Who Killed Sherlock Holmes?

by Paul Cornell

Overview

The ghost of Sherlock Holmes is dead, but who will solve his murder?

The Great Detective's ghost has walked London's streets for an age, given shape by people's memories. Now someone's put a ceremonial dagger through his chest. But what's the motive? And who – or what – could kill a ghost?

When policing London's supernatural underworld, eliminating the impossible is not an option. DI James Quill and his detectives have learnt this the hard way. Gifted with the Sight, they'll pursue a criminal genius – who'll lure them into a Sherlockian maze of clues and evidence. The team also have their own demons to fight. They've been to Hell and back (literally) but now the unit is falling apart . . .

Paul Cornell's Who Killed Sherlock Holmes? is the third book in the urban gothic Shadow Police series.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781447273271
Publisher:	Pan Macmillan
Publication date:	05/19/2016
Series:	Shadow Police , #3
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	985,752
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Paul Cornell has written some of Doctor Who's best-loved episodes for the BBC, as well as an episode of the hit Sherlock Holmes drama, Elementary. He has also written on a number of comic book series for Marvel and DC, including X-Men and Batman and Robin. He has been Hugo Award-nominated for his work in TV, comics and prose, and won the BSFA award for his short fiction. Paul has written two previous Shadow Police novels, London Falling and The Severed Streets.
Paul Cornell has written some of Doctor Who's best-loved episodes for the BBC, as well as an episode of the hit Sherlock Holmes drama, Elementary. He has also written on a number of comic book series for Marvel and DC, including X-Men and Batman and Robin. He has been Hugo Award-nominated for his work in TV, comics and prose, and won the BSFA award for his short fiction. His urban gothic mystery series, Shadow Police, includes London Falling, The Severed Streets and Who Killed Sherlock Holmes?.

Editorial Reviews

06/05/2017
Cornell’s third grimdark urban fantasy (after The Severed Streets) doubles down on the gritty and nightmarish themes of the earlier novels. Quill, Ross, Costain, and Sefton are the only people on London’s police force with the second sight, which means they’re the only ones who know that the mysterious break-in at the Sherlock Holmes museum is actually a murder scene: someone appears to have killed the ghost of Holmes himself. Living people are also being murdered in the same ways as victims in Conan Doyle’s stories, and the team scrambles to get ahead of the killings, only to find themselves used and thwarted again and again. At the same time, every one of the four is being ridden by personal demons, threatening their coherence and effectiveness as a team and bringing the overall tone of the story firmly into depressing territory. Readers who enjoyed the earlier books will be pleased, but this isn’t a good entry point for newcomers. (July)

Publishers Weekly

2017-06-20
The discovery of Sherlock Holmes' murder leads an investigator of London's true nature to seek out its meaning in the supernatural world.After the body of wheelchair-bound Christopher Lassiter is found with a mysterious message above it, London DI James Quill fears the murder investigation may require the specialized talents of very specific colleagues. The message is "Rache," apparently taken from Sherlock Holmes' first recorded case, A Study in Scarlet. Not coincidentally, Lassiter was once an actor who played Holmes. The connection is obviously meaningful to his death, but how? DC Kevin Sefton, Quill's colleague, discovers the next murder in this crime spree, which marks the story's plunge into the supernatural. It appears that Holmes' noncorporeal being has been killed and that Sefton has been led to the site as part of a meditative dream state. From this point on, those unfamiliar with Cornell's Shadow Police series (The Severed Streets, 2014, etc.) may need to consult previous installments to keep their heads above water. Quill assembles his Shadow Police team, each of whom is gifted with the Sight, which enables them to see London in its true form as something like hell on earth. Costain, Lofthouse, and Ross join Quill and Sefton in their pursuit of a criminal determined to bring Doyle's fantasy to life. Each investigator has his or her own journey into darkness and relationship to the ongoing Holmes-themed murders as well as his or her own experience revealing the true character of London. Though each character is given an individual storyline and a connection to the larger movement of the plot, readers new to the series may find little reason to invest in their fates. Fans who have done their homework are likely to come away with a more rewarding experience.

Kirkus Reviews