Colin Pendragon retains all of Holmes quirky, brilliant character in a Victorian mystery that illuminates a noble familys dark heart (San Francisco Book Review). When a carriage bearing the Arnifour family crestvulture devouring a slaughtered lambarrives at the Kensington home of Colin Pendragon, it is an ominous beginning to a perplexing new case. Lady Arnifours husband has been beaten to death and her niece, Elsbeth, left in a coma. Is the motive passion, revenge, or something even more sinister? Police suspicions have fallen on the groundskeeper and his son, yet the Earls widow is convinced of their innocence. Even as Colin and his partner Ethan Pruitt delve into the muddy history of the Arnifour family, a young street urchin begs their help in finding his missing sister. Ethan, regrettably familiar with Londons underbelly, urges caution, yet Colins interest is piqued. And in a search that wends from the squalid opium dens of the East End to the salons of Embassy Row, the truth about these seemingly disparate cases will prove disquieting, dangerous, and profoundly unexpected.The novel is well-paced . . . the interplay between Pendragon and Pruitt is interesting and complex . . . a number of unusual twists and turns. Mystery SceneFans of Sherlock will be pleased to see some reflection of those characters here. Historical Novel Society