1900-

The cross-country and return journey in 1910, of two resourceful boys, ages ten and six, traveling by horseback and by "new fangled" automobile.

When the novel opens, the shabby carpet of 221B Baker Street is drenched in blood--and no one knows the fate of Mary Russell...including her husband Sherlock Holmes. Will his wife become his latest mystery? And will he be able to solve it without her help?.

It is a normal afternoon in Sussex when Russell and Holmes return home to find a peculiar addition to their garden: a beautiful stone that once occupied the Imperial Gardens in Kyoto, Japan. The stone immediately recalls the spring of 1924, when, on their way back from India (The Game), Russell and Holmes agreed to perform a small but exceedingly dangerous job for the emperor of Japan. At the time, Russell encountered a young Japanese woman on board their ship who tutored the two foreigners about her country and guided them into a secret meeting with the Prince Regent himself. Now, when Russell heads for Oxford to resume her long-delayed studies, she comes face-to-face with that very same young Japanese woman. Mary quickly realizes Miss Sato Haruki is not all that she seems.

Illustrations and text help chronicle the life of scientific scholar Erich Fromm.

In 1915 Sherlock Holmes is retired and living quietly as he undertakes a study of honeybees in Sussex. Fifteen-year-old Mary Russell literally stumbles upon him as he is working with the bees. As Mary gets to know Holmes, she displays an intellect that impresses even the Victorian detective---no easy feat. Soon they are asked to investigate the kidnapping of the daughter of an American senator, a crime of national significance that proves to have clues that dip deeply into Holmes' past.

Chronicles the life of English author V.S. Pritchett, discussing his childhood, years in pre-Civil War Spain, political involvement, literary inspirations, troubled marriage, and other related topics.

Profiles the life and work of portraitist Alice Neel.