Death Cloud

Death Cloud (June 2010) is the first installment in the Young Sherlock Holmes series by British author Andrew Lane. Lane had previously written multiple novels based on popular television shows such as Dr. Who and Torchwood before he tackled the task of creating a series centered on the adolescent Sherlock Holmes. In doing so, he wanted to remain true to the Conan Doyle chronology in which Holmes doesn’t meet his biographer and friend, Dr. John Watson, until the first novel in the canon, A Study in Scarlet. Lane’s treatment differs from a movie entitled Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), which pairs Holmes and Watson as teenage crime fighters.

In contrast, Lane’s series concentrates on Holmes as a “loner” at age 14 and describes his adventures, friends, and mentors during this stage of his life. To date, there are eight books in the series. Titles following Death Cloud are Rebel Fire (2010), Black Ice (2011), Fire Storm (2011), Snake Bite (2012), Knife Edge (2013), Stone Cold (2014), and Night Break (2015). Unlike many other authors who have taken Holmes as their inspiration, Lane’s series has been fully authorized and endorsed by the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle.