The Case of Emily V. (2006)

After a proper young lady shoves her lecherous guardian off a cliff, she is psychoanalyzed by Sigmund Freud and investigated by Sherlock Holmes. Is Emily a victim, a murderess, a spy, or a latent lesbian? The Case of Emily V., Keith Oatley's period whydunit, draws intriguing parallels between shrink and sleuth — both deduce hidden character from subtle clues — and deepens Victorian melodrama with murky neuroses: ''[D]amnable nonsense, which I profoundly resent,'' yelps Holmes when Freud diagnoses his narcissism and father issues. A pitch-perfect pastiche of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories and Freud's case studies, but a bit too clinical to be emotionally compelling.