THE ABDUCTION OF PRETTY PENNY

The disappearance of an enchanting actress brings Joanna Watson face to face with a storied killer.

After her first husband died, Joanna, who's Sherlock Holmes' daughter, married John Watson Jr., the son of Holmes' sidekick, and settled in at 221B Baker St. to follow in her father’s footsteps, deploying the same amazing skills. Now, the Whitechapel Playhouse has hired her to find Pretty Penny, their missing star, a beauty of immense talent from a poor background. Though at first there seems little reason for Penny's disappearance, Joanna soon notices subtle hints about why she might be gone. The suspects include three theatrically talented physicians who acted with Penny. At the same time, Scotland Yard requests help in the search for a vicious killer whose work bears the hallmarks of Jack the Ripper. Joanna reasons that The Ripper has taken Penny but not yet killed her, unlike the unfortunate prostitutes he’s recently mutilated and murdered in the most shocking ways. The Baker Street Irregulars are called in to watch the three doctors, all of whom frequent The Ripper’s prowling grounds in Whitechapel, while The Ripper taunts them with missives, one of them threatening the life of Joanna’s clever son, Johnny. When Johnny is abducted, the Watsons are desperate to find him. Johnny escapes, but Penny’s still missing, and The Ripper’s continuing to kill, forcing Joanna to adopt a dangerous plan.

Sherlockian ratiocination and authentically stomach-churning detail prop up a mediocre mystery.