Reply paid : a mystery : and the short story, the adventure of Mr. Montalba, obsequist

This ingenious reworking of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s infamous mysteries sends brilliant detective Mycroft Holmes to investigate a mystery in the deserts of the American West. His name is Mycroft, not Sherlock, although it’s easy to understand why people get them mixed up. Both are brilliant detectives with minds that seem to contain every bit of information known to man. And both show remarkable interest in beekeeping, tobacco ash, and the fine of art of murder. Even so, they are not the same person—which is a shame, because Mycroft Holmes is chasing a fiendish killer, and his younger brother, Sherlock, would certainly enjoy the hunt. The search for the mysterious Mr. Intil takes Mycroft to the distant land known as Los Angeles, where his old friend Sydney Silchester has made a new life for himself as a codebreaker. In the strangest city on earth, Sydney and Mycroft’s investigation will take on a deadly spiritual dimension. Fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle will find author H. F. Heard’s Mycroft Holmes no less brilliant than his younger brother, Sherlock. These classic golden-age mysteries are some of the most unique detective stories of all time. Reply Paid is the 2nd book in the Mycroft Holmes Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order. Hot on the trail of a madman, vereran super-sleuth Mr. Mycroft engages the services of finicky decoding expert Sydney Silchester. The Sherlockian-like Mycroft leads the reluctant, complaining Silchester into the scorching Southern California desert in search of hidden clues. Along the way they enlist a capricious psychic, stumble upon corpses, follow an overly curious guide, and track an ingenious but ultimately careless murderer. ... Reply Paid finds its startling climax in the barren Utah wilderness amid a ring of desert monoliths resembling Stonehenge. There Mr. Mycroft reveals the chesslike motives of the players and the shocking grand design of the evil mastermind