The Missing Man in the Window: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes IV

By Andrew Delaplaine

In "The Missing Man in the Window," inspired by Conan Doyle's "The Man with the Twisted Lip," what starts out as a simple case of a man who goes missing soon develops into something much more sinister when Holmes listens to the tale told by the missing man's insistent and distraught wife.

Sherlock Holmes IV is a direct descendant of the famed detective whose daring exploits were so vividly chronicled by Dr. John Watson and related to us by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 


This new Sherlock Holmes owns a small hotel (The Fleming House named after Ian Fleming of James Bond fame) on Miami's South Beach, and this Sherlock is just as renowned in the present day as his illustrious ancestor was in his. 

"Imagine Sherlock Holmes—or rather, his great-great-great-grandson—living on South Beach and solving crimes and mysteries with the same aplomb as his famous forebear and you'll get the picture of what's going on here…"
                        --Bartholomew Fox, author of "Deadlock"


"Witty and clever, with a whole new cast of characters to support this new Holmes and this new Watson. They live in a small boutique hotel on Lincoln Road called Fleming House (named after Sherlock the IV's love for James Bond author Ian Fleming). Holmes paces about in the penthouse while Watson (yes, he's a direct descendant of Dr. Watson) manages Fleming House. The cast of supporting characters, from the unseen brilliant but tempestuous Chef Hilario to the colorful Bjorn Karlsen, the gay manager of the Crown Colony restaurant in the hotel who has to put up with the irascible Cuban chef, are refreshing and contemporary."
                 --Renee Rodgers, author of "A Tuned Body"
 

"There have been countless mutations of the iconic Holmes over the last century, but none has this contemporary approach using not merely a reworked manifestation of the original character, but a descendant of the first Holmes."

--- Nathaniel Pembroke, author of  "A James Joyce Chronicle"

"You'll like not only this new Sherlock Holmes, but the hip new world he finds himself living in… South Beach. Lady Gaga even makes an appearance in 'The Red-haired Man'!"
            --Sophie Charpentier, author of "Country Club Tennis Rules"

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gramercy Park Press
• Release date: Jul 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393316701

Andrew Delaplaine

Delaplaine lives on South Beach, Miami’s Billion Dollar Sandbar. He writes in widely varied fields: screenplays, novels (adult and juvenile) and journalism. He also has a series of Long Weekend Guides covering some 50 cities around the world. Email: [e-mail] He writes several series: The “JACK HOUSTON ST. CLAIR” political thriller novels. “THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES IV,” a series of novels starring the great-great-grandson of the famous consulting detective. “THE ANNALS OF SANTOPIA” series, an epic that follows a Santa born in 1900 through to his death 82 years later. The AMOS FREEMAN police thrillers. Other novels: “The Trap Door” follows a boy who is taken back in time to 1594 and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. “The Meter Maid Murders,” a comic look at a detective trying to nab a serial killer on South Beach who only murders meter maids. Has written and directed three features (one doc, two narrative features), as well as several short films and won several awards for his film work. (See imdb.com for details).  His latest film, “Meeting Spencer,” starring Jeffrey Tambor, won the prestigious Milan International Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay.  DELAPLAINE’S “LONG WEEKEND” GUIDES These no-nonsense guides contain Delaplaine’s recommendations and advice for travelers visiting these places for 3 or 4 days. As "The Food Enthusiast," he writes a series of restaurants guides, updated annually. He has no hobbies.

Book preview

Table of Contents

The Missing Man in the Window (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes IV)

Author’s Note

Also By Andrew Delaplaine

About the Author

The Adventures of

Sherlock Holmes IV

THE MISSING MAN

IN THE WINDOW

Andrew Delaplaine

Inspired by The Man with the Twisted Lip

by Arthur Conan Doyle

Author’s Note

Background Information on

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes IV

SINCE THIS BOOK IS one in a series on the exploits of Sherlock Holmes IV, it might be useful to the Reader to know how he came to find himself in Miami and how he came to find himself associated with Watson and Lestrade. 

Some of this backstory cannot be revealed at this moment because it is integral to developments that occur in books in the series yet to be written. This is how it is related in The Red-haired Man:

I was just explaining to Mr. Janklow here that I emigrated from London to South Beach strictly because of Inspector Lestrade. It really was quite astonishing, Mr. Janklow. I was returning from a case in Ecuador, and I had to change planes here in Miami. I knew that Lestrade had come over from London years before when he married a Cuban woman, and since I was here for a couple of days, I decided to look him up.

That’s exactly right, Mr. Holmes, said Lestrade with a thin-lipped smug grin.

I’d never met the descendant of my ancestor’s colleague at Scotland Yard, Holmes went on, and I thought as the opportunity for me to return to Miami might not arise again, I ought to look him up.

And what does he do, Mr. Janklow? Lestrade said, leaning forward for emphasis, "he goes and buys this hotel on Lincoln Road and moves here!"

And even stranger, Mr. Janklow, two years after I opened Fleming House, John Watson comes here for a visit and ends up staying on as my general manager!

I’d read of course about the reunion of the descendants of Holmes and Lestrade, said Watson, and when I had a one-week holiday, thought I’d come over to meet them both.

And when he got here, Holmes took over the narrative, it turned out that he was a top manager at the Connaught. I was having the devil of a time managing Fleming House, so I offered him a berth here and that pretty much brings us up to date.

And that, dear Reader, as far as it goes, brings you up to date as well.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes IV

Chapter 1

The Man in the Window

Chapter 2

The Bar of Gold

Chapter 3

Table 9

Chapter 4

The Distraught Wife

Chapter 5

The Ebbing Tide

Chapter 6

The Heavy Coat

Chapter 7

The Letter

Chapter 8

The Truth Revealed

Chapter 9

A Fortune in Coppers

Chapter 1

The Man in the Window

AFTER GEORGE AND KATE Whitney finished a light breakfast with their two children at their comfortable apartment in the Courts, an upscale residential development in the SoFi section of South Beach, each member of the family got ready to leave for the day.

George kissed his wife and two kids and headed off to work at his office on Brickell Avenue in downtown Miami after Kate reminded George to buy a special video game that their boy wanted.

Kate then took the two kids (a girl, 7, and the boy, 8) by the hand and walked them two blocks to South Pointe Elementary, recognized as one of the better schools in the Miami-Dade School System.

Not having bothered to carry her cell phone with her on this regular weekday morning walk, she found on her return a voicemail from a jeweler’s repair shop that a silver-plated candlestick she’d left