The Brothers of Baker Street

Author: Michael Robertson
Publisher: St. Martin's Press (March 2011)

When brothers Reggie and Nigel Heath choose 221B Baker Street as the location for their law office, they don’t expect that their new office space would come with one huge stipulation, answering the letters sent to Sherlock Holmes, the most famous resident of that address.

Reggie is distressed because the love of his life, actress Laura Rankin (whom Nigel also adores), is gallivanting around with media mogul Lord Buxton. And while Reggie is working on a new case involving one of London’s Black Cab drivers who is accused of murdering two American tourists, the letters to Sherlock Holmes are piling up. There s even one from someone who claims to be the descendent of Professor James Moriarty.

With a case that would have puzzled even Sherlock himself and a pair of brother sleuths more different than night and day, The Brothers of Baker Street is sure to please mystery fans whatever their address.

The Brothers of Baker Street is the second in the series about 2 brothers who rent law offices at 221B Barker street. They receive letters almost daily written to Sherlock Holmes. Part of their lease agreement says that they must answer the letters with a form letter and nothing else. In the last book, answering one of the letters gets the brothers in all sorts of trouble. This time around, a descendant of Professor Moriarty is up to no good.

I liked this one a lot more than the first one (The Baker Street Letters) . There was more of both brothers in this one whereas the first one was mostly from Reggie's point of view. I thought the mystery was pretty good. I liked the twists and turns that it took. There were also a couple of red herrings which I liked. The author delves more into the brothers' background this time around as well. I really liked both of them and think that they make a great detective team. The one thing that was frustrating was that Reggie never tells Laura how he feels about her. Like the first one, this one wraps up the mystery, yet ends in a sort of cliffhanger. I hope there is another one coming soon.

If you haven't read The Baker Street Letters, I would pick that one up before this one. If I had read this one first, I think I would have been a bit lost. The author makes references to the first book that I think could get lost on the reader. I listened to the audiobook. Simon Vance was the narrator and I love his voice. I definitely recommend both books, especially this one. This is a great, quirky series!

--Kari