Sherlock Holmes
New Adventures Volume 1
In the first new adventure, titled THE DICKENSIAN CONSPIRACY, Holmes and Watson embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the circumstances leading up to the late Charles Dickens's untimely death, in 1870. Just like in Dickens's original mystery tale, THE DICKENSIAN CONSPIRACY brings us to Cloisterham, a typical English town with an imposing Cathedral. Crucial documents hidden in the Cathedral of Cloisterham shed new light on the untimely death of Charles Dickens. The great Victorian writer appeared to have been deeply entangled with the characters of his unfinished serial, THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD, as Holmes deducts from cryptic clues in the first six installments of Dickens's inconclusive mystery. Were it not for Holmes sharp observational wits, the clues that Dickens left us about his foreboded death may never have been deciphered. Gradually, the house of worship in Cloisterham reveals its many clues to intrigue, passion, love and crime — all somehow linked to key members of the town's Church Choir.
The second new adventure, a story titled SECRETS OF THE PURLOINED LETTER, takes us back to one of the greatest tales written by Edgar Allan Poe. The original version of THE PURLOINED LETTER by Poe was about a blackmailer who threatened to reveal the sensitive details confided in a letter stolen (purloined) from the Royal Court in France. The reputation of the Queen herself stood to suffer considerable blemish if the letter's content would ever be made public. The thefts of an ancestral sapphire and the purloined letter prompt Lady St. Clair — a heiress of the French Bourbon Dynasty — to seek help from the Victorian detectives. A labyrinthine investigation by Holmes and Watson leads to the arrest and conviction of her ruthless blackmailers.
Maxwell Conroe writes literary fiction focusing on existential questions – in short stories, essays, and novels. Mind Twisters – his debut story-bundle – has put Maxwell on the map as a gifted storyteller. His passion lies in writing experimental fiction about issues that matter. "What we wish to achieve in life,"
Conroe says,
"we can best strive for by continually learning
and developing ourselves
while living our lives."
"In the end, our life's journey is a big deal
— sharing experiences —
while focusing on things and ideals
we think of as being really meaningful."
"What Sherlock Holmes teaches us,
is to be observant, reflect and connect the dots
to reveal the unseen. This strategy comes in handy
when setting and adjusting the course
of our own journey in life,
based on precisely his methods."
