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After their recent adventures in Transylvania, Russell and Holmes look forward to spending time with Holmes' son, the famous artist Damian Adler, and his family. But when they arrive at Damian's house in Délieux, they discover that the Adlers have fled from a mysterious threat.
Holmes rushes after Damian while Russell, slowed down by a recent injury, stays behind to search the empty house. In Damian's studio, she discovers four crates packed with memorabilia related to Holmes' granduncle, the artist Horace Vernet. It's an odd mix of clutter and treasures, including a tarnished silver lamp with a rotating shade: an antique yet sophisticated form of zoetrope, fitted with strips of paper whose images dance with the lantern's spin.
In the crate is an old journal by a woman called Lakshmi, written in a nearly impenetrable code. Intrigued, Russell sets about deciphering the intricate cryptograph, slowly realizing that each entry is built around an image—the first of which is a child, bundled into a carriage by an abductor, watching her mother recede from view.
Russell is entranced, then troubled, and each entry she decodes brings more questions.
Who is the young Indian woman who created this elaborate puzzle? What does she have to do with Damian, or with Horace Vernet—or the threat hovering over the house?
The secrets of the past appear to be reaching into the present. And it seems increasingly urgent that Russell figure out how the journal and lantern are related to Damian—and possibly to Sherlock Holmes himself.
Could there be things about his own history that even the master detective does not perceive?
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
February 13, 2024 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781705044605
- File size: 297070 KB
- Duration: 10:18:53
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Amy Scanlon takes over from longtime series narrator Jenny Sterlin to provide an exemplary debut performance of King's 18th Holmes/Russell adventure. Sterlin's distinctive voice and extraordinary characterizations will always echo in our memories, yet fans will welcome Scanlon's unique, engaging approach. Holmes and Russell arrive in the French countryside to visit Holmes's son, Damien Adler. However, the delivery of a steamer trunk and a disturbing home invasion have caused the Adlers to go into hiding. Scanlon is lively and youthful as Russell and coolly impersonal as Holmes. Alternating chapters highlight Holmes's search for Damian's family and the reasons for the break-in; Russell's decoding of an intriguing journal belonging to a young French-Indian woman; missing jewels; and stunning family revelations. Scanlon's spot-on narration makes this must-listening! S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
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