The Mummy of Mayfair

June 1, 2024
A detective duo follows the methods of Sherlock Holmes with a little help from the man himself. Tim Badger was once a Baker Street Irregular, and his partner, Benjamin Watson, is a clever bloke with a scientific bent. Determined to have their own detective agency, they struggled until Sherlock recommended them for some jobs and gave them financial assistance. Now they've been hired to provide security for a mummy reveal at the home of Dr. Enoch Sawyer. When their host is late arriving, his colleague Dr. Cornelius Archer opens the sarcophagus to reveal the body of Sawyer wrapped up like a mummy. Among the wealthy, well-connected crowd is Badger's crush, journalist Ellsie Littleton, who's helped them by reporting on their exploits for the Daily Chronicle. When the cause of Sawyer's death is determined to be poison gas, Archer hires the partners to find the killer, setting them on a road that becomes much more complicated than they could have imagined. Learning that many valuable artifacts have gone missing from the homes of collectors, they suspect some sort of gang, especially since a number of those collectors have died under questionable circumstances. Jimmy Wiggins, another former Irregular and a friend of Badger's, has worked for the doctors and seems to know a lot more than he's willing to admit. Could he provide the clues that will solve the case? A highly enjoyable look at the Great Detective's methods from the viewpoint of his less-accomplished peers.

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July 1, 2024
Westerson's latest in her Irregular Detective series (beginning with The Isolated S�ance, 2023) sees detectives Badger and Watson confronting some of London's wealthiest aristocrats to solve a complex case involving Egyptian artifacts, embezzlement, blackmail . . . and murder. Badger and Watson pulled themselves out of the poverty of London's East End to start their own private detective agency, aided by their mentor, Sherlock Holmes. The duo's latest case begins when they're hired by Dr. Sawyer to act as security at his "mummy unwrapping" party, where a casket is opened to reveal an apparently real Egyptian mummy. But when the sarcophagus lid is raised, Dr. Sawyer's body is inside. Badger and Watson are hired by Dr. Sawyer's colleague to find out who killed him and why, but even Sherlock Holmes' famous "method" doesn't bring them any closer to unmasking the killer. Despite the dark twists, this book is a heartwarming tale of two lads from "the wrong side of town" turning their lives around, forming a close-knit bond, and becoming successes. Fans will cheer them on every step of the way.

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