When young Joseph Adler enters a small Dorchester bookstore to sell a rare old copy of The Strand Magazine - within its pages is discovered what appears to be a sheet torn from the diary of Sherlock Holmes' friend, Doctor Watson. The implications are incredible. When Adler is found dead, it is up to bookstore owner Thomas Jones, joined by his young friend, Juan Marcano, to search for clues and solve the murder in the style of their hero, Sherlock Holmes. But the older man, nicknamed Viejo, by the cocky younger Juan, have taken on more than they can handle, as they deal with tough cops and tougher drug dealers to solve the case. The discovery of an old tin dispatch box that apparently belonged to Watson leads to a wild case full of mystery, murder and revenge. It is a rousing tale in the best tradition of the Great Detective with a new team of amateur sleuths, in a novel that captures the spirit of Doyle's classic Holmes stories in a modern setting.