Category: author

Guy Ritchie’s adaptation of Sherlock Holmes hits theatres next week! Robert Downey Jr. plays the witty Sherlock Holmes, Rachel McAdams as the beautiful Irene Adler, and Jude Law as Dr. John Watson. But, before you watch the movie, we challenge you to read the Boy Sherlock Holmes series!

Eye of the Crow
The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His 1st Case
Written by Shane Peacock
ISBN 978-0-88776-850-7 (Hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-88776-919-1 (Paperback)

“In Eye of the Crow, Shane Peacock has created a cleverly inventive background story for Sherlock Holmes that explains the adult character’s reluctance to talk about his family life. He’s also managed to create a thrilling, impeccably paced murder mystery. Peacock reveals the budding detective’s very real fears and insecurities, providing just enough detail about the young Sherlock’s methods to make him an entirely believable teenage precursor to the master detective. Peacock also neatly creates a sense of the bustle of Victorian London, making the squalid grunginess of the East End almost waft off the pages.” – Starred Review, Quill & Quire

“The details of the plot are plausible, the pacing well timed, and the historical setting vividly depicted…The titular crow comes fascinatingly into play…On balance, the characters enrich the book and help give Holmes’s storied abilities credence.” – Starred review, School Library Journal

“…the first intriguing volume in an ambitious new series….a shadowy, vividly described London….Creative references to Doyle’s characters abound…and Sherlock himself is cleverly interpreted….[made] both fascinating and complex….plenty of readers will like the smart, young detective they find here, and find themselves irresistibly drawn into his thrilling adventures.” – Starred review, Booklist

Awards and Honours:

• Winner of the 2008 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Juvenile Book, presented by the Crime Writers of Canada
• Winner of the 2008 IODE Violet Downey Book Award
• Gold Medal Winner of the 2008 ForeWord Magazine‘s Book of the Year Award – Young Adult Fiction category
• Gold Medalist for the 2008 Moonbeam Awards – Intermediate/Middle Grade category
• Short-listed for the 2009 Rocky Mountain Children’s Book Award
• Short-listed for the 2009 Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award – presented by MYRCA
• Nominated for the 2009 Saskatchewan Young Readers’ Choise Award (SYRCA) – Snow Willow Award category
• Nominated for the 2008-2009 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award
• Finalist for the 2008 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction
• Finalist for the 2008 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award
• Honour Book for the Canadian Library Association’s Book of the Year for Children Award
• Chosen as Booklist’s “Top Ten in Youth Mysteries” in 2008
• Chosen as an Honor Book for the 2009 Silver Birch Award for Fiction – presented by the Ontario Library Association
• Selected for the 2009 TD Summer Reading List

Death in the Air
The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His 2nd Case
Written by Shane Peacock
ISBN 978-0-88776-851-4 (Hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-88776-928-3 (Paperback)

“In the first novel, we see many of the characteristics of the adult detective being formed through his first exciting adventure. In Death in the Air, this development continues and we get to know young Sherlock even better….This novel is written for the young adult, but adult readers will also find it satisfying. Peacock places demand on the reader, expecting intelligence and curiosity. The fast-paced adventure is a treat.” – The Globe and Mail

“Shane Peacock’s second novel of the young Sherlock is no less exciting or authentic than the first, Eye of the Crow…. Again Peacock has remained true to the original spirit of the Holmes series. Sherlock’s pervasive melancholy and his flirtatious relationship with the underworld of London create yet another authentic mystery. Peacock has honored the essence of the original Holmes stories while contributing his own intuitive, exhilarating touches.” – Highly Recommended, CM Magazine: Canadian Review of Materials

Awards and Honours:

• Finalist for the 2009 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award
• Short-listed for the 2008 IODE (National Chapter) Violet Downey Book Award
• Finalist for the 2009 Canadian Library Association’s Young Adult Book Award
• Selected for the Best Book for Kids and Teens 2009 list
• Chosen as a 2008 Best Bets by the Ontario Library Association

Vanishing Girl
The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His 3rd Case
Written by Shane Peacock
ISBN 978-0-88776-852-1 (Hardcover)

“The first two books in this splendid series have won a shelf-full of awards. Peacock’s adolescent Sherlock is complex, intuitive and fascinating. As much as a Bildungsroman as a detective yarn, Sherlock tracks down an aristocratic young woman gone missing twice, driven by passion and pride, in the belief this may be the case that will make his reputation.” – The National Post

“… The richly descriptive prose offers a vivid sense of both Victorian life and the diverse characters, especially complex, intriguing, and sympathetic Sherlock” – Booklist

The Secret Fiend
The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His 4th Case
Written by Shane Peacock
ISBN 978-0-88776-853-8 (Hardcover)
Available on May 11 2010!

It is 1868, the week that Benjamin Disraeli becomes Prime Minister of the Empire. Sherlock’s beautiful but poor admirer, Beatrice, the hatter’s daughter, appears at the door late at night. She is terrified, claiming that she and her friend have just been attacked by the Spring Heeled Jack on Westminister Bridge and the fiend has made off with her friend. At first Sherlock things Beatrice simply wants his attention, and he is reluctant to go back to detective work. He also believes that the Jack everyone fears is a fictional figure. But soon he is suspicious of various individuals, several of them close friends.

Set in a time when many in England were in a state of fear because a Jew was running the country, Shane Peacock presents a compelling story filled with an atmosphere of paranoia and secrets and surprises played out on late-night London streets. Sherlock gets drawn deeper and deeper into the pursuit of the Spring Heeled Jack, whose attacks grow in number until it seems that there are Jacks everywhere.

The Secret Fiend is the fourth book in Shane Peacock’s award-winning Boy Sherlock Holmes series, combining brilliant storytelling with fascinating historical detail and a mystery worthy of one of the greatest sleuths in English literature.

Please visit Shane Peacock’s website at www.shanepeacock.ca and www.theboysherlockholmes.com