Mycroft Holmes

My eye is almost always caught by interesting dichotomies. For instance, seeing this cover prominently displayed on the New Book shelf in my library:

Unexpected, no? I grew up hearing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's name announced over the background of athletic shoes squeaking across hardwood floors and the shrill of referee whistles. But here he is on the cover of a book about Sherlock's brother? This I must see.

From Goodreads:
"Fresh out of Cambridge University, the young Mycroft Holmes is already making a name​ ​for himself in government, working for the Secretary of State for War. Yet this most British of civil servants has strong ties to the faraway island of Trinidad, the birthplace of his best friend, Cyrus Douglas, a man of African descent, and where his fiancée Georgiana Sutton was raised.

Mycroft’s comfortable existence is overturned when Douglas receives troubling reports​ from home. There are rumors of mysterious disappearances, strange footprints in the sand, and spirits enticing children to their deaths, their bodies found drained of blood. Upon hearing the news, Georgiana abruptly departs for Trinidad. Near panic, Mycroft convinces Douglas that they should follow her, drawing the two men into a web of dark secrets that grows more treacherous with each step they take...

Written by NBA superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and screenwriter Anna Waterhouse, Mycroft Holmes reveals the untold story of Sherlock’s older brother. This harrowing adventure changed his life, and set the​ stage for the man Mycroft would become: founder of the famous Diogenes Club and the hidden power behind the British government."


I love Sherlock Holmes. The Hound of the Baskervilles gave me nightmares when I was 11, but no other detective could compare to Sherlock's observational skills and quick mind, not even Encyclopedia Brown (though good ol' Encyclopedia Brown did NOT disturb my slumbers with red-eyed slavering dogs chasing after me). I've read the majority of Conan Doyle's Sherlock canon, Laurie R. King's continuation of the Sherlock lore, and watched avidly as both Robert Downey Junior and Benedict Cumberbatch portrayed the fierce, unemotional detective on the screen. I wondered if Mr. Abdul-Jabbar could do his brother justice?

In a word, yes.

My husband tells me that Mr. Abdul-Jabbar is a well-known Sherlockian fan, so the novel is not that great of a leap. And it shows in the storytelling--the plot is tight, with echoes of Conan Doyle's ever present theme of the past catching up with the miscreants of now driving the story. The characters are well-drawn, and I'm curious to see more of the Holmes' dear mother, who is portrayed as the perpetrator of their difficult personalities. The new characters of Georgiana and Douglas fit well into the milieu and lend spice to what could have been a very bland narrative. This was a truly enjoyable read, gripping, with remarkable attention to character detail and some very cleverly disguised info-dumping. Well done.

Gentle Reader Alert: Mycroft has to deal with some harrowing situations (see the dead children referenced in the plot synopsis) and there is some period swearing, but it was not overt or offensive to me.