Showing results by author "Craig Copland" in All Categories

At Oxford University, an influential professor has been proselytizing for anarchism. Three naive students fall for his doctrines and decide to engage in direct action by stealing priceless artifacts from the British Museum, returning them to the oppressed people from whom their colonial masters stole them. In the midst of their caper, a museum guard is shot dead and they are charged with the murder. After being persuaded by a vulnerable friend of the students, Sherlock Holmes agrees to take on the case. He soon discovers that no one involved is telling the complete truth.

In 1909 the entire world of dance changed forever when Les Ballets Russes, under the brilliant impresario, Serge Diaghilev, departed St. Petersburg and opened in Paris. They also made annual visits to the West End in London. Tragically, during their 1913 tour, two of their dancers are found murdered. Sherlock Holmes is brought into to find the murderer and prevent any more killings. The story adheres fairly closely to the incredible story of the reappearance of classical ballet in Western Europe and the introduction of modern interpretive dance.

The Stock Market Murders. A clever Cambridge graduate who works in The City goes missing. Two of his classmates are found murdered. Holmes investigates and finds that all of them were caught up in the greatest fraud ever visited upon the citizens of England. The tentacles of the financial empire behind it reach to the far corners of the globe. In London, they are wrapped around the construction of the new Bakerloo Underground line. Millions of pounds are about to vanish. The characters and actions in the story are borrowed from the historical events surrounding the life of James Whittaker ...

“With regret, my dear Inspector,” said Sherlock Holmes, “I shall decline your invitation to assist in this case.” “Why?” demanded Inspector Lestrade. “A cottage catching fire and burning to the ground and causing the death of a young mother may be a terrible tragedy. Such events, sad though they are, have no connection with ingenious or singularly inexplicable crime. I reserve such unique talents as those with which Providence has blessed me to attend to solving events that are irrefutably criminal.” From his seat on the far side of the breakfast table in 221B Baker Street, ...

Remember Violet Smith, the beautiful young woman who Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson rescued from a forced marriage, as recorded in The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist? Ever wonder what happened to her and her true husband, Cyril Morton, in the years that followed. Well, ten years later she and Cyril reappear in 221B Baker Street with a strange tale of the theft of their bicycles -- hardly a crime worthy of the brilliant mind of the world's greatest detective. But ...What on the surface seemed like a trifle turns out to be the door that leads Sherlock Holmes into a web of human trafficking.

Baron Gruner survived the sulfuric vitriol hurled in his face. He was left almost blind and horribly disfigured. A year later, when he was shot twice in the back of his head, he did not survive. Violet de Merville, the young woman of ethereal beauty who had been engaged to him, was accused by Scotland Yard of his murder. She appeals to Sherlock Holmes for help. Where does he start? There are a score of women in England and Austria who Gruner exploited, betrayed and humiliated. They all have fathers and brothers and uncles. There are many more men who he swindled and who hate him. Holmes and...

Someone murdered a university student. They found him lying in his bed. Dead. His head smashed by a cricket bat. The local police arrest another student, claiming it was a case of jealous rage over the affections of a beautiful girl. The arrested student’s formidable mother demands Sherlock Holmes prove her son’s innocence. Holmes investigates and deduces that several people had reason to commit murder. At least one want top kill him too. This new mystery is a tribute to the original Sherlock Holmes story, The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier. Like that story, it is told directly by ...

The Spy Gate Liars “Your friend, Monsieur Sherlock Holmes is near death. Come at once.” Having received this telegram, Watson rushes to eastern France, where Holmes is investigating the serial murders of former German army officers. The events that led to this murder mystery began in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. But the evil that was done back then has continued until the present day … and vengeance will be had. All the victims were killed in the same way, a dagger through the eye socket. Another likely victim has moved to England, so we rush to find him before the assassin does. ...

The Adventure of the Coiffured Bitches. A young woman about to receive a massive inheritance disappears. Her little brother believes she has become a zombie and is trapped in the graveyard. His governess knows something is very wrong in the strange family. She appeals to Sherlock Holmes …who she finds rather attractive. Holmes and Watson travel to Winchester. We encounter a tyrannical stepfather, a weird mother, twisted servants, and an earnest lover … or two. Not to mention the enormous mastiff that could tear our throats out. This New Sherlock Holmes Mystery is a tribute to The ...

The Grecian, Earned Wilson Kemp and Harold Latimer, the villains from the story of The Greek Interpreter, ran off to Budapest, Where they were stabbed multiple times … and died. The killer ran away … a long way away. Holmes and Watson go to Budapest. They meet with one of Holmes’s former assistants … one who is smart, but despised. The trail then takes then to Athens, Where the first Olympic Games in modern times will soon take place. Something is not right. A massive fraud? Cheating to win gold for national pride? Only one thing is for certain … timeo danaos et dona ferentes. ...

A senior government official falls dead, almost into Sherlock Holmes’s lap. He was in charge of awarding contracts for major government projects, worth millions of pounds. They were to be announced in three weeks. Somebody wanted to disrupt the awards. A contract worth over a million pounds is a reason to commit murder. The official grew up in Fulworth, the same town where a man died after being stung by the creepy, deadly giant jellyfish Holmes wrote about in The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane. The characters from that story, especially the peerless Sussex beauty, Maud, agree to help ...

“Holmes, this is more dangerous than anything Moriarty could have imagined “Precisely,” said Holmes. This new adventure began with a single counterfeit £100 note. Scotland Yard demanded that Sherlock Holmes take the case. Soon, there were many more counterfeit notes, coming back to England from all corners of the Empire. Then a man’s dead body appeared in a church graveyard, with counterfeit notes in his pocket. The next day, Holmes and Watson are off to Europe in search of a dangerous conspiracy who are threatening the security of the British Empire. Holmes will need help if he is...

Six students receive death threats. For a lark over the summer, they wrote a satirical book. It made fun of the crimes and foibles of a fictional baron. Some real baron somewhere does not think it’s funny. They got too much of his story right. And now he is out to kill them. They appeal to Sherlock Holmes. But he is too busy with his bees, and so he sends Dr. Watson. What Watson discovers is terrifying. Soon he, Holmes and the students are in a race against time to unmask the villain and take him down before more lives are destroyed. This New Sherlock Holmes Mystery is the 55th in the ...

Scientists who specialize in biology are supposed to be rational. Devout Christians are supposed to be loving and forgiving. In July 1925, they both failed. That was the summer when John Scopes was put on trial in Tennessee for teaching about human evolution. Every major newspaper in America carried the story. When proponents of both sides of the battle ended up dead, Dr. Tabitha, a scientist and a believer, was called in. Was the battle worth killing your opponents? Some people thought so. The future of the nation was at stake. Would America be God-fearing? Or God forsaken? Or could ...

When a man’s beautiful, beloved daughter dies, A part of his soul dies with her. When that daughter dies at the hands of a murderer, That man’s mind is filled with a burning fire for justice, for revenge. When the local police shrug off the murder as a random robbery gone wrong, When the local populace gossip about the daughter being a victim of an evil vampire, That man turns to Sherlock Holmes. On a miserable morning in June of 1898, the body of Elizabeth Cleaves-Bedford was discovered in the corner of the family orchard. Her throat had been punctured and her body entirely drained of ...

The Naval Knaves. On September 15, 1894, an anarchist attempted to bomb the Greenwich Observatory. All he succeeded in blowing up was himself. But he did not act alone. Sherlock Holmes discovers that he was part of an intricate web of spies, foreign naval officers, and a drop-dead-gorgeous, not-English princess. Once again, suspicion lands on poor Percy Phelps. Now he’s in a senior position in the Admiralty. Holmes has to rescue Percy, But he has a much bigger worry. A massive, terrorist explosion is planned. It will take many lives. But where? And when? This New Sherlock Holmes Mystery ...

THE ADVENTURE OF THE TREACHEROUS TRUST. A beautiful, brilliant young woman attracts the attention of a wealthy, older gentleman. He insist that she join the board of directors of a popular charity, run by his son. A meeting of the directors is held at the family estate. She attends and quarrels with the son. An hour later, she falls off the roof terrace. Nobody can believe that her death is anything but a tragic accident. Nobody, that is, except her sister, Miss Violet Westbury. A year earlier, Violet's fiancé, Cadogan West, was murdered and his body dumped on top of a railway carriage. ...

A twelve-year-old boy witnessed a murder. But nobody believed him. Except Sherlock Holmes. Holmes quickly deduces that the boy was intricately connected to the victim and knows more than he is letting on. Eventually, Holmes solves the case in his mind ... and does nothing. Everybody was fooled. So, it's an ideal story for April Fools' Day. The short story was originally published as part of an MX Books Collection of new Sherlock Holmes stories. But it is available to you on its own at a discount price. Pre-order now and enjoy your copy on April 1. Included with this story is a free bonus ...

During the course of the series, New Sherlock Holmes Mysteries, I sent Holmes and Watson to both Canada and the United States. To commemorate Canada Day and Independence Day 2023, these two stories are available for a limited time. Enjoy them and celebrate the freedoms and blessings of two great countries.

THE YELLOW FARCE. AN UNUSUAL AMERICAN WOMAN LIVING IN JAPAN MAY BE A FOREIGN AGENT AND DRAWING BRITAIN INTO WAR. “Sherlock, this woman must be investigated. Every fortnight, she abandons her husband for several days, and every month a large sum of money appears in their bank account.” “Oh, my. Half the married men on earth who would be on their knees thanking whatever gods they believe in were their wives to do likewise.” In far-off Japan, a war is raging against the Russians. Great Britain is officially neutral, but not entirely. The Japanese are buying their navy from us. The new ...