Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear

By Alex Woolf and Eve O'Brien

Join world-famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his ever-loyal sidekick Dr. Watson as they embark on a daring adventure.

Sherlock is on the trail of a murderer. As he investigates the death of country gentleman John Douglas, he begins to piece together some unusual clues: muddy bootprints, a tattoo, and something called "The Valley of Fear." Can Holmes put these together in time to solve the mystery?

This thrilling tale has been retold and adapted with new illustrations, making it perfect for younger readers. Adapted by award-winning children's fiction author Alex Woolf, it will delight bright young things aged 7+.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcturus Publishing
• Release date: Jul 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781398818392

Alex Woolf

Alex Woolf is a senior lecturer in history at the University of St Andrews. He holds a BA in Medieval History and Medieval English, an MPhil in Archaeology and a PhD from the University of St Andrews. He is the author of a number of articles and books on medieval Scottish history, including From Pictland to Alba: Scotland, 789 to 1070, Scandinavian Scotland: 20 Years After and Beyondthe Gododdin: Dark Age Scotland in Medieval Wales.

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Warning

It was the morning of January 7, 1888, and Sherlock Holmes and I were having breakfast in our Baker Street home. Holmes, however, wasn’t eating. He was studying a slip of paper as his ham and eggs cooled on his plate.

This is Porlock’s handwriting, he said. "I can tell from the way he’s written the letter e."

Who’s Porlock? I asked.

Porlock, Watson, is a pilot fish who swims with the great white shark we know as Moriarty.

You mean Moriarty the mathematics professor, who you claim is also a criminal?

He’s more than a criminal, Watson. He’s the Napoleon of Crime, the brain behind an enormous underworld empire, and Porlock is one of his underlings—one who happens to send me valuable information from time to time about his master’s plans. This message, however, is rather baffling. What to you make of it?

I looked over his shoulder at the strange note, which ran as follows:

534 C2 13 127 36 31 4 17 21 41 26

DOUGLAS 109 293 5 37 9 BIRLSTONE 47

It looks like some sort of code, I said.

I agree, nodded Holmes. I suspect these numbers refer to words and pages in a book.

What book? I asked.

If he told us that, it wouldn’t be much of a code, would it? Holmes said. First rule of codes, Watson: never include the code’s key with the message. He’ll have supplied the book’s name in this other letter. Holmes ripped open a second envelope, then frowned. He showed it to me.

The letter read: Dear Mr. Holmes, I must stop these communications. It’s too dangerous—he suspects me. Sorry. Fred Porlock.

Poor Porlock, I said. I suppose the coded message is useless to us now.

Maybe not, said Holmes, examining it carefully. "Perhaps we can deduce the book from these numbers. If 534 is a page number, then we know it’s a big book. And C2 must, I think, mean