Sherlock Holmes and the Crusader's Curse

A new novel from the author of acclaimed Sherlock Holmes patisches The Albino's Treasure, The Counterfeit Detective and The Improbable Prisoner A CURSED LEGACY The last Lord Thorpe, reclusive owner of Thorpe Manor, has died. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are invited to the auction at which the estate will be sold off, in hopes Holmes can uncover the whereabouts of the missing De Trop Diamond, a jewel-encrusted gemstone brought back from the Crusades by an earlier member of the Thorpe dynasty - and the source of a legendary curse. Making the acquaintance of the various potential bidders for the Manor, and visiting the nearby village, the two men learn local legends from the local publican, before exploring the grounds of the Manor itself. All seems well until first one of the guests, and then the publican are found dead. Trapped in the Manor by a ferocious snow storm, and cut off from his network of London assistants, Holmes must convince the remaining guests that the curse is not real, and that there is a murderer in their midst...

Stuart Douglas is the author of numerous short stories and novellas, and has edited several anthologies. He set up Obverse Books in 2009, a small press imprint. He contributed a story to Titan's Encounters of Sherlock Holmes in 2013, and is the Features Editor of the British Fantasy Society journal. He lives in Edinburgh.