Mycroft Holmes

Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse, 328 pages

A prequel of sorts to Arthur Conan Doyle's classic Sherlock Holmes stories, Mycroft Holmes focuses on Sherlock's big brother when he was a 23-year-old political newbie (in a "secretary to the secretary" position). Sharp and observant like his better-known brother, Mycroft becomes aware of mysterious occurrences taking place in Trinidad, homeland of both his sweet fiancee Georgiana and his close friend and tobacconist Cyrus Douglas. Using his governmental connections, Mycroft heads to the Caribbean island to investigate and uncovers a scheme to reinstate slavery throughout the Americas.

According to the author bios, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a longtime Holmesian, as well as an NBA legend, and his fanaticism for the works of Conan Doyle are obvious in this, his first novel. That said, it's also obvious that Abdul-Jabbar is living vicariously through his character, Cyrus Douglas, a tall black man skilled in martial arts. He has fun with the character, though he's cognizant of the potential problems of giving Mycroft a black sidekick in the Victorian era, and for that he should be commended. That said, the story is a bit convoluted, and definitely not on par with the Sherlock Holmes canon, though it does have some fun elements. Give it a whirl while you wait for the next season of Sherlock.