Novels

The Disappearance of Edwin Drood

The ninety-five year embargo on its release having expired, another of Dr Watson's accounts of an investigation undertaken by Mr Sherlock Holmes is finally made public. Watson had called it 'The Adventure of the Missing Nephew', but he was evidently unaware that parts of the mystery had already been chronicled by another hand elsewhere. This being so, the editor thought it prudent to provide a different title.

Shortly before Christmas 1894, there arrives in the famous Baker Street consulting room a tall, haggard and exhausted man called John Jasper, his eyes shining with an almost fanatical light, who implores Sherlock Holmes to find out what has happened to his nephew, Edwin Drood - is he alive or dead? He explains that Edwin had disappeared from Cloisterham, a cathedral city in Kent, exactly a year before under mysterious circumstances. He strongly suspects that his nephew has been murdered by his arch-enemy, Neville Landless, but is unable to find proof. He is also concerned by the sudden appearance in the town of a strange man called Dick Datchery, who appears to be keeping him under surveillance. There being no time like the present, Holmes and Watson set out for Cloisterham the following day and spend Christmas there. They meet several of the town's well-known personalities but not Mr Jasper himself. It dawns upon Holmes that their absent client is mentally disturbed - or, a any rate, that he has suffered an acute loss of memory - and that he has been narrating to them events which had taken place twenty-five years earlier. But the mystery has never been solved, and during the year that follows some supplementary information comes to light - including the fact that Jasper's normal place of residence is a lunatic asylum. Matters reach a climax towards the end of 1895 and Holmes and Watson find themselves back in Cloisterham, with most (but not quite all) of the mystery having been solved.

Just Stylish

Basically, this is a light-hearted speculation on what the outcome might have been if, in the early 1930s, the worlds of two famous ladies - both born in the autumn of 1890 - had become entangled. The first was a writer of mysteries and the second the chronicler of the activities of a well-known schoolboy and his band of followers. For anyone not pausing to read the author's preliminary Note, the title of the book provides a clue to their precise identities, as does its opening paragraph:

'Miss Agatha Crompton, being a maiden lady of unexpectedly venturesome disposition, had joined a party of explorers dedicated to exploring the lesser known tributaries of the Amazon. It was understood that she would be away from Hadleigh for a period of at least four months. Once again, therefore, Mallowan Cottage was vacant for the summer and the Desperadoes awaited the arrival of the latest tenant with a certain degree of mild interest.'

The tale that follows includes, among other things, a stately home down on its luck, the newly-discovered diaries of Oliver Cromwell, the crown of King Harold, a mysterious mound and a chest of intriguing treasures. There is a 'locked room' mystery set in the open air, the disappearance of a fabulous ruby, blackmail, murder and romance thrown in for good measure, and devilish ingenuity in high places. Three or four famous detectives visit the scene and the spirit of Lewis Carroll also puts in brief appearances.