Be Calm and Carry On, Winston!

The amiable "Sherlock Holmes & Young Winston" trilogy by Mike Hogan continues in fine form with the second entry, The Jubilee Plot.

Said plot is too complex for my kind of review. It involves Irish terrorists who are actually working for the British government, an Indian maharaja involved with the Russians, and Dr. Watson buying a tricycle. Their young associate, Winston Churchill, is always hungry and always eating. For example:

"Well," I said mildly, "let us see what Holmes has to say. No more cake for you, young man. You must guard against over-indulgence."

I helped myself to a second slice.

There is more humor here than in most Holmes stories, except for outright parodies. But this is not a parody; it's quite a good yarn, nicely salted with historical characters from Lord Salisbury, then Prime Minister, to D'Oyle Carte, the opera manager best known for mounting Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. And since this is a matter of state, Mycroft Holmes has a key role as well. 

I enjoyed the writing itself. A particularly evocative description of a bell foundry included these lines: "A waft of searing air laden with sawdust, and tainted with a tang of hot metal and smoke, blew through the doorway and made me cough and sputter into my handkerchief. The man closed the door and I breathed more easily. The office windows were open, but the temperature was Saharan." 

Sherlock Holmes and Young Winston: The Jubilee Plot is available from all good bookstores worldwide including in the USA Amazon and Barnes and Noble, in the UK Amazon, Waterstones . Fans outside the US and UK can get free delivery from Book Depository. In ebook format it is in Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook and Apple iBooks(iPad/iPhone).