January 2017 Debut of the Month | In a nutshell: Sherlock and Watson as you’ve never seen them before | The Sherlock Holmes stories are given a lively twist.
Eleven-year old John Watson has recently moved into 221 Baker Street, New York with his mum, a former army doctor. One of their new neighbours is Shelby Holmes, red headed, nine years old, alarmingly precocious. As she shows him round the neighbourhood, John reaslises that Shelby is a local hero, a genius at deduction able to work out who’s up to what way faster than the police. She’s not easy to get along with – social niceties are of little interest to Shelby – but the two are soon working together on the case of a missing dog. There are nods to the original novels which will please fans of the books or TV series, and the relationship between Shelby and John is a satisfying mix of companionship and mutual irritation. The mystery will more than hold readers’ attention and this is a smart tribute to Conan Doyle.
Shelby Holmes is not your average nine-year-old. For one, she happens to be the best detective her neighbourhood has ever seen, using her uncanny analytical mind and sassy attitude to solve crimes which stump even the police department.
But when eleven-year-old John Watson moves in to her block of flats, Shelby finds a solution to the one puzzle that's eluded her up until now: friendship.
This dynamic duo find themselves swept up in a dog-napping case that'll take both their talents to crack.
Elizabeth Eulberg was born and raised in Wisconsin before heading off to make a career in the New York City book biz. Now a full-time writer, she is the author of The Lonely Hearts Club, Prom & Prejudice, Take a Bow, Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality, Better Off Friends and We Can Work it Out.
