Mycroft
Holmes
by Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse
I have been
thoroughly enjoying this series, though I started with the second book (Mycroft
and Sherlock) because that was what was available at the time in our library’s
ebook catalog. Then I went back to this book as the first. I’m looking forward
to the third, but already sad that there are only three.
This first
book features the character of Mycroft Holmes, slightly older brother to
Sherlock Holmes. He has Sherlock’s profound abilities of observation and
deduction but also a shrewd ability at politics and working with people. I
confess I prefer Mycroft to Sherlock.
Mycroft’s
friend, Cyrus Douglas, is also an incredibly sympathetic character. His age and
gravitas make a perfect foil to Mycroft’s youthful impetuosity.
I like Huan
as well, but the character is not as fully realized as the others. (I can’t
help picturing the actor Dwayne Johnson when the authors mention his ready
smile and yet his ability to sternly mother hen Mycroft into letting an
acupuncturist see to his toes.)
As the story
opens, we find Mycroft on a youthful jaunt to “influence” a rowing competition
he has bet on. It’s not just about betting though, he is working hard to earn,
and win, the money he needs to set up a home for his fiancé, Georgiana – a paragon
of virtue, according to Mycroft.
Things
deteriorate from there, and rather quickly. Though slavery has been abolished
in England, this is still the late 1800’s and a black man such as Cyrus, traveling
as an equal with a white man like Mycroft, is not acceptable to a portion of
the public, especially drunken louts whose rowing team just lost.
Cyrus
Douglas quick intelligence is called into action then Mycroft’s powers of
observation and deduction as the two men escape the small mob. However, this is
just a forerunner of the difficulty the two will find themselves in soon. A
letter brings Cyrus bad news of events where he grew up. Surprisingly, it is
where Georgiana grew up as well, and the news causes her to bolt for home.
Mycroft is determined
to follow and Cyrus to go with him. Once aboard ship, though, there is no sign
of Georgiana. Instead the duo are plagued by attacks. Will they survive the
journey and what mystery awaits them in Trinidad?
The books
are a fascinating combination of cerebral mystery, action, and history while holding
a breadth of situation and emotion that plumbs the depths of what man does to
his fellow man. I heartily recommend them.
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