The Cardinal Sin of Detective Fiction [Sherlock Holmes]

“I always thought my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, was a cold, calculating machine, and that love would never enter his mind... until one day, he told me he had met an interesting girl.”

“Six months later, he told me he was engaged.”

After arriving in the English countryside at the end of the nineteenth century, Eliza became a pastry chef and submitted articles to lifestyle magazines in her spare time.

She lived a quiet life and planned to go to London to see the Queen's coronation celebrations.

Later, she discovered that her sister was the heroine of the literary classic Tess.

She burned down the crime scene where Tess had committed her crime, boarded a train to escape, and accidentally stumbled upon a murder scene.

As she fought for her life against the murderer, a man fell from the sky,

and saved her opponent.

Holmes: “So this is why you turned down my proposal?”

Eliza rolled her eyes. “I finally understand why detective novels can't have romance. You were unfortunately ruined by me. Mr. Holmes, is that the conclusion your brain has deduced?”

“But you love me, don't you?”

“Perhaps. I love Escott, the vanished phantom you pretended to be.”

[Reading Guide]

1. A grounded, realistic take set in the nineteenth century. No supernatural elements. Holmes is based on the original.

2. Even though he's based on the original, he will inevitably be out of character.

3. There's no outline, so the blurb may be misleading.

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Theme: Live well and cherish the present.