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SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE BAKER STREET IRREGULARS by Tracy Mack

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE BAKER STREET IRREGULARS

The Fall of the Amazing Zalindas, Casebook No. 1

by Tracy Mack & Michael Citrin & illustrated by Greg Ruth

Pub Date: Sept. 1st, 2006
ISBN: 0-439-82836-8
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic

In a fresh go at an angle taken by Robert Newman back in the ’80s, Mack and Citrin present a hitherto-undocumented case from the point of view of the squad of street children Holmes occasionally employed. Here, the theft of a hidden treasure from Buckingham Palace and the deaths of three high-wire acrobats in a seeming accident are linked and the culprits identified. This is thanks to sharp detective work by lead urchin Wiggins; his new young associate Ozzy, an asthmatic, newly orphaned apprentice forger; and (to the discomposure of the misogynistic Holmes) Pilar, a Romany fortuneteller’s daughter with the handy ability to read lips. The authors fold in plenty of characters and references from the Holmes canon, as well as an embedded code that hints at sequels. They close with various notes on period hats, transportation and other topics. Comics artist Ruth provides a few atmospheric illustrations to this fast-paced, authentically styled caper. (cast list, endpaper map) (Fiction. 11-13)