Mycroft Holmes

Starred review from June 29, 2015
Basketball legend Abdul-Jabbar (On the Shoulders of Giants) makes his triumphant adult fiction debut with an action yarn that fills in the backstory of Sherlock Holmes’s older and smarter brother, Mycroft. In 1870, the 23-year-old Mycroft, who has a reputation as a daredevil, is serving as a secretary at the War Office when word reaches London of a series of unusual deaths in Trinidad. Someone, or some thing, has been killing children and draining their blood. The locals believe the culprits are supernatural beings known as lougarou, who drain children of their blood, and douen, who leave highly unusual footprints near their victims. The tragic news stuns Mycroft’s fiancée, Georgiana Sutton, who immediately sails home to Trinidad. Disobeying her request to stay behind, Mycroft follows Georgiana to Trinidad, where he must exercise his intellect and his innate diplomatic skills to solve the crimes and remain alive. Sherlockians
who relish the screen adventures of Cumberbatch and Downey will be particularly entertained. Agent: Deborah Morales, Iconomy.

July 15, 2015
That's right: nonpareil basketball player Abdul-Jabbar, who's already written memoirs, nonfiction titles, and children's books (Stealing the Game, 2015, etc.), partners with screenwriter Waterhouse to introduce a prequel to the adventures of Sherlock Holmes' smarter brother. Back in 1870, when Sherlock is still an indifferent student at the Royal College of St. Peter, his older brother, a little wet behind the ears at 23, serves as secretary to Edward Cardwell, the Secretary of State for War, and looks forward to his marriage to Georgiana Sutton, a perfect English rose born in Port of Spain. His plans are knocked sideways by the hushed news from his Trinidadian friend and associate Cyrus Douglas that a lougarou, as the islanders call werewolves, has been draining the blood of young children and causing mass disappearances of their elders. Booking passage aboard the Sultana for Trinidad, the two men swiftly find themselves immersed in an unholy scheme by a ring of freelance entrepreneurs to revive a horror recently and traumatically abolished in the Americas. Even more disturbingly, every new development in the adventure, which eventually leads the visitors to the Sacred Order of the Harmonious Fists, seems to point unerringly to well-placed government functionaries and protectors and implicate someone close to Mycroft himself as a conspirator. The central conceit is audacious; Mycroft's sense of moral outrage is nicely reflective of the era; the historical detail is solid; and the period decorum is well-maintained throughout. Only the characters and their cumbersome individual interactions are muffled by all the grade-A trappings.

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Starred review from July 1, 2015
Abdul-Jabbar, a Holmesian since his college days, joins forces with Waterhouse, his cowriter on the documentary On the Shoulders of Giants, to offer a rousing mystery starring Sherlock's older (and smarter) brother, Mycroft, a rising star in the British government. The action begins in 1870 London but quickly moves to Trinidad, where Mycroft's closest friend, Cyrus Douglas, a native of the island, must travel to investigate what some believe is an infestation of douentiny supernatural characters who lead children into the clutches of werewolf-like lougarou. Mycroft joins his friend for the trip, and what the two find on arrivalafter a near-fatal ocean crossingisn't supernatural but far more harrowing: an elaborate scheme to bring slavery back to the Caribbean. The authors hit all the right notes here, combining fascinating historical detail (on Trinidadian culture and folklore, on tobacco importation in London, even on the development of the Gatling gun) with rousing adventure, including some cleverly choreographed fight scenes and a pair of protagonists whose rich biracial friendship, while presented realistically, given the era (Douglas must sometimes pose as a butler), is the highlight of the book. Yes, Douglas is a sort-of Watson, but a much brighter, more physical, more bantering version, an equal not a foil. Mystery fans will be eager to hear more from this terrific duo, who may well develop into a gaslit version of Robert B. Parker's Spenser and Hawk.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

Starred review from September 1, 2015

When rumors of missing persons and mysterious footprints in the sand travel from the shores of Trinidad to the heart of London, there's only one man for the job: Mycroft Holmes. Sherlock's older brother is cutting his teeth in diplomacy and espionage as assistant to the British secretary of state for war when he and his closest friend, Trinidadian Cyrus Douglas, first hear of the eerie happenings. The men are concerned but skeptical until Holmes's fiancee, Georgiana, a Trinidadian herself, rushes home to investigate. Douglas and Holmes quickly set a course for the island and a harrowing adventure that will forever change and define them. VERDICT Clear space on your new fiction shelf for this slam-dunk of a debut novel. Cowritten by NBA all-star and author Abdul-Jabbar (What Color Is My World?) and screenwriter and producer Waterhouse, the team behind the NAACP and Telly Award-winning documentary On the Shoulders of Giants, this latest collaboration brings a fresh voice and broadened scope to the Holmes canon. Historical fiction and mystery fans will be the first to demand this title, but its mass appeal is undeniable. [See Prepub Alert, 5/4/15.]--Liv Hanson, Chicago

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2016

Basketball great Abdul-Jabbar teams with scriptwriter Waterhouse for this engaging, well-researched reimagining of Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's older brother. Mycroft is quickly rising through the government ranks when he joins his best friend Cyrus Douglas on a journey home to Trinidad to investigate the mysterious deaths of children. Their harrowing adventure broadens the Holmes canon. (LJ 8/15)

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2015

Basketball's all-time leading scorer, among accomplishments on and off the court too numerous to mention, Abdul-Jabbar is also the author of eight books, including On the Shoulders of Giants. Here he leaps into fiction with a mystery starring Sherlock Holmes's brother, Mycroft, who helps the British government when there's some (real-life) trouble in Trinidad. Why Mycroft? Says Abdul-Jabbar, "I'm attracted to Mycroft as a character because he's different from Holmes...not as physically active...but very cerebral and very capable of getting things done."

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2016

Basketball great Abdul-Jabbar teams with scriptwriter Waterhouse for this engaging, well-researched reimagining of Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's older brother. Mycroft is quickly rising through the government ranks when he joins his best friend Cyrus Douglas on a journey home to Trinidad to investigate the mysterious deaths of children. Their harrowing adventure broadens the Holmes canon. (LJ 8/15)

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2015

When rumors of missing persons and mysterious footprints in the sand travel from the shores of Trinidad to the heart of London, there's only one man for the job: Mycroft Holmes. Sherlock's older brother is cutting his teeth in diplomacy and espionage as assistant to the British secretary of state for war when he and his closest friend, Trinidadian Cyrus Douglas, first hear of the eerie happenings. The men are concerned but skeptical until Holmes's fiancee, Georgiana, a Trinidadian herself, rushes home to investigate. Douglas and Holmes quickly set a course for the island and a harrowing adventure that will forever change and define them. VERDICT Clear space on your new fiction shelf for this slam-dunk of a debut novel. Cowritten by NBA all-star and author Abdul-Jabbar (What Color Is My World?) and screenwriter and producer Waterhouse, the team behind the NAACP and Telly Award-winning documentary On the Shoulders of Giants, this latest collaboration brings a fresh voice and broadened scope to the Holmes canon. Historical fiction and mystery fans will be the first to demand this title, but its mass appeal is undeniable. [See Prepub Alert, 5/4/15.]--Liv Hanson, Chicago

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.