Sherlock Holmes

Step into the London of our late Queen, a city shrouded in pea-souper fog and sinister, dark courts, and follow the world's most singular consulting detective as he applies his methods to problems that defy ordinary reason and try a man's pluck. Each narrative in this volume flings wide a door to suspense, wherein scarcely anything is as it appears, and the most trivial detail may well prove the singular key required for the elucidation of the truth.

Atmosphere of the richest colour, complex characters, and intricate problems will try the reader's intellect and patience alike. Sherlock Holmes: BOOK XXVIII is no mere miscellany of novel adventures; it is a progress through the rigorous science of deduction and the labyrinthine recesses of the human mind, presenting problems which appear utterly beyond solution.

Prepare your mind, therefore, to unravel mysteries which cannot fail to hold your singular attention from the outset to the very end - for in the London of Mr. Sherlock Holmes, nothing is ever entirely simple.


# THE MAN OF TWO SHADOWS

[Sir Carsten Thornton, an influential and pragmatic railway director, is on the verge of losing his mind: every night, as he walks along a melancholic avenue in Mayfair, he casts not one, but two shadows. The most terrifying thing is that the second shadow does not perfectly mimic his movements - it walks a fraction of a step behind and seems to belong to his late twin brother, who died nine years ago.]


# THE MARITIME REVERSAL

[The steamship Star's Light, laden with tonnes of gold bars belonging to the British Government, vanishes into thin air before the eyes of twenty eyewitnesses. Inspector Lestrade, in a state of shock and panic, rushes to 221B Baker Street, swearing that he saw the enormous freighter slowly float out of the water until it vanished into the misty sky over the River Thames. With no trace of oil, wreckage or survivors, London is thrown into chaos by the fear that merchant ships are simply evaporating.]


# THE RAFFLE

[During the harshest winter of the Victorian era, the British capital is rocked by a mystery that defies the laws of probability. At the centre of the Royal Albert Hall stands the Globe of Fortune: a colossal sphere containing ten thousand ivory balls intended for a charity raffle. However, what should have been a noble event turns into a nightmare when the first number drawn points to the exact coordinates of a major terrorist attack.]


# THE ALCHEMIST

[The tranquillity of London is shattered when Dr. Watson is seriously poisoned upon opening a mysterious blue letter that gives off a strong scent of bitter almonds. The sender, who signs as 'The Alchemist', fulfils his promise shortly afterwards: the pipes of Westminster burst like gunshots and the city's water begins to flow in a dark blue, toxic hue. To make matters worse, a prisoner is found dead in his cell with blue-tinged lips, plunging the capital into a state of utter panic.]


# THE PIRATE CHEST

[Following a violent storm, a mysterious cast-iron chest bearing an embossed coat of arms is found amongst the rocks at Pendennis Point. Local fishermen swear it is the lost treasure of the pirate Constantine Avery. However, panic grips the town when a local shipowner discovers that the chest conceals an internal pressurised mechanism containing a highly explosive oil, capable of detonating at the slightest sign of tampering. Summoned urgently by Inspector Trembath, Mr Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson set off westwards through a relentless fog.]