Two-fer: 1 Novel + 1 Sequel

I looked at him anew, with an understanding I never had before and with awe for the magnitude of such a mind. In a flash I understood the cocaine, his moods, and his genius.

MX Publishing has bundled together These Scattered Houses and Remarkable Power of Stimulus. My action packed original story of Holmes alone, in the guise of Sigerson the Explorer and it’s sequel, Sherlock Holmes’ cinematic return to London. The first though written in my highly visual style is much too dark for film. The second, has Holmes and Watson solve in their traditional manner, a hideous series of murders, comparable to Jack the Ripper, and is much more appropriate for the screen.

These Scattered Houses is a pastiche, based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, during Holmes’ great hiatus, and in Poughkeepsie, NY. Without Watson, except for the many letters Holmes writes in his journal. Filled with colorful characters, the story is told completely in Holmes’ voice. Since he is undercover, hunted, and in costume, I’ve subtly included homages to a few famous Holmes portrayals.

Remarkable Power of Stimulus is a pastiche, also based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, which takes place in London. It bookends Doyle’s story, “The Adventure of the Empty House” (which takes place over a single day.) What happens the very next day brings Watson and Holmes together again at No. 221B Baker Street. New characters enliven the story. Here, as in Doyle’s stories, London is a living, breathing character. Holmes and Watson conquer the horror that imperils the English suffragettes in a story that takes them back and forth across the River Thames, into South London, Oxford, St. Bart’s, and beyond. Holmes in Paris is confronted by a city in fear and ruin. Historically, this was the beginning of the arch anarchists who in six years time brought the world to its knees. A feat which was thankfully never equaled. One man was there, one exceptionally intelligent and remarkably prepared gentleman for whom justice was as familiar as his partner’s precise and unerring aim.

Gretchen Altabef is an MX author of Sherlock Holmes novels. Mondadori Publishing has contracted to translate her novels into Italian. Ms. Altabef strives to emulate Dr. John Watson’s and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s literary style. The first, These Scattered Houses, is in Holmes’ own voice and resourcefully chronicles the last two months of his ‘great hiatus’. The second in the series is, Remarkable Power of Stimulus. After 3 years away, Holmes finds London awash in murders, No. 221B under siege, anarchists threatening Paris, and the return of Irene Adler. Fully aware he is being watched by Moriarty’s men, Holmes steps out of the cab into Baker Street knowing he will find Watson’s friendship and unerring aim are as dependable as the British Rail.