Laurie R. King

In the Company of Sherlock Holmes brings together a mix of people you never thought you’d see writing Sherlock Holmes stories. Such as… John Lescroart and Michael Dirda:

Dunkirk by John Lescroart

May, 1940
In full dark and shrouded in fog, the Dover Doll rose and fell in the

still waters of the English Channel.
The Doll, an 18-meter former fishing boat converted to pleasure yacht, had disembarked from her berth in Dover at a few minutes before 7:00 that night, the 26th, one of the 161 British vessels that proved to be avail- able on the first day of Operation Dynamo. The Doll carried a crew of four. Two of them—Harry and George–were boys under sixteen years of age, nephews of Duffy Black, a clerk from Churchill’s War Office who, because he’d spent much of his youth on the water, had volunteered to act as the captain of his brother-in-law’s boat during this crisis.

The last crew member, lately arrived from the Sussex Downs, was a elderly man who had with great formality identified himself to Duffy only as Mr. Sigerson. Taciturn and close to emaciated, Sigerson struck Duffy as a potential if not likely liability, but Churchill had called for volunteers post haste without regard to rank or age, and Duffy wasn’t in a position to turn away an able hand.

If, Duffy thought, he was in fact, able.

* * *

By Any Other Name by Michael Dirda

“How could you? Just how could you?”
Jean Leckie looked up at Arthur Conan Doyle, the tears streaming

down her cheeks. The couple were seated in a quiet corner of an ABC Tea shop in Camden Town. Her companion, dressed in handsome tweeds, appeared perplexed.

“Dearest, sweetest love. Please don’t cry.”
“It’s easy enough for you to say. Don’t you care about my feelings?” “I adore you.”
“Save that for Touie, you hypocrite. You clearly adored her enough

to make your marriage, your happy marriage the subject of this!” Jean brought out a book from her capacious handbag and slammed it on the table.

Arthur quietly picked up the small volume and looked at the cover: A Duet, by A. Conan Doyle.

In the Company of Sherlock Holmes publishes in two weeks, November 11. You can pre-order a copy from:

Poisoned Pen Books (signed by Laurie King, Les Klinger, and others)

IndieBound

Barnes & Noble/ Nook

Amazon/ Kindle