When Leonard Smith, a publisher of erotic books, is found brutally murdered in his London flat, Inspector Lestrade asks Sherlock Holmes to assist him. Holmes soon suspects there is a criminal conspiracy behind the murder, a suspicion which is confirmed when Sir Henry Baskerville's wife, formerly Beryl Stapleton, disappears. Travelling to Dartmoor, Holmes and Watson discover that Sir Henry is, along with Oscar Wilde and others, a member of Smith's exclusive book club, and that his behaviour has become increasingly irrational. Dark events then crowd in; two telegraph boys are savagely butchered in London's East End, Sir Henry's maid is found strangled on the moors and there is an attempted assassination of King Edward V11. Holmes returns to London to face his mortal enemy and reveal at last the shocking truth about the cruel and seamy underbelly of Victorian society. Kelvin I Jones is the author of 'Sherlock Holmes: The Plagues of London.' Ed Hoch, the renowned American crime writer, has said of his Sherlockian work: 'Kelvin I Jones reveals a sensibility and knowledge of 19th Century literature that extends far beyond the world of Sherlock Holmes.' 'Decidedly idiosyncratic...the author's deep knowledge of the time, the place and the criminal history is evident throughout...a gripping read...' Roger Johnson, The Sherlock Holmes Journal, writing about The Plagues of London.
About the Author: Kelvin I. Jones has been a prolific writer for a quarter of a century. He has published six books about Sherlock Holmes and the only study on Conan Doyle's interest in spiritualism, as well as numerous articles about the Victorian detective (see R De Waal's Universal Sherlock Holmes, online edition, 2000). Ed Hoch, the renowned American crime writer, has said of his Sherlockian work: "Kelvin I Jones reveals a sensibility and knowledge of 19th Century literature that extends far beyond the world of Sherlock Holmes." (Introduction to Sherlock and Porlock, Magico, 1984). He is also the author of many supernatural stories, among them Carter's Occult Casebook, about a psychic Edwardian detective. Of his gothic tales, Francis King, the novelist and critic, has written, "(Kelvin's work) piquantly suggest the work of a modern M.R. James." (Introduction to Twenty Stories.) His work is also cited in Ramsey Campbell's Meddling With Ghosts (2002) where he is described as one of the 'James gang.' Kelvin has written several books on folklore, including Occult Cornwall, as well as three fiction books for children - Odin's Eye and The Dark Entry (the latter co-authored with wife Debbie). He was for 15 years the proprietor of Oakmagic Publications, a British folklore publisher. He has also published four occult crime novels featuring a melancholic, ex-Met detective, John Bottrell. He is also the creator of the Norwich based DCI Ketch, who features in the series, Murder Most Easterly.