In the quiet village of Steynham St Michael there is an anonymous letter writer at work, jabbing and stabbing at the past's Achilles' heels of many of the upright citizens living there.After one resident is driven to extreme measures to escape exposure, another is driven to murder.In the village cards club, which meets once a week, tongues begin to wag, not only about the identities of the murderer and the poison pen letter-writer, but also about who exactly has received a ...

Paris, at the end of the 19th century. When a cash courier is found hanged in the attic of the respected banking house Beaumont Frères, the police conclude that he has taken his own life and close the case. Years later, Maurice Beaumont, junior partner of the firm, disappears without a trace while travelling – another mystery that remains unsolved. At around the same time as the courier’s death, a rag-and-bone man is brutally murdered. The crime attracts little attention, yet it may hold t...

Boston. Several women have disappeared without a trace. There are no ransom demands, no bodies and no discernible pattern connecting the victims. With the local police baffled and fear spreading through the city, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson travel to America to investigate. Their enquiries lead them to a wealthy couple, a mysteriously empty bank account and a chambermaid who appears to know far more than she is willing to reveal. Yet every new clue seems to raise another question – and w...

Bavaria, 13 June 1886. Two bodies are recovered from Lake Würm: King Ludwig II of Bavaria and his psychiatrist. Officially, their deaths are considered a tragic accident. Yet the circumstances surrounding that fateful night raise questions that have fascinated generations. What almost nobody knows is that Sherlock Holmes personally investigated the mysterious death of the Bavarian king. Together with Dr Watson, the master detective examines the events surrounding Ludwig II’s final hours an...

Lord Harold Dumbarton believes he can communicate with his late wife. The mysterious messages from beyond bring comfort to the grieving widower and give him a new lease on life. Before long, his transformation is so profound that he even begins to consider marriage again. His daughter Violet is far less convinced. Suspicious of her father’s sudden change, she fears that something is not as it seems. Sherlock Holmes takes on the unusual case and begins to look beyond the apparently supernat...

Berlin. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are looking forward to a spectacular performance by the world-famous escape artist Harry Houdini at the Circus Busch. But during the show, Holmes senses that something is wrong. His suspicions are soon confirmed: Houdini has been the target of a carefully planned acid attack, carried out so skilfully that the audience noticed nothing. Houdini believes he knows who is behind the attempt on his life, but the suspected perpetrators have already disappeare...

London, 1888. A brutal serial killer is terrorizing the streets of the East End. With each murder becoming more cruel and disturbing, the police seem powerless to stop him. The unknown killer strikes without warning and disappears without leaving a trace. A deeply personal motive draws consulting detective Sherlock Holmes into the investigation. Together with his loyal friend and chronicler Dr Watson, Holmes follows the trail of a ruthless murderer through the dark streets of Victorian Lon...

Bloomsbury Hill, late 19th century. Mrs Hudson turns to Sherlock Holmes for help: her cousin Margery Mapleton has disappeared without a trace. Shortly before her disappearance, Margery’s employer, a respected archaeologist, was attacked. Since then, there has been no sign of him either – or of a substantial sum of money. To make matters worse, suspicion has fallen on Margery herself. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson travel to Bloomsbury Hill to investigate the mysterious events. Before long, ...

Vienna. The young son of Count Schönburg vanishes from the garden of the family villa in broad daylight. It soon becomes clear that the boy has been kidnapped – and that his life may be in grave danger. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson travel to Vienna to take on the case. Their investigation quickly turns towards the family’s immediate circle. Estranged relatives, long-buried grievances and troubling secrets provide no shortage of suspects – and several of them appear to have strong motives....

London. Something seems disturbingly wrong inside Madame Tussaud’s famous Chamber of Horrors. During a night-time visit, a journalist witnesses a series of eerie events that appear to defy rational explanation. Shortly afterwards, the museum management asks Sherlock Holmes for help. Holmes and Dr Watson begin investigating the mysterious incidents, but what first appears to be a haunting soon takes a far more dangerous turn. A theft with serious consequences is followed by a bloody crime –...

Two mysterious crimes. Two deceptive trails. Two cases for Sherlock Holmes. In “A Deceptive Trail”, a man wanted for murder flees to 221B Baker Street and asks Sherlock Holmes to prove his innocence. Ironically, Holmes himself was once responsible for putting him behind bars. The fugitive insists that he has changed his ways, but Inspector Lestrade considers the evidence against him conclusive. Holmes, however, is not convinced. Could the obvious suspect be innocent after all? In “The Oska...

The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories - Part V: Christmas Adventures features contributions by: Bob Byrne, Derrick Belanger, Amy Thomas, David Marcum, Denis O. Smith, C.H. Dye, Marcia Wilson, Julie McKuras, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Bert Coules, John Hall, Jim French, S.F. Bennett, Narrelle M. Harris, William Patrick Maynard, Vincent W. Wright, James Lovegrove, Arthur Hall, Nicholas Utechin, Mike Chinn, Tracy J. Revels, Roger Riccard, Wendy C. Fries, Paul D. Gilbert, Jan Edwards, Molly ...