Discharged from the military and struggling to adapt to her prosthetic arm, she’s at loose ends when she happens to meet Sara Holmes, a fellow queer black woman - and a covert operative - who offers her a place to crash. Watson’s military career came to a sudden end when she was shot by a sniper while treating soldiers on a battlefield in the New Civil War. Janet Watson and secret agent Sara Holmes team up to catch a murderer. Well, that’s about enough from the men, don’t you think? How about a clever, feminist twist on the crime-fighting duo instead? In a near-future Washington, D.C., Dr. It’s an inventive take on how Mycroft became the influential and scary-smart power behind the throne. Georgiana takes off for Trinidad, and Mycroft and Douglas follow - only to find themselves trapped in a web of sinister secrets. Suddenly, Cyrus starts receiving unsettling news from home: strange disappearances, mysterious footprints in the sand, and children found dead, their bodies drained of blood. But his personal life is deeply connected to Trinidad, where both his best friend, Cyrus Douglas, and his fiancee Georgiana Sutton are from. As the book begins, young Mycroft is a recent Cambridge grad busy starting his government career with the Secretary of State for War. This novel fleshes out the origin story of Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s equally brilliant older brother. You may not know - I didn’t! - that the basketball legend has had a successful second career as an author, or that he’s an avid fan of Sherlock Holmes. Can Sherlock and Watson find the culprit before a terrible fate befalls the queen?Īuthor: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Anna Waterhouse The young men were crushed by an unnaturally powerful force - and their deaths seem connected to the long-ago murder of David Rizzio, a close friend of Mary, Queen of Scots. Sherlock and Watson are called to Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh to investigate two shockingly gory murders that happened while the queen was under the same roof. Mycroft Holmes’ encrypted note to his brother Sherlock contains some alarming news: a top-secret matter threatens the safety of Queen Victoria herself. Now, he’s rolling up his sleeves to take on the most famous detective of all time. The Italian Secretary: A Further Adventure of Sherlock HolmesĬaleb Carr is best known as the author of the internationally bestselling historical thriller The Alienist. (This was also featured in our summer book preview.) A perfect distraction for a long plane flight or lazy weekend. The case proves intriguing, with many twists and turns… but not as many as there are in Hawthorne’s own mysterious existence. Disgraced, eccentric police detective Daniel Hawthorne takes the case, but decides he needs a ghost writer to document his brilliant mind, which is how Anthony Horowitz gets reeled in. Six hours later, she’s found dead at home, strangled with a curtain cord. Diana Cowper, the well-to-do mother of a famous actor, walks into a London funeral parlor one morning - to plan her own funeral service. Will Holmes and Watson’s quest for the truth leads to a revelation that could tear society apart? (Don’t worry: the adventure continues in his sequel, Moriarty.)Īnd speaking of Anthony Horowitz, his latest twist on Sherlock Holmes is this modern-day meta-fiction puzzle starring the (fictionalized) (we hope) author as a main character. And they keep hearing about the House of Silk, a shadowy group that somehow connects the highest levels of government to all this criminal activity. Holmes and Watson are plunged into a sinister conspiracy stretching from Boston’s seedy criminal underworld to the dark streets of London and the sketchiest of opium dens. Soon, Carstairs’ home is burglarized and his family is threatened - and then the murders begin. In 1890, a fine art dealer named Edmund Carstairs visits Sherlock (and Watson) asking for help - he’s being threatened by a mysterious man wearing an unusual cap. The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes NovelĪrthur Conan Doyle is a tough act to follow, but his estate selected Anthony Horowitz to write this contemporary follow-up that captures all the foggy Victorian intrigue of the original stories. If you’d rather play armchair detective and solve someone else’s literary puzzles, these Sherlock Holmes retellings are some of our favorite modern-day takes on the brilliant, eccentric sleuth.
#Ya novel sherlock holmes free
In 2014, Sherlock Holmes officially entered the public domain, meaning that anyone who feels like taking the fictional sleuth for a spin is legally free to do so. Ever wanted to try your hand at writing some Sherlock Holmes fanfic? Well, we have some good news for you.