Bonnie Macbird - Art in the Blood

This book is a new and original work of fiction featuring Sherlock Holmes, Dr Watson, and other fictional characters that were first introduced to the world in 1887 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, all of which are now in the public domain. The characters are used by the author solely for the purpose of story-telling and not as trademarks. This book is independently authored and published, and is not sponsored or endorsed by, or associated in any way with, Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd. or any other party claiming trademark rights in any of the characters in the Sherlock Holmes canon.

COLLINS CRIME CLUB

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London SE1 9GF

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Published by HarperCollins Publishers 2015

Copyright © Bonnie MacBird 2015

All rights reserved

Drop Cap design © Colbalt C Creative 2015

Bonnie MacBird asserts the moral right

to be identified as the author of this work.

Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2015

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008129668

Ebook Edition © July 2015 ISBN: 9780008129682

Version: 2016-03-17

‘MacBird has captured the tone and style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s immortal sleuth perfectly.’

The Huffington Post

‘A thoroughly entertaining Sherlock Holmes adventure worthy of Doyle himself … vivid period detail, a superb, labyrinthine plot, snappy pacing and, most importantly, a deep respect for the classic characters.’

Bryan Cogman, co-producer and writer of HBO’s Game of Thrones

‘Bonnie MacBird’s Art in the Blood has the three key ingredients for a delicious pastiche: meticulous research, plausibility and grand fun!’

Leslie S. Klinger, editor of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes

‘A solid debut from an author I hope to read more of.’

The Baker Street Babes

‘A riveting journey … from the bohemian art studios of Paris and the familiar streets of London to the darker side of the Industrial Revolution, all carefully researched and excellently evoked.’

Catherine Cooke, curator of the Sherlock Holmes Collection, London

‘MacBird skilfully interweaves fact with fiction while remaining faithful to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original imagining of Sherlock Holmes … A worthy addition to the adventures of Sherlock Holmes.’

Kirkus Reviews

‘Stylish, exciting, amusing and enthralling … the best I’ve read outside of Conan Doyle himself!’

Paul Annett, director of ITV’s Sherlock Holmes series starring Jeremy Brett

‘A pitch-perfect Holmes and Watson, Art in the Blood bristles with the intelligence and wit we love in the original adventures. Dark, funny and surprising to the end.’

Peter Samuelson, film producer of Wilde , Tom & Viv , Revenge of the Nerds and many more

‘The best pastiche since The Seven-Per-Cent Solution bar none.’ Doyleockian

‘MacBird has given us back the Sherlock Holmes of old. One whose flaws are a constant battle and yet maintains a sense of panache that creates trust in those who rely on him.’

Leslie Wright, Blogcritics

‘In a world with more than its share of Sherlock Holmes pastiches, it is rare for one to soar above the rest, but Bonnie MacBird’s Art in the Blood achieves this singular feat and deserves a tip of the deerstalker.’

Otto Penzler, The Mysterious Bookshop, The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories

‘A page turner … MacBird has done her homework.’

Forbes

‘A stylish leap … plunges with brio in 19th-century Europe.’

Independent

For interested readers, illustrated

annotations to Art in the Blood

can be found on

www.macbird.com/aitb/notes

For Alan

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Praise for Art in the Blood

Dedication

Preface

Part One: Out of the Darkness

Chapter 1: Ignition

Chapter 2: En Route

Part Two: The City of Light

Chapter 3: We Meet Our Client

Chapter 4: Le Louvre

Chapter 5: Les Oeufs

Chapter 6: Le Chat Noir

Part Three: The Lines Are Drawn

Chapter 7: Attack!

Chapter 8: A Slippery Slope

Chapter 9: L’Artiste en Danger

Chapter 10: Mlle la Victoire’s Story

Part Four: Behind the Scenes

Chapter 11: Baker Street Irregularities

Chapter 12: Suspension Bridge

Chapter 13: Mycroft

Chapter 14: Armed With Lies

Part Five: Belly of the Whale

Chapter 15: Arrival

Chapter 16: Repairs Needed

Chapter 17: In the Bosom of the Family

Chapter 18: First Look

Part Six: Darkness Descends

Chapter 19: Murder!

Chapter 20: The Chambermaid

Chapter 21: On the Ledge

Chapter 22: A Terrible Mistake

Part Seven: Tangled Threads

Chapter 23: Terror Looms

Chapter 24: Watson Investigates

Chapter 25: Vidocq’s Story

Part Eight: The Wash of Black

Chapter 26: Man Down

Chapter 27: Blood Brothers

Chapter 28: The Winged Victory

Part Nine: 221b

Chapter 29: London Bound

Chapter 30: Renewal

Acknowledgements

Unquiet Spirits Preview

Chapter 1: Stillness

About the Author

About the Publisher

During the Olympic summer of 2012, while researching some Victorian medical information at the Wellcome Library, I chanced upon a discovery so astounding that it completely altered my course. After requesting several old volumes, I was brought a small, dusty selection, some so fragile that they were held together by delicate linen ribbons.

Untying the largest, a treatise on the usage of cocaine, I discovered a thick sheaf of folded and yellowed papers had been tied to the back.

I opened the pages carefully and spread them before me. The handwriting was strangely familiar. Was I seeing clearly? I turned back the cover of the book; on the title page, in faded ink, was inscribed the original owner’s name: Dr John H. Watson.

And there, on these crumbling sheets of paper, was an unpublished, full-length adventure written by this same Dr Watson – featuring his friend, Sherlock Holmes.

But why had this case not been published with the others so long ago? I can only surmise that it is because the story, longer and perhaps more detailed than most, reveals a certain vulnerability in his friend’s character which might have endangered Holmes by its publication during their active years. Or perhaps Holmes, upon reading it, simply forbade its publication.