Young Sherlock Holmes: Death Cloud

I wasn't too enthusiastic when I picked up the book. Whosover has heard of a young Sherlock Holmes? I wasn't sure how much of justice author Andy Lane must have done to the detective made so popular by the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. But feeling a bit adventurous I decided to give it a try.

The story of "Young Sherlock Holmes: Death Cloud" begins when young Sherlock is shipped of to stay with his never-heard-of-before uncle and aunt in the Holmes Manor - because his father is leaving for his duty in India, his mom is not well and elder brother Mycroft is busy with his work in London. Sherlock, who is afraid of dying of boredom, soon finds a companion - a homeless boy called Matty Arnatt. Unwittingly, they stumble across two deaths where the victims have inexplicable angry boils  as well as a mysterious yellow powder all over their bodies and a dark cloud is observed leaving the scene. Holmes decides to investigate this matter. Matty is drawn into it along with Sherlock's new tutor Amyus Crowe and his daughter Virginia.

Okay....so the plot is good. I liked the way Crowe teaches Holmes to use his powers of deduction and emphasizes the importance of having facts at his fingertips. And the book kept me sufficiently engrossed so that it wasn't an effort to keep reading it till the end.

All in all, I rather like this young Avatar of my favorite detective. I would like to lay my hands on the sequel - Red Leech - for sure. But one question that still nags me is what's the story of Mrs. Eglantine?

The author has mentioned a couple of books in the End Note. I intend to read "London of Sherlock Holmes" by Michael Harrison one day.