Sherlock Holmes - Cry of the Innocents
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A HOLY MYSTERY
It is 1891, and a catholic priest arrives at 221b baker street, only to utter the words “il corpe” before suddenly dropping dead.
Though the man’s death is attributed to cholera, when news of another dead priest reaches Holmes, he becomes convinced that the men have been poisoned. He and Watson learn that the victims were on a mission from the Vatican to investigate a miracle; it is said that the body of eighteenth-century philanthropist and slave trader Edwyn Warwick has not decomposed. But should the Pope canonise a man who made his fortune through slavery? And when Warwick’s body is stolen, it becomes clear that the priests’ mission has attracted the attention of a deadly conspiracy...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Despite some heavy-handed foreshadowing early in this capable sequel to 2016's The Patchwork Devil ("Little did I know that the events of this calamitous evening would pale into insignificance compared with the perils that lay ahead"), Scott credibly emulates Dr. Watson's narrative voice in the service of an engrossing plot. One day in 1891, Dr. and Mrs. Watson, who have taken refuge at 221B after a fierce storm damaged their home, are present when a Catholic priest shows up on Holmes's doorstep. The priest, later identified as Monsignor Ermacora from the Vatican, whispers the phrase "Il corpe," then dies, apparently of cholera. In search of answers, Holmes and Watson travel to Bristol, where the monsignor was investigating reports of a miracle connected with Edwyn Warwick, an 18th-century philanthropist and merchant who made his fortune from the slave trade. A local legend claims that when Warwick's missing coffin was eventually located, a century after his death, his corpse showed no signs of decay. The original plot line is refreshing, and the portrayals of the leads are generally faithful to the Sherlock Holmes canon.