Book Review: Mycroft Holmes

Mycroft Holmes

by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse
Titan Books, 336 pp., $25.99

Arthur Conan Doyle may be dead and gone, but the world of his characters is ever expanding. As with contemporary adaptations of H.P. Lovecraft, Doyle's universe has moved beyond its creator's context, growing to embrace modern mores. In a compassionate, modernity-minded context, Doyle's secondary characters shine, as demonstrated by Mycroft Holmes: A Novel, released earlier this year.

Penned by athlete, philanthropist, writer, and Holmes enthusiast Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and writer Anna Waterhouse, Mycroft Holmes is no small addition to the Holmes canon. The novel takes one of Doyle's most fascinating and least explored characters on a wild ride to the Caribbean. His mission: to locate the nefarious actors behind widespread disappearances off the coast of Trinidad. 

Mycroft, at 23, has just joined the war office; his travels to Trinidad are his first excursion away from England. When reports of supernaturally murdered children reach Mycroft and his fiancée, each feels compelled to solve the mystery. Mycroft sets off with his cigar-dealing friend Douglas, and together they discover a monstrous plot that fits right in with the immediate post-Civil War setting. 

I found it refreshing to see a Mycroft engaging passionately with his social conscience, rather than the one traditionally portrayed: overweight, out-of-touch, manipulating foreign affairs and his brother Sherlock from an armchair. Abdul-Jabbar's Mycroft is young, naive, in love, compassionate, athletic, and just as clever as his brother, without any of the same sociopathic tendencies. Mycroft Holmes is a fine addition to the canon – compelling, well-plotted, and firmly in possession of a social conscience.