Mrs Hudson and the Belladonna Inheritance

Summer. A dark, brooding season of oppressive heat and thunderstorms, and Flotsam yearns for fresh air and a sea breeze. But business is brisk in Baker Street and becomes even brisker when a lady who purports to be a spiritualist brings Sherlock Holmes a mysterious message from the dead. The legendary detective has no time for mediums, yet the message proves remarkably prescient when, later the same day, he is consulted about the Last Will and Testament of the deceased armaments tycoon, Erasmus Belladonna.

Belladonna's only child, a son, had been stolen from his cot twenty years previously and has never been seen since; shortly after the infant's disappearance, Belladonna had blown himself up in an experiment gone wrong, leaving his entire fortune to his son, to pass to him on his 21st birthday. Now, with that date looming, not one but seven young men have come forward. But which, if any, is really the missing child?

Martin Davies is a writer and media consultant based in the UK. He is the author of nine novels, including international bestseller The Conjuror's Bird which was a Richard and Judy Book Club selection. The Unicorn Road was chosen as one of The Times/WHSmith top paperbacks of the year, and Havana Sleeping was shortlisted for an Historical Dagger award by the Crime Writers' Association. Martin Davies' books have been translated into ten languages.