Mycroft Holmes and the Case of the Missing Popes (Mycroft Holmes #3)

'The stories are atmospheric, fast-moving, ingenious and very enjoyable.' - Roger Johnson, 'The District Messenger'

A mysterious burglary. Political intrigue. And another case for Mycroft Holmes.

In the third of David Dickinson's brilliant series of Mycroft Holmes novellas, the brother of Britain's most famous detective is approached by a distraught young aristocrat, the son of the Home Secretary Lord Melrose.

There has been a mysterious burglary at his father’s mansion. Two famous Raphael Popes have disappeared. Mycroft travels north by a special train. Did the thieves break in or was it an inside job? What secrets are lurking in the Stewards Room? How great are the Duke’s debts and his obligations to the moneylenders? What is amiss in his relations with his wife?

Fans of historical fiction and of Dickinson’s earlier Mycroft novellas will love this story, as will devotees of the original Sherlock Holmes stories whose tone is superbly captured by the author.

Mycroft Holmes and The Case of the Missing Popes is the third in David Dickinson’s brilliant series of novellas that started with Mycroft Holmes and the Adventure of the Silver Birches and continued with Mycroft Holmes and The Adventure of the Naval Engineer.

Praise for David Dickinson

'A cracking yarn, beguilingly real from start to finish... you have to pinch yourself to remind you that it is fiction - or is it?' - Peter Snow

'This is detective fiction in the grand style; the characters and the plot soar upwards and carry us in their wake. Powerscourt's debut in this intoxicating book is the start of a gilded life in the archives of crime.' - James Naughtie

'In this excellent novel, Dickinson weaves a tale of blackmail and murder among the royals late in Victoria's reign... One hopes to see more of Lord Powerscourt and his friends in the near future.' - Publishers Weekly

David Dickinson is the best-selling author of the Lord Powerscourt series of historical mysteries, including 'Death of a Pilgrim' and 'Death of an Old Master'.