A Work of Suspense

When Mycroft Holmes—the pivotal thinker behind His Majesty's Government—is approached on the same evening by two of the realm's most powerful figures, King Edward VII himself and the British Ambassador to Washington, he knows he is holding a powder keg ready to explode. At the centre of the scandal stands Geoffrey Ebstein: an American with an extraordinary talent for procuring "young girls" for those who can afford them, and an archive of letters and photographs capable of destroying the highest offices of State. Imprisoned in Chelmsford awaiting trial, Ebstein is ready to talk—unless a deal can be struck. But Mycroft Holmes does not strike deals. Mycroft Holmes solves problems at their root. Accompanied by a drunken hangman whose name would become legend, the keeper of raison d'état sets in motion a mechanism that will lead to a death in custody, a suicide verdict signed by Dr Watson, and—perhaps—a far longer shadow cast over the British Crown itself. A Work of Suspense is the darkest, most shocking account ever to emerge from the Holmes family archives. A chilling narrative, written in lemon juice for fear that even his brother Sherlock might read it, and rediscovered only today through the heat of a radiator. Because sometimes, raison d'état knows no bounds. And sometimes, a perfect murder is simply… duty.