The Cabinet of Dr. Leng by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Published by Grand Central Publishing on January 17, 2023

The Pendergast series has always depended on the macabre and bordered on the supernatural, but the most entertaining entries showcased Pendergast’s prowess as an investigator. He combined a Sherlockian mastery of observation and disguise with broad and extensive knowledge of arcane subjects to solve strange murders, often with the assistance of Vincent D'Agosta, an NYPD detective. The stories have often incorporated elements of horror fiction, but the series lost its footing when it began to focus on Constance Greene, Pendergast’s ward, a woman who has lived for more than a century without physically aging beyond her twenties.

The Cabinet of Dr. Leng reaches way back to book 3 (The Cabinet of Curiosities) of this 21-book series for the story’s foundation. A dead relative of Pendergast, Enoch Leng, was responsible for Greene’s longevity. Greene has long mourned the loss of her sister Mary, whose organs were harvested in Leng’s effort to find a chemical that would stop his body from aging. Thanks to a time machine that appeared in the silly novel Bloodless, Greene was able to travel into the past, where she hopes to rescue Mary, as well as her childhood self and a brother who died soon after his release from prison. She also wants to kill Leng, who is fated to die in her own time line, although only after a long and evil life.

To avoid the nasty paradoxes that accompany time travel, the machine opens a portal to the past or future in other dimensions. Greene apparently gives no thought to meddling with the past in someone else’s universe. There are presumably an infinite number of alternate universes. It is unclear why Greene thinks saving one of an infinite number of Marys is a worthwhile endeavor, given that all the others will be left to their fate. But the Greene branch of the Pendergast tree has made less and less sense as the tree has grown, so let’s not trouble ourselves with the absurdity of Greene’s decision to travel through time and between dimensions for reasons that are far from rational.

For some time now, Constance has been irked that Pendergast won’t shag her, which would be a creepy thing to do with a ward. The affronted Constance doesn’t want Pendergast to follow her because her heart would break if she ever crossed his path again. It seems to me Pendergast should be happy that he is quit of her, but naturally he arranges for the machine (destroyed at the end of Bloodless) to be rebuilt, enabling him to follow Constance in disguise because he is sure that Leng will otherwise outwit her and end her life.

The story follows Pendergast and D'Agosta as they muck about in nineteenth century New York City, battling Leng and his underlings while trying to hide from Constance. A subplot follows Pendergast’s most recent FBI partner, Armstrong Coldmoon, who was helping D’Agosta solve a murder in a museum while investigating a related murder on a reservation. Fortunately, Coldmoon does not need D’Agosta to continue the investigation, as Coldmoon strikes out on his own before Pendergast recruits D’Agosta to take the interdimensional trip. Pendergast has a habit of asking D’Agosta to put his life in danger. One can understand why D’Agosta’s wife has had enough of Pendergast.

With about ten pages left, it becomes clear that neither of these plot threads will be resolved. Hey, you can’t sell another novel in a decaying series if you actually complete a story. But the “to be concluded” comes with a surprise, although it’s not that surprising given the authors’ tendency to reprise villains who died in earlier novels.

Preston and Child write impressively atmospheric descriptions of 1880 New York. I even learned something about how museums store artifacts. The story is peppered with action scenes that earn its designation as a thriller. The story is lively. Unfortunately, the plot is a tiresome retread of characters in a series that has strayed too far from its vision of Pendergast as a modern Sherlock.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS