Sherlock Holmes and the Ghosts of Bly
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
"Donald Thomas is the all-time best at Sherlockian pastiche." —Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
"Have you ever seen a ghost, Mr. Holmes?“ asks Victoria Temple, and Sherlock Holmes, at the height of his powers in 1898, must face a new challenge, one that plunges the great detective into the realm of the supernatural. Miss Temple has been found guilty—but also insane—at her trial for murdering a child under her care. She is locked away in the Broadmoor lunatic asylum and, worse still, she believes fully in her own guilt.
But were the hauntings at the Elizabethan manor house of Bly a vision of the walking dead, perhaps, rather than delusions of her tormented mind? Or could it be that a criminal conspiracy is to blame for the psychic phenomena? In the company of Dr. Watson, the indefatigable Holmes will track down the perpetrators through the occult underworld of Victorian London.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Henry James's The Turn of the Screw provides the inspiration for the lengthy title tale of Thomas's superb fifth collection of Sherlock Holmes pastiches (after 2009's Sherlock Holmes and the King's Evil). In 1898, Holmes and Watson intervene on behalf of Victoria Temple, a governess confined to an insane asylum after a verdict of guilty but insane for the murder of 10-year-old Miles Mordaunt, who was suffocated only days after his eight-year-old sister, Flora, died of diphtheria. The accused murderess is convinced that the ghosts of a valet and her predecessor as governess were trying to seduce both children into evil. The three other selections are nearly up to the same high standard. "The Case of a Boy's Honour," about a scandal at a boarding school, compels even without a murder to solve. Sherlockians will hope Thomas continues to turn out these faithful and imaginative recreations for years to come.
