Young Sherlock Holmes is back and in his latest adventure Stone Cold, he solves a mystery closer to home.

This Andrew Lane mystery not only shows why Sherlock went onto become the first consulting detective but also from where did he gather his idiosyncrasies, like playing the violin, being attentive and the knack of solving cases that baffled the local authorities.

Stone Cold takes place right after his earlier adventure Knife Edge, and begins as soon as Sherlock’s elder brother Mycroft sends him to Oxford for further studies. Sherlock — the younger Holmes — and his trusted aide Matty, then decide to solve the mystery of missing body parts and in their quest, meet an ex-police officer who enlists their help in solving the mystery of the moving house — that’s two mysteries for the price of one!

When not solving the mystery, Holmes lodges with older students and also studies logic under Mycroft’s old friend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who also goes by the name Lewis Carroll (you must have heard the name).

Teenagers Holmes and Matty may be dissimilar to each other, yet they manage to solve both the cases, using their brains and brawns. Matty proves to be the perfect foil for Holmes (just as Dr Watson was in later years) and even in the worst of situations, the two are always one step ahead of their enemies. The author must also be credited for engaging the characters as well as the audience in twin mysteries, something that hasn’t been done in the Young Sherlock Holmes series.

And then there is Mycroft Holmes who may not be in most of the pages but is present at every corner. One wishes that he gets to solve one mystery with Sherlock as both the brothers are geniuses in their own way. Also, it is due to Mycroft’s friends that Sherlock manages to get the best education required to become a detective.

If you don’t know about Young Sherlock Holmes, you can start with Stone Cold; regular fans will enjoy this seventh book in the series just as they had done with the rest.

Published in Dawn, Young World March 4th, 2017