Mycroft Holmes's encoded message to his brother, Sherlock, is unsubtle enough even for Dr. Watson to decipher: a matter concerning the safety of Queen Victoria herself calls them to Edinburgh's Holyrood House to investigate the confounding and gruesome deaths of two young men — horrific incidents that took place with her highness in residence. The victims were crushed in a manner surpassing human power. And while recent attempts on her majesty's life raise a number of possibilities, these intrigues also seem strangely connected to an act of evil that took place centuries earlier...

For indeed, the slaying of David Rizzio, music master and friend to Mary Queen of Scots, was an extraordinarily brutal and treacherous act — even for a time when brutality and treachery were the order of the day. Now, the ghosts of Holyrood House are being reawakened by someone with a diabolical agenda of greed, madness, and terror, as Holmes and Watson set out to trap a killer who is eager to rewrite history in blood...

"Writing a Sherlock Holmes tale is, for popular writers, equivalent to playing Hamlet for male actors: a challenge that few refuse and many regret. Bestselling author Carr (The Angel of Darkness, etc.) acquits himself with honor, though not high honors, in this short novel that pits Holmes, Watson and Mycroft Holmes against conspirators at Queen Victoria's Royal Palace of Holyrood in Edinburgh, Scotland. When the men are killed at Holyrood in a fashion similar to the slaying centuries before of David Rizzio, an Italian confidant of Mary, Queen of Scots, Mycroft, who is Victoria's head of intelligence, calls upon his brother and Watson to help solve the mystery. Are the killings the work of Scottish nationalists? Or perhaps the sign of a restless ghost? From the latter question, and the novel's primary setting of the dank castle, emanates a well-drawn atmosphere of gloom that makes this story a nice companion to The Hound of the Baskervilles. Holmes fans and scholars should be pleased with this novel, which generally hews to 'the Canon' (unlike, say, Nicholas Meyer's Seven-Per-Cent Solution) and reflects a deep knowledge and understanding of Holmesiana, but the primary base for this novel will be, of course, Carr fans, who won't be quite as thrilled — for while the novel captivates, it matches neither of Carr's previous megasellers in plot invention or depth of character. Still, this should hit bestsellers lists, though not in a major way. (May 10). FYI: The afterword by Lellenberg explains that this novel grew from a story that Carr was writing for a forthcoming Carroll & Graf anthology of original Holmes stories dealing with the supernatural, Ghosts of Baker Street. Lellenberg goes on to plead to Carr that he write a novel featuring both Holmes and Laszlo Kreizler, protagonist of The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Carr fails [to replicate Conan Doyle's style], but aside from that (and that's a big aside), the novel has a number of appealing features for readers who enjoy Carr and don't mind secondhand Holmes....Great setting, intriguing history, but clumsy evocation of the inimitable Holmes." Booklist

"It's fun for about a hundred pages, because Carr apes Conan Doyle's plummy storyteller's voice quite ably, making Watson (who narrates) agreeably bluff and direct. But the successive disclosures become increasingly preposterous." Kirkus Reviews

"Carr's return to historical fiction...blends detailed history and thrilling suspense while giving perfect cadence to the verbal discourse between Holmes and Watson. Placing these famous characters into Carr's capable hands is a gift to anyone who enjoys mysteries, historical fiction, or just a great read." Library Journal

"[A] perfect setting for a Holmes tale....Carr is astute and unerring in his portrayal of Holmes and his techniques." USA Today

"[Carr] uses his considerable talents as a re-creator of historic period detail to provide an entertaining continuation of the Conan Doyle canon." Chicago Tribune

The bestselling author of The Alienist returns with an historically rich elaboration of the Sherlock Holmes canon. The famed detective and Watson investigate a pair of gruesome murders which cast an otherworldly shadow as far as the Queen herself, in a chilling tale that has been written in cooperation with the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Caleb Carr is the critically acclaimed, bestselling author of the Alienist series, The Lessons of Terror, Killing Time, and The Devil Soldier. His books have been translated into over twenty languages worldwide. He is also a contributing editor to MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, and the series editor of the Modern Library War Series. He was educated at Kenyon College and New York University, and currently lives in upstate New York, where he teaches military and diplomatic studies at Bard College.

Jon Lellenberg, author of the afterword, is the U.S. agent for the Conan Doyle Estate, co-editor of a number of anthologies of new Sherlock Holmes stories by mystery writers, and the historian of The Baker Street Irregulars.