The Baker Street Irregulars are a group of homeless children who help the great detective Sherlock Holmes on his cases. They enjoy the work, although they are always a little bit irritated that Holmes' assistant Watson plays down their help in the cases.When a rope breaks during the high wire act at a local London circus it results in the death of the Zalindas family, a group of high wire performers. Although this appears to be a deadly accident, Sherlock Holmes thinks that it is a murder case tied in with another important case that he is working on for the royal family.
Once again the Baker Street Irregulars are employed to help Holmes find the facts that he needs. As the children interview circus performers they begin to uncover the traces of an important crime. It appears that the Zalindas brothers used their high wire skills to help a criminal steal The Stuart Chronicle, an important royal book. The criminal then killed the brothers so that they couldn't expose him. But no one can find the criminal himself or the book he stole. What is more, the deeper Holmes delves into the case, the more it appears that an infamous crime leader named Professor Moriarty is involved.
“The Fall of the Amazing Zalindas” is a well written mystery that does an admirable job of recreating the London of Sherlock Holmes' original stories. A strictly traditional Holmes fan will probably despair at the negative way that Watson is portrayed in this storyline, but I enjoyed reading more about the Baker Street Irregulars. The mystery itself is well thought out, neither too predictable, nor too unlikely. I feel that Tracy Mack and Michael Citrin did a good job in writing “The Fall of the Amazing Zalindas.” I recommend this mystery novel to all young readers.
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The Baker Street Irregulars have always been one of my favorite aspects of the Sherlock Holmes stories. This book is going on my wish list. Thanks for the great review!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome. "The Fall of the Amazing Zalindas" is a well written book. It is also a promising start to a new series featuring the Baker Street Irregulars.
ReplyDeleteThis actually the only Baker Street Irregular's book that I have read, but I'll be looking for more to review in the future.
Thanks for commenting.
The author tells us to find the person who tells this story...
ReplyDeleteBut when youe keep all the bold letters in all chapters you end up with " PROFESSOR MORIARTY WILL RETURN " does this mean that its prof who tells this story??
When I read the book I didn't get the idea that Professor Moriarty was the author. I think that the secret message is simply a hint that Professor Moriarty escaped unharmed and that he will return in the next book of the series.
ReplyDeletePage 114 pictures Jones moving towards Ozzie. Ozzie is not wearing a coat or a bowler. Later on page 116 Jones grabs Ozzie by a non-existent coat and knocks off Ozzie's non-existent bowler.
ReplyDeleteA great book to read, would recommend this to young reader
ReplyDeleteHey kids reading this suck my crotch
ReplyDeletedont say that
ReplyDelete