The Three Locks by Bonnie MacBird (books for 8th graders .TXT) 📗

Brawn and agent Linda Langton, and, to quote Dorothy Parker, my severest friends and dearest critics Harley Jane Kozak, Luke Kuhns, Miguel Perez, Robert Mammana, Alex Bennett, Patricia Smiley, Jonathan Beggs, Linda Burrows, Bob Shayne, Craig Faustus Buck, Matt Witten, Andrew Rubin, and Jamie Diamond. Also my very grateful thanks to the incisive Dana Isaacson, Lynn Hightower, and Dennis Palumbo. Hugs to a young woman who inspires me and to whom this book is dedicated: Miranda Andrews, a nurse on the front lines of the pandemic, working ER at Mass General and FEMA. And to Kirstin Kay, a deep Sherlockian and courageous spirit. Thanks to Jonathan and Elaine McAfferty, accomplished Sherlockians and Cantabrigians, and to Sherlockian experts and good friends Les Klinger and Catherine Cooke. Thanks also to the expertise and kind consultation of E.J. Wagner and D.P. Lyle, forensics, Brian Morland, lock expert and curator of Master Locksmith’s Association museum, Dr Christopher Stray on classics and Cambridge, and Tom Larnach, River Manager of the Cam, and Dr Tony Hughes for confirmation of medical details. A very special thanks to Dan Stashower, Victorian magic expert and deep Sherlockian. Thanks to Shakespeare experts and theatre makers Rob and Sarah Myles whose ‘The Show Must Go Online’ gave me such a boost, and to Richard Crabtree for spirit-lifting violin lessons and laughs. To dear friends Rob Arbogast and Paul Denniston, the Holmes and Watson of the cover art. And to actors Luke Barton and Joseph Derrington for some ‘Holmes on Lockdown’ fun which lightened a dark moment and Jonathan Le Billon for earlier Holmes fun.

Biggest thanks of all goes to my husband Alan Kay, my port in this battering storm of 2020, giver of hugs, cooker of omelettes, and Voice of Reason, who bought an actual Ruhmkorff coil and installed it in our London flat, just because.

Keep Reading …

Art in the Blood

BONNIE M

AC

BIRD

A missing child, a deadly art theft, an unstoppable killer …

Sherlock Holmes is languishing and back on cocaine after a disastrous Ripper investigation. Even Dr Watson cannot rouse him, until a strangely encoded letter arrives from Paris. A beautiful French singer writes that her little boy has disappeared, and she’s been attacked in the streets.

Racing between London, Paris and the wintry wilds of Lancashire, Holmes and Watson discover the case is linked to the theft of a priceless statue and deaths of several children. The pair must confront a rival detective, Holmes’s interfering brother Mycroft and an untouchable suspect if they are to stop a rising tide of murders. The game is afoot!

‘Dark, stylish, ingeniously plotted. Holmes and Watson live again.’

HUGH FRASER

Available to buy here

Unquiet Spirits

BONNIE M

AC

BIRD

An attempted murder, a haunted castle, a terrible discovery …

Sherlock Holmes has found himself the target of a deadly vendetta in London, but is distracted when beautiful Scotswoman Isla MacLaren arrives at 221B with a tale of kidnapping, ghosts, and dynamite in her family’s Highland estate. To Watson’s surprise, however, he walks away in favour of a mission for Mycroft in the South of France.

On the Riviera, a horrific revelation draws Holmes and Watson up to the McLaren castle after all, and Holmes discovers that all three cases have blended into a single, deadly conundrum. To solve the mystery, the ultimate rational thinker must confront a ghost from his own past. But Sherlock Holmes does not believe in ghosts … or does he?

‘A rollicking tale worthy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself.’

HISTORICAL NOVELS SOCIETY

Available to buy here

The Devil’s Due

BONNIE M

AC

BIRD

London, 1890. A freezing November …

As anarchists terrorize the city, a series of gruesome murders strikes deeper into its heart. Leading philanthropists are being slaughtered in alphabetical order, all members of a secret club, the Luminarians. And with each victim, a loved one mysteriously dies as well.

As the murders continue, the letter ‘H’ climbs closer to the top of the list – and then Mycroft Holmes disappears. Hampered by a new head of Scotland Yard, a vengeful journalist and a beautiful socialite with her own agenda, must Sherlock Holmes himself cross to the dark side to take down this devil? Even John Watson, the man who knows him best, can only watch and wonder …

‘One of the best Sherlock Holmes novels of recent memory.’

MICHAEL DIRDA, WASHINGTON POST

Available to buy here

Coming next

The Serpent Under

BONNIE M

AC

BIRD

Holmes and Watson uncover treachery just below the surface of the glittering world of London royalty, government and the social scene, as they track a nest of human vipers with a horrifying signature, killing some and leaving others marked for life …

About the Author

Bonnie MacBird, BSI (Art in the Blood) and ASH (The Professional Enthusiast), was born in San Francisco, educated at Stanford, and now lives in London and Los Angeles.

A fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle since age ten, she’s active in the Sherlockian community in both the UK and the US, and lectures regularly on Sherlock Holmes, writing, and creativity. A longtime veteran of Hollywood, MacBird has been a screenwriter (original script for TRON), an Emmy-winning producer, a playwright, studio exec (Universal) and actor.

MacBird attributes her enjoyment in capturing ‘voice’ to both her acting and screenwriting experience and her music training as well. She teaches a popular screenwriting class at UCLA Extension, which approaches writing for film using techniques of other art forms.

In her Sherlock Holmes novels, she aims to accurately portray the brilliant detective and his friend as closely as possible to Doyle, yet expanding the original shortform fiction to full-length novels. Art in the Blood features a child who has disappeared and a bloody art theft, and touches on the theme of the perils and blessings of the artistic temperament. Unquiet Spirits features a murdered girl, a threatened scientist and a haunted whisky estate, while considering the dangers of not dealing with the ghosts of one’s past. The Devil’s Due brings Holmes to the edge of evil in order to combat a devilish multiple murderer.

Visit her at www.macbird.com