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Art in the Blood
Bonnie Macbird
London. A snowy December, 1888. Sherlock Holmes, 34, is languishing and back on cocaine after a disastrous Ripper investigation. Watson can neither comfort nor rouse his friend – until a strangely encoded letter arrives from Paris.Mlle La Victoire, a beautiful French cabaret star writes that her illegitimate son by an English lord has disappeared, and she has been attacked in the streets of Montmartre.Racing to Paris with Watson at his side, Holmes discovers the missing child is only the tip of the iceberg of a much larger problem. The most valuable statue since the Winged Victory has been violently stolen in Marseilles, and several children from a silk mill in Lancashire have been found murdered. The clues in all three cases point to a single, untouchable man.Will Holmes recover in time to find the missing boy and stop a rising tide of murders? To do so he must stay one step ahead of a dangerous French rival and the threatening interference of his own brother, Mycroft.This latest adventure, in the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, sends the iconic duo from London to Paris and the icy wilds of Lancashire in a case which tests Watson's friendship and the fragility and gifts of Sherlock Holmes' own artistic nature to the limits.
Art in the Blood
A SHERLOCK HOLMES ADVENTURE
BONNIE MACBIRD
Copyright (#u96538bab-de63-5042-a38d-9540a8ae1fa0)
This book is a new and original work of fiction featuring Sherlock Holmes, Dr Watson, and other fictional characters that were first introduced to the world in 1887 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, all of which are now in the public domain. The characters are used by the author solely for the purpose of story-telling and not as trademarks. This book is independently authored and published, and is not sponsored or endorsed by, or associated in any way with, Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd. or any other party claiming trademark rights in any of the characters in the Sherlock Holmes canon.
COLLINS CRIME CLUB
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2015
Copyright © Bonnie MacBird 2015
All rights reserved
Drop Cap design © Colbalt C Creative 2015
Bonnie MacBird asserts the moral right
to be identified as the author of this work.
Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780008129668
Ebook Edition © July 2015 ISBN: 9780008154486
Version: 2016-03-24
Praise for Art in the Blood (#u96538bab-de63-5042-a38d-9540a8ae1fa0)
‘MacBird has captured the tone and style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s immortal sleuth perfectly.’
The Huffington Post
‘A thoroughly entertaining Sherlock Holmes adventure worthy of Doyle himself … vivid period detail, a superb, labyrinthine plot, snappy pacing and, most importantly, a deep respect for the classic characters.’
Bryan Cogman, co-producer and writer of HBO’s Game of Thrones
‘Bonnie MacBird’s Art in the Blood has the three key ingredients for a delicious pastiche: meticulous research, plausibility and grand fun!’
Leslie S. Klinger, editor of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes
‘A solid debut from an author I hope to read more of.’
The Baker Street Babes
‘A riveting journey … from the bohemian art studios of Paris and the familiar streets of London to the darker side of the Industrial Revolution, all carefully researched and excellently evoked.’
Catherine Cooke, curator of the Sherlock Holmes Collection, London
‘MacBird skilfully interweaves fact with fiction while remaining faithful to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original imagining of Sherlock Holmes … A worthy addition to the adventures of Sherlock Holmes.’
Kirkus Reviews
‘Stylish, exciting, amusing and enthralling … the best I’ve read outside of Conan Doyle himself!’
Paul Annett, director of ITV’s Sherlock Holmes series starring Jeremy Brett
‘A pitch-perfect Holmes and Watson, Art in the Blood bristles with the intelligence and wit we love in the original adventures. Dark, funny and surprising to the end.’
Peter Samuelson, film producer of Wilde, Tom & Viv, Revenge of the Nerds and many more
‘The best pastiche since The Seven-Per-Cent Solution bar none.’ Doyleockian
‘MacBird has given us back the Sherlock Holmes of old. One whose flaws are a constant battle and yet maintains a sense of panache that creates trust in those who rely on him.’
Leslie Wright, Blogcritics
‘In a world with more than its share of Sherlock Holmes pastiches, it is rare for one to soar above the rest, but Bonnie MacBird’s Art in the Blood achieves this singular feat and deserves a tip of the deerstalker.’
Otto Penzler, The Mysterious Bookshop, The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories
‘A page turner … MacBird has done her homework.’
Forbes
‘A stylish leap … plunges with brio in 19th-century Europe.’
Independent
For interested readers, illustrated
annotations to Art in the Blood
can be found on
www.macbird.com/aitb/notes (http://www.macbird.com/aitb/notes)
Dedication (#u96538bab-de63-5042-a38d-9540a8ae1fa0)
For Alan
Table of Contents
Cover (#u96e68641-9c28-584d-b7ae-f8d141e3852b)
Title Page (#u78a5eb8e-4520-5081-80c4-874e0bb46763)
Copyright (#ub33142f8-a1f9-5a0c-b2fe-d8719fc87040)
Praise for Art in the Blood (#uf1561071-97c2-5c9f-84da-7cd1ea9dec55)
Dedication (#ud272088c-0814-50c3-a7f4-7c1875b54e38)
Preface (#u0e324edd-2eb0-5225-a6b0-64ae24a7ebc9)
Part One: Out of the Darkness (#u5020808b-3e16-52e3-9505-71b7f47ba12d)
Chapter 1: Ignition (#u8526f394-65d4-5394-9bde-f8abc1d9c2cd)
Chapter 2: En Route (#u68af1c37-a56c-5a4e-8dcf-e7454850e277)
Part Two: The City of Light (#ub203f55e-8504-5a61-8d7f-e6ace271ed93)
Chapter 3: We Meet Our Client (#ud6281a42-095a-5916-8ab3-dfcab1be2055)
Chapter 4: Le Louvre (#u58e4bedd-4f34-5218-89c5-7a6a60f8a973)
Chapter 5: Les Oeufs (#u190cacb6-b8bc-5d2f-9f83-83281fe84f24)
Chapter 6: Le Chat Noir (#u9492a528-960b-519f-ae6f-6798e354e06c)
Part Three: The Lines Are Drawn (#ua58c1c8c-c343-5c56-9fbf-1c5266a311d1)
Chapter 7: Attack! (#u95296fae-5bd5-59db-9fa7-260f3a1d72f9)
Chapter 8: A Slippery Slope (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9: L’Artiste en Danger (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10: Mlle la Victoire’s Story (#litres_trial_promo)
Part Four: Behind the Scenes (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11: Baker Street Irregularities (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12: Suspension Bridge (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13: Mycroft (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14: Armed With Lies (#litres_trial_promo)
Part Five: Belly of the Whale (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15: Arrival (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16: Repairs Needed (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17: In the Bosom of the Family (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 18: First Look (#litres_trial_promo)
Part Six: Darkness Descends (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 19: Murder! (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 20: The Chambermaid (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 21: On the Ledge (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 22: A Terrible Mistake (#litres_trial_promo)
Part Seven: Tangled Threads (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 23: Terror Looms (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 24: Watson Investigates (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 25: Vidocq’s Story (#litres_trial_promo)
Part Eight: The Wash of Black (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 26: Man Down (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 27: Blood Brothers (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 28: The Winged Victory (#litres_trial_promo)
