THE IMPROBABLE TALES OF BASKERVILLE HALL

A promising young sleuth investigates curious cases at his new school in this series opener written in partnership with the Conan Doyle estate.

Young Arthur Conan Doyle is an observant Scottish boy living in poverty in Edinburgh in 1868. When he helps save a young mother and her baby, his keen intellect and quick wits do not go unobserved; soon afterward, he receives an invitation to attend a secretive institution, “the most rigorous and innovative school in these British Isles.” A futuristic airship whisks Arthur away to Baskerville Hall, where he’s greeted by peculiar professors. He soon makes equally eccentric friends, such as an Irish girl who hoards useful miscellanea in her pockets and a South Asian British boy who writes obituaries for his very much alive acquaintances. There’s also a snobbish bully, the son of a member of Parliament. The multilayered mystery brings together the initiation rituals of a secret society, a dinosaur egg, and a mysterious grandfather clock. It builds on the familiar setting of a strange school with quirky inhabitants, evoking the mood of and incorporating characters from Conan Doyle’s classics, including professors Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, and Arthur’s roommate, James Moriarty. These details will delight fans, but the intricate worldbuilding may overwhelm readers unfamiliar with this universe. The coed student body includes international students and is marked by gender parity and socioeconomic diversity.

A satisfying mystery shrouded in layers of scene-setting details.