For those of us who adore the canon, there can never be enough Sherlock Holmes stories.

Most of us prefer those original tales penned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (in the voice of John H. Watson, M.D.), though we're quite willing to accept new adventures written by admiring imitators -- providing they show respect for the characters and don't stray too far from the voice and style of the master.

Nicholas Meyer published his first Holmes pastiche, The Seven-Percent-Solution, in 1974 and followed its success with three others. Now he's sent the famous pair off on a new adventure, one that takes them away from their usual haunts and into new territory.

Watson's wife, Juliet, is a consumptive. On the advice of her physician, they journey to a sanitorium in Egypt in 1910 in hope of an improvement in her condition. While Juliet is undergoing treatment, Watson wanders about Cairo in search of diversion. He's surprised to encounter Holmes in disguise as an officer of the Northumberland Fusiliers, his own old regiment.

Sherlock explains he's on a case, in search of an English duke who has gone missing while on the track of a previously undiscovered tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh. Naturally, Watson must join his friend and record the adventure as he has in the past for Sherlock's many fans. It isn't long before they learn the errant lord isn't the first to disappear or die in the pursuit.

Adding interest to the plot is the introduction of Howard Carter, discoverer of Tutankhamen's tomb, as an ally in their search for the missing duke and the tomb he sought.

There's enough action in this short novel to please the most jaded of readers including more murder, a sandstorm that wrecks a train carrying the investigators, and an entrapment that nearly claims their lives.

It may not be quite up to The Seven-Percent-Solution, but it's an entertaining and recommended read.

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