In the year 1903 - the exact moment is now lost to history - Sherlock Holmes proclaimed to the world he was quitting England's Capital to go into retirement on a small, wind-swept farm in the Sussex South Downs. His shocked comrade-in-arms Dr. John H. Watson was later to write, 'The decision took me utterly by surprise. I thought I had become an institution around Holmes, like his Stradivarius, or the old, oily black clay pipe and his index books.' Reluctantly Watson wrote up three recent cases yet unpublished and returned to his medical practice. Holmes retirement didn't last long. Once more his faithful Amanuensis Watson took up his pen - and his Army Service revolver. The result was three more of the most intriguing cases ever undertaken by the famous pair. All six adventures have now been brought together in this special edition. A Most Diabolical Plot. 'Not 'til the day the bugle blows for me shall I forget the most diabolical attempt ever made on my friend Sherlock Holmes's life.' The Ghost of Dorset House. 'At eight o'clock on an April evening in 1894 a ghost came upon an intruder in a great London mansion and chased him through pitch-black staterooms and corridors.' The Captain in the Duke of Wellington's Regiment. 'A ceremonial half-guard composed of six or seven men in the uniform of the Duke's Regiment was forming on the mansion's terrace, each soldier glancing through the barrel of his rifle to check for cleanliness. I turned the opera glasses on them.' Die Weisse Frau. 'McCoy was waiting with an impatient air. On catching sight of me, he trotted up with the second horse. With a glance around but hardly a word of greeting, he cantered off, remaining silent until the horses had broken a little sweat.' The Pegasus Affair. 'An envelope arrived at the surgery containing a newspaper cutting from The Eastbourne Chronicle, headed Grand National Horse Race To Be Run For The First Time Away From Aintree.' The Mystery of the Missing Artefacts. 'The heavy door of my cell swung open. Rather than the surly Turkish warder bringing a once-daily bowl of watery grey soup, a visitor from the outside world stood there.' For more on Tim Symonds' short stories and his Sherlock Holmes novels see at http://tim-symonds.co.uk and https://mxpublishing.me/tag/tim-symonds/

In the year 1903 - the exact moment is now lost to history - Sherlock Holmes proclaimed to the world he was quitting England's Capital to go into retirement on a small, wind-swept farm in the Sussex South Downs. His shocked comrade-in-arms Dr. John H. Watson was later to write, 'The decision took me utterly by surprise. I thought I had become an institution around Holmes, like his Stradivarius, or the old, oily black clay pipe and his index books.' Reluctantly Watson wrote up three recent cases yet unpublished and returned to his medical practice. Holmes retirement didn't last long. Once more his faithful Amanuensis Watson took up his pen - and his Army Service revolver. The result was three more of the most intriguing cases ever undertaken by the famous pair. All six adventures have now been brought together in this special edition. A Most Diabolical Plot. 'Not 'til the day the bugle blows for me shall I forget the most diabolical attempt ever made on my friend Sherlock Holmes's life.' The Ghost of Dorset House. 'At eight o'clock on an April evening in 1894 a ghost came upon an intruder in a great London mansion and chased him through pitch-black staterooms and corridors.' The Captain in the Duke of Wellington's Regiment. 'A ceremonial half-guard composed of six or seven men in the uniform of the Duke's Regiment was forming on the mansion's terrace, each soldier glancing through the barrel of his rifle to check for cleanliness. I turned the opera glasses on them.' Die Weisse Frau. 'McCoy was waiting with an impatient air. On catching sight of me, he trotted up with the second horse. With a glance around but hardly a word of greeting, he cantered off, remaining silent until the horses had broken a little sweat.' The Pegasus Affair. 'An envelope arrived at the surgery containing a newspaper cutting from The Eastbourne Chronicle, headed Grand National Horse Race To Be Run For The First Time Away From Aintree.' The Mystery of the Missing Artefacts. 'The heavy door of my cell swung open. Rather than the surly Turkish warder bringing a once-daily bowl of watery grey soup, a visitor from the outside world stood there.' For more on Tim Symonds' short stories and his Sherlock Holmes novels see at http://tim-symonds.co.uk and https://mxpublishing.me/tag/tim-symonds/

“Move over, Jane Austen, for the latest literary ladies who snoop in this... lively series debut.”—Kirkus Reviews on The Vanished Bride Haworth Parsonage, February 1846: The Brontë sisters— Anne, Emily, and Charlotte—are busy with their literary pursuits. As they query publishers for their poetry, each sister hopes to write a full-length novel that will thrill the reading public. They’re also hoping for a new case for their fledgling detecting enterprise, Bell Brothers and Company solicitors. On a bitterly cold February evening, their housekeeper Tabby tells them of a grim discovery at Scar Top House, an old farmhouse belonging to the Bradshaw family. A set of bones has been found bricked up in a chimney breast inside the ancient home. Tabby says it's bad doings, and dark omens for all of them. The rattled housekeeper gives them a warning, telling the sisters of a chilling rumour attached to the family. The villagers believe that, on the verge of bankruptcy, Clifton Bradshaw sold his soul to the devil in return for great riches. Does this have anything to do with the bones found in the Bradshaw house? The sisters are intrigued by the story and feel compelled to investigate. But Anne, Emily, and Charlotte soon learn that true evil has set a murderous trap and they've been lured right into it...

The most fatal virus known to science, rabies-a disease that spreads avidly from animals to humans-kills nearly one hundred percent of its victims once the infection takes root in the brain. In this critically acclaimed exploration, journalist Bill Wasik and veterinarian Monica Murphy chart four thousand years of the history, science, and cultural mythology of rabies. From Greek myths to zombie flicks, from the laboratory heroics of Louis Pasteur to the contemporary search for a lifesaving treatment, Rabid is a fresh and often wildly entertaining look at one of humankind's oldest and most fearsome foes. "A searing narrative." -The New York Times "In this keen and exceptionally well-written book, rife with surprises, narrative suspense and a steady flow of expansive insights, 'the world's most diabolical virus' conquers the unsuspecting reader's imaginative nervous system. . . . A smart, unsettling, and strangely stirring piece of work." -San Francisco Chronicle "Fascinating. . . . Wasik and Murphy chronicle more than two millennia of myths and discoveries about rabies and the animals that transmit it, including dogs, bats and raccoons." -The Wall Street Journal