Mammoth Books presents Vittoria, the Circus Belle

Book 277: Mammoth Books

by Edward D. Hoch

Genres: Mystery

Synopsis

Holmes is visited by a young girl from the circus industry. She fears for her life and is deeply troubled that two attempts on her life have already been made. Vittoria believes it is Edith Everage, an acrobat who desires to be the circus belle who is attempting to kill her. Holmes sets out to investigate her claims, only to find his efforts may be too little, too late.

Release date: May 17, 2012

Publisher: C & R Crime

Print pages: 15

Sample

After “The Incumbent Invalid” there was a brief period when little came Holme’s way and he soon began to complain that his practice was “degenerating into an agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to young ladies from boarding-schools,” an attitude which coloured his initial feelings about the case that became “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches”. Despite the success of that case matters again went quiet and it is probably during his period that Holmes became more open in his use of cocaine for stimulation. Watson refers to it in. “The Yellow Face”, a case which arose in the spring of 1886 and which was one of Holmes’s few recorded failures. Holmes was clearly in the doldrums during this period.

But matters soon began to improve. We find from the summer of 1886 cases begin to tumble one on top of another and Watson again found trouble keeping a record of them all. The American writer and scholar of crime, Edward D. Hoch, is renowned for his mystery stories, and he has occasionally turned a hand to writing stories featuring Sherlock Holmes. These are mostly of his own invention, but his interest in the circus caused him to stumble upon some records which helped us piece together the case later referred to by Watson about Vittoria, the Circus Belle.

My friend Mr Sherlock Holmes, upon looking through his fabled index of past cases, took occasion to remind me that I have never . . .