Synopses & Reviews
"The cliffhanger adventures of Bell and Doyle keep us enthralled, as does the -graceful flow of Pirie's evocative storytelling."-The New York Times Book Review
"Pirie's knowledge of Doyle's biography, as well as of the Holmes canon, makes [him] an intellectual treat and a downright guilty pleasure."-The Washington Post
"A convincing Victorian world of eerie moors and fearless detectives . . . with a surprising twist that ranks with the best of the Doyle canon."-The Times Literary Supplement
"I was utterly hooked. It's not just Thomas Harris; it's also Raymond Chandler and Arthur Conan Doyle himself. All of these great writers are echoed in a way that is not merely wonderful and absolutely gripping, but completely original. The series has huge commercial potential."-Sarah Dunant, #1 New York Timesbest-selling -author of In the Company of the Courtesan
In a literary tour de force worthy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself, author David Pirie brings his rich familiarity with both the Doyle biography and the Sherlock Holmes canon to a mystifying Victorian tale of vengeance and villainy. The howling man on the heath, a gothic asylum, the walking dead, the legendary witch of Dunwich-perils lurk in every turn of the page throughout this ingenious pastiche, as increasingly bizarre encounters challenge the deductive powers of young Doyle and his mentor, the pioneering criminal investigator Dr. Joseph Bell.
Review
"[A]n imaginative Victorian series narrated by the young Arthur Conan Doyle....[An] ingenious mystery..." Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Pirie's third Doyle homage again boasts deft period yarn-spinning and terrific writing." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"I was utterly hooked. It's not just Thomas Harris; it's also Raymond Chandler and Arthur Conan Doyle himself. All of these great writers are echoed in a way that is not merely wonderful and absolutely gripping, but completely original. The series has huge commercial potential." Sarah Dunant, #1 New York Times best-selling author of In the Company of the Courtesan
Review
"Nonstop action and plenty of gruesome murders make this book an engrossing thriller, as Pirie uses his Doyle expertise to good effect. Recommended." Library Journal
Review
"A convincing Victorian world of eerie moors and fearless detectives...with a surprising twist that ranks with the best of the Doyle canon." The Times Literary Supplement (U.K.)
Review
"Pirie's knowledge of Doyle's biography, as well as of the Holmes canon, makes [him] an intellectual treat and a downright guilty pleasure." The Washington Post
Synopsis
In a literary tour de force worthy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself, author David Pirie brings his rich familiarity with both the Doyle biography and the Sherlock Holmes canon to a mystifying Victorian tale of vengeance and villainy. The howling man on the heath, a gothic asylum, the walking dead, the legendary witch of Dunwich perils lurk in every turn of the page throughout this ingenious pastiche, as increasingly bizarre encounters challenge the deductive powers of young Doyle and his mentor, the pioneering criminal investigator Dr. Joseph Bell of Edinburgh University.
So, too, do the corpses that litter the path of Doyle and Bell's investigation, from the putrescent remains of a recluse deep in the English countryside to the body of a gardener drowned (impossibly?) in a Suffolk woodland: neither the last nor the least hideous murder to baffle the wits of the two detectives in this chilling, inventive novel.
Yet, for all their bewilderment by a series of grisly, seemingly unrelated crimes, of one thing Bell and Doyle are certain. The solution somehow lies with Thomas Neill Cream, the very man who has led them in a torturous pursuit to a windswept, cliffside village on the North Sea coast in the dead of winter.
Synopsis
Pirie brings his rich familiarity with both the Doyle biography and the Sherlock Holmes canon to a mystifying Victorian tale of vengeance and villainy. The howling man on the heath, a gothic asylum, the walking dead, the legendary witch of Dunwich perils lurk in every turn of the page throughout this ingenious pastiche.
About the Author
David Pirie is a true man of letters. Journalist and film critic, screenwriter and novelist, he is the author of two other critically acclaimed novels featuring Arthur Conan Doyle, The Patient's Eyes and The Night Calls. He lives in Bath.