The 100-Year-Old Secret: The Sherlock Files Book One (Sherlock Files, 1) - Softcover

Barrett, Tracy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 031260212X ISBN 13: 9780312602123

Publisher: Square Fish, 2010

Synopsis

What if you inherited Sherlock Holmes's book of unsolved cases?

Xena and Xander Holmes have just discovered they're related to Sherlock Holmes and have inherited his unsolved casebook! The siblings set out to solve the cases their famous ancestor couldn't, starting with the mystery of a prized painting that vanished more than a hundred years ago. Can two smart twenty-first-century kids succeed where Sherlock Holmes could not?

Modern technology meets the classic detective story in The 100-Year-Old Secret, the first in Tracy Barrett's terrific new mystery series that will intrigue young sleuths everywhere!

About this title

About the Author:

Tracy Barrett is the author of the Sherlock Files books, as well as several other acclaimed books for young people, including King of Ithaka, Cold in Summer and Anne of Byzantium. Her books have been named an ALA Best Book for young adults, a Bank Street best children's book of the year, and a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, among other honors. She is a professor of Italian language and civilization at Vanderbilt University and lives with her family in Nashville, Tennessee.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4–7—Detective stories derived from the adventures of Sherlock Holmes are well represented in juvenile literature from Donald Sobol's "Encyclopedia Brown" series to Nancy Springer's "Enola Holmes" mysteries. Welcome 12-year-old Xena Holmes and her brother, Xander, Sherlock's great-great-great grandchildren, newly arrived in London from Florida. They are playing a favorite game, guessing people's occupation by appearance, in front of their hotel when a strange man delivers a note written in disappearing ink directing them to the Dancing Men Pub. There, through a set of tests, their famous relative is revealed to them, and they are given his "Unsolved Cases" notebook. Xena, intrigued by it, soon finds a case with modern relevance—a missing portrait by Nigel Batheson, whose other works are being displayed in a nearby gallery. The siblings are off and running through a plot laced with references to the original stories and using similar devices, including a red herring. The main characters are observant, bright, and gifted with powers of deduction. Watson's great-great-great grandson, Andrew, is integral to the plot. Some clues seem to be obvious, but they can lead to a wrong conclusion. A well-paced beginning to a new series.—Kathryn Kosiorek, formerly at Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn, OH
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About this edition

• Publisher: Square Fish
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 031260212X
• ISBN 13: 9780312602123
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176