A Taste for Honey
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
A remarkable retelling of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s great mysteries starring the one man in England smarter than Sherlock Holmes: his older brother, Mycroft.
In a quiet village far from the noise of Victorian London, Sydney Silchester lives the life of a recluse, venturing out only when his stores run low. But when his honey supplier is found stung to death by her hive, the search for a new beekeeper takes him to the most interesting man in England—a man whose brilliant mind will lure Sydney into a life-threatening adventure.
When Mycroft Holmes learns of the tragic death of the village’s other beekeeper, he senses the bloody hand of murder. But what villain would have the mad intelligence to train an army of killer bees? With Sydney at his side, Mycroft searches the village for a new kind of murderer: one who kills without motive.
Author H. F. Heard, undoubtedly one of the great intellectuals of his day, brings an utterly unique detective to life in his Mycroft Holmes mystery series. But just who is Mr. Mycroft? Devotees of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle will find he’s every inch a match for his legendary brother, Sherlock.
A Taste of Honey is the 1st book in the Mycroft Holmes Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A love of honey leads Sydney Silchester, the curmudgeonly narrator of this solid entry from Heard (1889 1971) in the American Mystery Classics series, to the door of the Heregroves, the only beekeepers in the environs of the English village of Ashton Clearwater. When, some months later, Mrs. Heregrove is stung to death by a swarm of her own bees, Silchester is distressed: how will he satisfy his sweet tooth? Out for a walk, he notices a neatly written sign posted on a gate advertising surplus honey. Up the garden path he goes and meets Mr. Mycroft, whom he subsequently describes as "a very remarkable man... a little vain and fanciful and rather exhausting to be with." Mycroft embraces him as a Watson-like companion in adventure, and the game is afoot as they investigate the bee-stinging death. At the time of its first publication in 1941, this novel was met with great rejoicing among Sherlock Holmes fans, though contemporary readers may struggle to care about Silchester and his schemes. That said, there is fun to be had in reading Silchester's self-absorbed narration.