Author:Arthur Conan Doyle,Sidney Paget
‘Am dining at Goldini’s Restaurant, Gloucester Road, Kensington. Please come at once and join me there. Bring with you a jemmy, a dark lantern, a chisel, and a revolver – S. H.’
The game's afoot for the most famous amateur detective of all time in this collection of eight of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic tales.
‘The Speckled Band’, a Victorian melodrama in a country house, comes complete with murderous villain, murdered heroine, and a very unpleasant snake; ‘Silver Blaze’ tells of a missing race horse on Dartmoor which turns out not to be missing at all, and a murder that never was. In ‘The Redheaded League’ a pawnbroker answers an advertisement for a red-headed man and bizarrely finds himself copying out the Encyclopedia Britannica; in ‘The Bruce Partington Plans’ Holmes is skulking in the London Underground with a dead body when his patriotic services are called upon to find some stolen state secrets in the run-up to World War I.
Sidney Paget was the original illustrator and helped to form the image of Sherlock Holmes which exists to this day - in fact, it was he who created the famous deer-stalker!
The seventh book in the Lady Grace Cavendish series once again gives the reader a lively picture of what life in Queen Elizabeth's court must have been like . . . This is an interesting mystery for fans of historical fiction
—— Through the Looking GlassMakes for a rollicking and exciting read
—— Books for KeepsA great adventure that will appeal to die-hard fans and newcomers alike . . . The whole series offers pure escapism and it seems the prolific writer is not about to run out of steam
—— Eastern Daily PressMalorie Blackman is one of the most versatile and forthright of all authors for young adults. She has brought us an ambitious panorama of broken societies and depicted motive and action in searingly effective ways . . . This is a remarkable book, powerful, fearful
—— Dennis Hamley , CarouselIt is an intelligent, original and compelling novel
—— Simon Treacy , Cork Evening EchoA compelling, compulsive, atmospheric story . . . The movie is already rolling in my head
—— Niall MacMonagle , Irish TimesZips along at break-neck pace, each short, action-packed scene feeding into the next, ideal for teen readers with Playstation attention spans . . . McGann's direct, gritty style of writing certainly packs a punch
—— Sarah Webb , Irish Independent