After the death of his nemesis, Professor Moriarty, Holmes finds himself bored without someone with whom to match wits. He stirs from his malaise when an interesting case presents itself: Laurence Cotton's brother Francis has gone missing with only his screams from behind a locked door a clue to his whereabouts. Soon enough the trail leads Holmes to a particular puzzle box.
Reception
Niall Alexander of Tor.com called the book "a whole bunch of bloody fun".[1] Steve Dillon of Dread Central enjoyed the "parallels with the established Hellraiser mythos" such as "the tie-ins to the Cotton family and the address on Lodovico street".[2]Scream magazine praised the book: "The dynamic between Holmes and Watson, our narrator for the majority of the book, is wonderful" and the "setting and time period are perfect".[3] Phil Lunt of The British Fantasy Society said that "Kane gambled with an intricate recipe—but triumphed in blending unorthodox ingredients with finesse and expertise to produce one hellishly tasty cocktail!"[4]
