the bird to the boy. If he happens to solve the murder along the way, so be it. A cast of quirky characters and suspects dot the English countryside, and author Michael Chabon—Pulitzer Prize winner for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay—is spot-on in terms of style and tone in this slim but smart volume that pays homage to the literary tradition of detection that began so long ago with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes. The legendary investigator is never mentioned, but the hints that surround the long-legged, gaunt-faced “old man” range from tweed to pipes to magnifying glasses. There’s little doubt that this is no less than the great and dignified Holmes—worn and stretched by the years but no less sharp—who’s on the case. The murder becomes a matter of national security, with spies and secret codes abounding in the wake of World War II. Sophisticated and fun, The Final Solution is genuine Holmes.

posted Feb 5, 2010 at 12:18AM

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