Mycroft Holmes
The authors make good use of history to support a clever plot in which Sherlock Holmes’s elder brother, Mycroft, also a man of many talents, takes on a challenging case of his own.
In 1870, Mycroft Holmes is a personable 23-year-old, a Cambridge man employed as secretary to the secretary of state for war in London. (Young Sherlock is still in school.) With a promising career and a lovely fiancée, Georgiana, Mycroft is content with life – but Evil abroad shatters his complacency.
Demons are murdering children in Trinidad, the island riven by class, race, and color where Georgiana grew up. When she returns to her family, Mycroft and his Trinidadian friend Cyrus follow – only to be attacked by men (not demons) who want the Englishmen gone. With the help of Cyrus and local friends, and skills equal to his brother’s, Mycroft uncovers a nefarious plot to return slavery to the islands. Sadly, the involvement of someone close to him sours Mycroft’s success and, perhaps, his outlook on life.
This is the first adult book written by Abdul-Jabbar, an award-winning children’s author and basketball player (!), with Waterhouse, a talented screenwriter. Their experience shows in the believable 19th-century dialogue, well-developed protagonists, and plausible villains. Mycroft Holmes is recommended for all mystery lovers, not just Holmesians.
