Barry S Brown

Sherlock Holmes is goaded into a boxing match, in which his opponent, Sailor Mackenzie, loses both the bout and his life. All but Mrs. Hudson and her colleagues, Holmes and Watson, are convinced the fighter's death was an accident. The Baker Street trio travels to McLellan Manor in Yorkshire to sort through the numerous people who have reason to celebrate Mackenzie's death and the opportunity to cause it. Complicating their investigation, Holmes and Watson are asked to become protectors for Lily Langtry, and Mrs. Hudson to become her lady's maid, when the famous beauty is threatened by her latest paramour, the volatile George Baird. Before all can be resolved, Holmes will need to lead a séance in which he will call on a ghost to solve a 35-year old murder, and Mrs. Hudson will find herself in surprising alliance with the Jersey Lily.

Mrs. Hudson in the Ring

It is the Victorian Era. One woman rules the British Empire; virtually all other women rule domains no larger than their kitchens. The widow of Constable Tobias Hudson is determined not to be one of those other women. She uses the lodgings she has leased at 221B Street to recruit the male figurehead she needs for the consulting detective agency that will make use of her investigative skills and observational abilities. It is a definite plus that the most attractive applicant for that role, Sherlock Holmes, brings with him the level-headed Dr. John Watson. This, then, is the first in the Mrs. Hudson of Baker Street series designed to expose and celebrate the genius and achievements of the true sage of Baker Street. The services of the consulting detective agency are requested by Lady Parkerton, whose husband, Sir Stanley, appears to have been poisoned after a family dinner in which he had the same food and drink as all other guests. When the family's coachman, who drinks too much and knows too much, is murdered as well, the game is truly afoot. Mrs. Hudson and her colleagues must not only sort through the motives and movements of the Parkerton family and staff, they must contend, as well, with the threat posed by the unexpected return to England of the White Rajah of Sarawak and the sudden intrusion of headhunters into the English countryside.

The Unpleasantness at Parkerton Manor

It is 1896. Mrs. Hudson and her colleagues are traveling to Athens to attend the first Olympiad in more than 2000 years. Indeed, Holmes is to participate in the foils competition as a member of Great Britain's Olympic team. But the trip is more than just fun and games. The three members of London's first and foremost consulting detective agency are, in fact, engaged in a delicate bit of undercover work on behalf of Queen and country. They are to secure a letter being sent by courier to Queen Victoria from her daughter, the Dowager Empress of Germany. Peace between the two nations may well depend on the contents of that letter. They arrive to find both the courier and the wife of the British Ambassador shot dead in the Ambassador's residence. The letter and the Ambassador are nowhere to be found. They discover, too, that Inspector Lestrade is already in Athens investigating the sale of fake antiquities to the wife of the Ambassador. The Baker Street trio has the ten days of the Olympiad to recover the critical letter, capture a double murderer, and uncover the secret behind the scheme to pass off copies of Greek antiquities as genuine-all while Holmes seeks to dispatch his fencing competition and win an Olympic medal.

Mrs Hudson's Olympic Triumph

Moira Keegan is certain that someone is trying to kill her father. She tries to recruit Sherlock Holmes to save his life, but all at 221B Street are certain that there is no basis for Moira's fears. When, a short time later, they read of the man's death in a sleazy waterfront inn, the members of London's premier consulting detective agency have a new client and a singular purpose. Their investigation will place them at odds with Scotland Yard's Special Branch, Irish revolutionaries, religious zealots, and even staff of the London Times. Only Lestrade remains an ally, and he dare only participate covertly with his frequent colleagues. Before all can be brought right, the Baker Street trio will have to call on the assistance of Charles Stewart Parnell, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and his mistress Katharine O'Shea.

Mrs. Hudson and the Irish Invincibles

Accompanied by Holmes and Watson, Mrs. Hudson crosses the ocean to attend the wedding of her cousin's daughter. They disembark to discover that the young lady's fiancée, a pitcher for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, stands accused of an attempt on the life of JP Morgan and the death of his aide. A self-declared enemy of Morgan and the robber barons, the ballplayer ran from the scene of the crime and,when captured, was found inpossession of a gun with two spent cartridges, the same number and caliber as thatused in the attack. Before a wedding can be held, the unacknowledged sage of Baker Street will lead Holmes and Watson along a path of investigation taking them from JP Morgan's mansion to the gambling dens of New York's Tenderloin. With the enthusiastic assistance of Samuel Clemens, the reluctant assistance of Morgan, and the cautious assistance of a leader in the African Broadway community, they will identify the financier's attacker, frustrate effortsto corrupt the game ofbaseball, and rescue the prospective bride and groom from would-be assassins before returning finally to the comparative quiet of 221B Baker Street. Acclaim for earlier Mrs. Hudson novels: "a compelling and enjoyable read" Over My Dead Body Mystery Magazine "an exciting mystery of Victorian England" Midwest Book Review "an entertaining romp" The District Messenger, Newsletter of the Sherlockian Society of London "in this admirable novel ... it's not difficult to be drawn into the events and the investigation ... by a very competent author" Sherlockian.net website "even more fun than his first novel ... one can't wait for a third volume in this series" Wilmington Star-News

Mrs. Hudson in New York

September, 1901. Fresh from a run of more than 260 performances in New York, the play, Sherlock Holmes, opens at London's Lyceum Theater. In attendance are Mrs. Hudson, Dr. Watson and Holmes, the renowned detective attending in disguise, concerned that he is somewhat too renowned and thereby likely to be pestered for his opinion about a play he is determined to detest. As it turns out, his fears are unfounded. There is no opportunity to criticize, or even witness the play. Before the curtain goes up, Holmes will be called backstage to investigate the murder of the play's wardrobe mistress. As always, the figurehead of the Baker Street trio is mistaken for its true leader. Not to fear, Mrs. Hudson is on the case. She and her colleagues will have to sort through a range of suspects, including actors seeking more than cleaned and pressed costumes from the young woman, a landlord upset about the woman minding his questionable business, and members of the anarchist movement suspicious about her professed allegiance to their cause. In the course of the investigation, Mrs. Hudson will receive assistance from the author of the play's first draft, Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle, and will provide assistance to the juvenile actor playing the role of pageboy, Master Charles Chaplin.

Barry S Brown

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