Showing results by author "Craig Copland" in All Categories

Sherlock Holmes was not happy. "No, Mrs. Hudson, I will not see her now. Send her away and tell her to come back later." It was just past seven in the morning and we were enjoying an early coffee on a pleasant Sunday in the first week of June 1902, when Mrs. Hudson interrupted us. Holmes's longsuffering landlady did not leave.

He was not much more than a child. I estimated his age at fourteen. He was a handsome boy, with the raven-black hair and deeply tanned skin color that marks a person who came from the lands under the Raj. His young body was beginning to show the signs of an emerging well-made sportsman. From his place, lying on his back on the pavement, his dark-brown eyes stared up at the morning sky ... lifeless. Behind his head was a pool of blood, now darkened and congealed.

Oxford University is famous throughout the world for its splendid architecture, lovely manicured lawns and gardens, and passionate pursuit of research, teaching and learning. But it turns out to be at the center of a case involving fraud, theft, treachery, and, maybe, murder. The Rhodes Scholarship has been recently established and is seen at one of the greatest prizes available to young men throughout the Empire. So much so that some men are prepared to lie, steal, slander, and, maybe murder, in the pursuit of it.

On September 15, 1894, an anarchist attempted to bomb the Greenwich Observatory. He failed, but the attempt led Sherlock Holmes into an intricate web of spies, foreign naval officers, and a beautiful princess. Once again, suspicion landed on poor Percy Phelps, now working in a senior position in the Admiralty, and once again Holmes has to use both his powers of deduction and raw courage to not only rescue Percy, but to prevent an unspeakable disaster.

On the day after Queen Victoria died, the body of a Scotland Yard inspector is found in a locked room in 222 Baker Street, right across the road from the home of Sherlock Holmes. There is no clue as to how he died, but for certain, he was murdered. Then another murder takes place, in the very same room. Scotland Yard calls for the help of Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson might have to offer themselves as potential victims if the culprits are to be discovered.

The Czar of Russia was assassinated in March 1881. That summer an attempt was made to murder his daughter while she was riding through Kensington Gardens with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. A Russian Count has been found dead in a hospital in London. Scotland Yard, the Home Office, and Mycroft Holmes arrive at 221B to enlist the help of England's only consulting detective to catch the assassin before he can strike again. But will Sherlock Holmes succeed? And what unique strategy will he contrive to trap his prey? This new mystery is a tribute to The Resident Patient.

What happened after Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson pardoned Captain Jack Croker for killing Sir Eustace at the Abbey Grange. Have you imagined that he sailed the seven seas for a year and then returned to his beautiful, beloved Mary Fraser? That didn't happen. A year later, murder, treachery, and international intrigue descended on Abbey Grange and, once again, Sherlock Holmes was called upon to bring criminals to justice and assist in the course of true love.

A Scottish clergyman and his faithful border collie visit 221B and tell a tale of a ghostly Banshee on the Isle of Skye. After the specter appeared, two people died. Holmes sends Watson on ahead to investigate and report. More terrifying horrors occur and Sherlock Holmes must come and solve the awful mystery before more people are murdered. A tribute to the original story in the Canon, Arthur Conan Doyle's masterpiece, The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Colonel James Barclay needs the help of Sherlock Holmes. His exceptionally beautiful, but much younger, wife has disappeared and foul play is suspected. Has she been kidnapped and held for ransom? Or is she in the clutches of a deviant monster? Are thousands of pounds at risk? Are the household staff in on it? Will Holmes find her in time, and if he does, what then? The story is a tribute not only to the original mystery, The Crooked Man, but also to the biblical story of King David and Bathsheba.

At Oxford University, an influential professor has been proselytizing for anarchism. Three naive students fall for his doctrines and decide to engage in direct action by stealing priceless artifacts from the British Museum, returning them to the oppressed people from whom their colonial masters stole them. In the midst of their caper, a museum guard is shot dead and they are charged with the murder. After being persuaded by a vulnerable friend of the students, Sherlock Holmes agrees to take on the case. He soon discovers that no one involved is telling the complete truth.

The deadly final encounter between Professor Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes took place at Reichenbach Falls on 4 May 1891. But when was their first encounter? When did Holmes first come to know that there was a evil genius behind a massive web of crime? This new story answers that question. What began with nothing more than a stolen Gladstone bag on wheels quickly escalates into murder and more. And if Holmes and Watson do not move fast enough, it could become much worse. This new story is a tribute -- a 'prequal' -- to the Canonical story of The Final Problem.

On the night of April 12, 1912, off the coast of Newfoundland, one of the greatest disasters of all time took place - the Unsinkable Titanic struck an iceberg and sank with a horrendous loss of life. On board that ship was Sherlock Holmes's friend, Victor Trentacost - his only friend other than Doctor Watson. The news of the disaster leads Holmes and Watson to reminisce about one of their earliest adventures, now over thirty years ago when the two of them and Victor went to sea. It began as a sailing race and ended as a tale of murder, kidnapping, piracy, and survival through a tempest.

THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S MOM: A brilliant young Cambridge University engineer is carrying out secret research for the Admiralty. It will lead to the building of the world's most powerful battleship, The Dreadnaught. His adventuress mother is kidnapped and having been spurned by Scotland Yard he seeks the help of Sherlock Holmes. Was she taken by German spies, or an underhanded student, or by someone else? Whoever it was is prepared to commit cold-blooded murder to get what they want.

THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE BELT BUCKLE: AN AMERICAN ARTIST WAS MURDERED AND THE CROWN JEWELS MAY BE AT RISK. A young street urchin, one of the Baker Street Irregulars, discovers a man's belt and buckle under a bush in Hyde Park. He brings it to Sherlock Holmes, hoping for a reward. The buckle is unique and stunning, gleaming turquoise stones set in exquisitely carved silver; a masterpiece from the native American west. A body of an American Indian is found in a hotel room in Mayfair. Scotland Yard seeks the help of Sherlock Holmes in solving the murder.