The Mycroft Holmes stories begin with the three-story volume The Other Mr Holmes. Available now from Readers' Eden and Fictionwise Further volumes are in preparation. Book cover by Glenda Diana Tudor

The Other Mr Holmes

Mycroft is also available at sambonnamy.110mb.com

Mycroft Holmes, seven years older than his brother Sherlock, appears in two of the Sherlock Holmes stories, The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter and The Bruce-Partington Plans. A Government employee, his official position is auditor of the books. In reality he is a member of the mysterious Department headed by Major Henry "Tubby" Winstanley. Mycroft's prodigious memory makes him invaluable to the Department when investigating diplomatic cases, or potential scandals involving certain members of the Royal Family. He lives at the Diogenes Club, of which he is a founder member, and which caters for the most unsociable men in London, one of the rules prohibiting speaking.

In these stories you will meet the villainous Fritz von Tarden, Colonel Moran (accomplice of the late unlamented Professor Moriarty), Inspector Straightfellow, the Winstanley brothers - but the star of these stories isn't Mycroft, or even Sherlock: it's Mycroft's young, beautiful and sexy mistress.

The Adventure of the Royal Revelations is the first of three stories in The Other Mr Holmes. Queen Victoria's personal diary goes missing, and an equerry is murdered. The murderer must be found, and the Queen's comments on some of her ministers must never reach the Continental press. The tuba-playing Mycroft is the man to find the murderer and save Her Majesty's reputation. His mistress Anna, a crack shot, joins Mycroft in an attempt to keep the damning volume out of the hands of dastardly foreign agents.

In the second story Mycroft and Anna set out to save the reputation of a leading actress and keep the unique gemstone, the Flame of Natal (title of the story), from the grasp of audacious thieves, while in the last story - The Adventure of the Reuters' Agent - they cross swords with one of the deadliest enemies of Mycroft's brother - Colonel Sebastian Moran.

From The Adventure of the Royal Revelations

1894. After Sherlock Holmes flees abroad with Watson to escape Professor Moriarty, Mycroft and the narrator are visited in the Diogenes Club by the Prince of Wales who desperately needs their help. The narrator is one Mr W H Dalziel, a fellow-member of the Diogenes. "Mr Holmes," began the Prince, "as Sir Marcus has told you, there is at present a great danger to the throne, and at the heart of the matter lies my mama's personal diary. I intended to remain outside and let Sir Marcus explain everything, but my anxieties became too great." "Sir Marcus was beginning to recount the details to me, sir," said Mycroft. "But he did not mention murder." The Prince drew heavily on his cigar before resuming. "Since my father's death thirty years ago, it has been my mother's practice to enter long and detailed confidences in her personal diary. She summarises policies, and writes private opinions of Cabinet ministers. Half a dozen foreign powers would give anything to lay their hands on even a single page of that diary." Mycroft leaned forward eagerly, his keen grey eyes glittering. "So I understand from Sir Marcus, sir. And I also understand that the diary has disappeared." "It has, Mr Holmes," replied the Prince grimly. "At the weekend, my wife and I stayed with Mama at Sandringham. At some time between Sunday evening and lunch on Monday someone stole her current diary." "So much Sir Marcus told me before your arrival. And the murder?" "One of my equerries, Sir Charles Quincanneaux, was stabbed to death in the room from which the diary was stolen." "Can you give me more details?" "Sir Marcus!" commanded the Prince. "The body was found at Monday lunchtime, Mr Holmes," said Sir Marcus, "in the upstairs room where the diary was kept in a locked cabinet. Sir Charles was lying on the floor with an assegai buried in his back." "An assegai!" "The weapon had been torn down from a wall mounting. The door of the room was locked, and the key was in the keyhole on the inside. The doctor said that Sir Charles had been dead since the previous night." "The window?" "Closed and fastened, Mr Holmes." "Who had the key to the cabinet?" The Prince answered. "My mother had one, and the other was in the possession of Sir Charles. It was found in his pocket." "When was the body found, and by whom?" "Two footmen found it at about one fifteen on Monday afternoon," said Sir Marcus. "The evening before, Her Majesty gave Sir Charles the volume to be locked away. He went to do that after dinner. By Monday lunchtime, no-one had seen him and we undertook a search. Eventually the room was broken into and the body discovered. Shortly afterwards the diary was found to be missing." "May I ask, since this is now Wednesday, why you did not seek immediate assistance?" "We had to make certain that the diary was indeed missing and not mislaid, Mr Holmes. We had to be discreet, since the fewer who know about this, the better." "Quite so. I imagine that the missing volume could only aggravate the situation in Southern Africa, and seriously affect our relations with France." The Prince nodded. "It is my belief, Mr Holmes," he said, "that the diary was stolen on the orders of my royal nephew, Wilhelm." "The Kaiser," said Mycroft sombrely. "Has anything appeared in the foreign press?" "Not yet, Mr Holmes." "That," said Mycroft, "leads me to believe that the thief is still in this country. He may be hoping to make a financial gain in exchange for the return of the book. He may be hoping to play off the British and German intelligence services against each other." "Quite so," said the Prince. "You grasp the danger, Mr Holmes, and the need for a speedy and discreet recovery of the diary. And of course, we must find the murderer and bring him to justice. I have little doubt that the thief and the murderer are one and the same. I should have consulted your brother, but I find that he is away." "He is abroad, sir," replied Mycroft gravely. "In any case," said the Prince, "although your brother is of the highest integrity and capability, he has the disadvantage of being a private gentleman, and is therefore outside the influence of your Department. Mr Holmes, I would deem it a favour if you would attempt to recover my mother's diary and involve no-one other than Mr Dalziel here." I say chaps! A locked room murder mystery. How will Mycroft solve it? And is fellow club member Mr Dalziel all he seems to be?

Extract from Mycroft Up Against It

Extract from Hero the Amazon

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