‘One of the best Sherlock Holmes novels of recent memory, at least as entertaining as Anthony Horowitz’s The House of Silk … MacBird’s artistry will keep readers eagerly turning the pages just to see how she orchestrates the big reveal.’—MICHAEL DIRDA, Washington Post
‘Gets a definite recommendation from me. MacBird is sure-footed with atmosphere and voices, there’s lots of action and a solid mystery, but no shortage of real tenderness between Holmes and Watson, and the conclusion is as satisfying as anything Conan Doyle wrote. If you’re looking for a Sherlockian Christmas present for someone, introduce them to Bonnie MacBird’s series.’—Sherlock Holmes Journal
‘Bonnie MacBird's best Holmes novel so far and cements her as one of the best pastiche authors out there … This did not disappoint. Get it as soon as you can.‘—Doylockian
‘An extraordinary mystery … worthy of Holmes and Watson’s adventures!’—Leslie S. Klinger
‘A rich stew of Holmesian tropes and lore which romps along.’—Shots
‘Loose-limbed, prodigiously inventive, plotted with infernal logic’—Kirkus
‘A Sherlockian thrill-ride … the characters ring steel-true and will deight mystery readers, Holmes devotees and newcomers alike.’—Dana Cameron, author of the Emma Fielding Mysteries
‘Bonnie MacBird at the top of her game!.’—Curtis Armstrong, author of Revenge of the Nerd; A Plum Assignment
‘Gorgeously crafted and marvellously entertaining!’—Hank Phillippi Ryan, author of The Murder List
10/21/2019
Set in 1890, MacBird’s solid third Sherlock Holmes adventure (after 2017’s Unquiet Spirits) poses a clever mystery for the master detective to solve. London is being afflicted by a series of strange deaths, including that of medical research donor Horatio Anson, who was found “dry, clean, and in his nightclothes, upright in his bed, yet drowned, a ‘Devil’ Tarot card in his hand.” Another victim, paper magnate Sebastian Danforth, was stabbed to death with a letter opener. Holmes learns that Anson and Danforth were both members of the Luminarians, a secret group of self-made men who use their fortunes to “bring light to the world,” and that their deaths and others may be the work of a serial killer working his way through the alphabet. The inquiry is made harder by the antipathy toward Holmes on the part of the new head of the Metropolitan Police, Titus Billings, who has vowed to “make London safe from the hordes of foreign criminals flooding our city.” Fans of traditional pastiches will want to see more from MacBird, who convincingly recreates the characters and prose style of Conan Doyle’s originals. Agent: Linda Langton, Langton International. (Oct.)
2019-09-15
Is Sherlock Holmes the devil? Don't be too quick to dismiss the possibility until you've reviewed the evidence MacBird (Unquiet Spirits, 2017, etc.) has amassed.
November 1890 sees Dr. John Watson return for an extended visit to Holmes at a critical moment. Gabriel Zanders, of the Illustrated Police Gazette, is spreading the word that Holmes is the devil and whipping the crowds who hear him inveigh against the great detective into a frenzy. Titus Billings, the new Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, doesn't go quite as far as Zanders, but he's equally contemptuous, even to the point of violence. Ironically, these attacks on Holmes' authority come just when his brother Mycroft and the City of London need him most. It seems that a number of wealthy members of the mysterious Luminarians have died under suspicious, and diabolically appropriate, circumstances. Shipbuilder Horatio Anson has been found drowned in his bed; Theodore Clammory, who owns a chain of barber shops, has had his throat slit with a razor; MP Sebastian Danforth, who made a fortune in paper goods, has been stabbed 17 times with a letter opener. Billings, convinced that Danforth was murdered by his son, Charles, is deaf to any talk of a serial killer; Holmes, noting the near-alphabetical progression of victims, wonders when he'll hear about B, who turns out to be a thriving cloth merchant hanged with a bolt of his own product. Viscounts Andrew and James Goodwin, pillars of the Luminarians, blandly assure Holmes that no one has ever listed its membership, and Holmes, stymied by their stonewalling and distracted by an apparently unrelated case the importunate Lady Eleanor Gainsborough has brought him, fails to prevent the asphyxiation of operatic baritone Claudio Enrietti and can only hope he'll be in time to save Luminarian playwright Oliver Flynn.
Loose-limbed, prodigiously inventive, plotted with infernal logic, and riotously implausible from beginning to end.
