London, February 1896. A bright crisp day is the first hint of the spring to come, a welcome intrusion into the winter gloom of the great industrial city. But as Watson welcomes the sun and tries to cheer up a restless Holmes, there is an urgent knocking at the door of 221B Baker Street. A moment later, a large man bursts into the living quarters of the famous pair. Alfred Bullimore is a very skilled but also an extremely frightened golfer and he brings with him one of the strangest cases ever to be recorded in Dr. Watson's assiduous notes.
What had seemed at first to be no more than tasteless horseplay at Royal Blackheath Golf Club is now threatening to escalate into serious violence. Already there has been an attack upon an elderly member walking his dog at dusk, and soon this is followed by an attempt at murder, which brings Holmes and Watson swiftly to the scene of the crime at the famous old golf club.
Bullimore is a good enough golfer to plan a serious attempt to win the Open Championship of 1896. But as his successes accumulate in the month before the Open, the threat to his safety seems ever greater. The climax of the tale is set thrillingly on the last day of the 1896 Open Championship at Muirfield, with the solution as unexpected as it is timely.
J. M. Gregson, author of a dozen highly esteemed contemporary crime novels, has turned his attention to his own favourite detective duo of Holmes and Watson, and the result will delight his fellow enthusiasts.