Free Fiction Monday: Second Fiddle
Homicide Detective Ned Zaleski resents the chief’s decision to enlist Sherlock Holmes’ help in Zaleski’s latest murder investigation. Zaleski fails to see how Holmes, newly transported to the 1990s from his own time by the Santa Cruz Time Wizards, can shed any light on a modern-day serial killer. But Zaleski soon learns Holmes’ earned his reputation for insight honestly. And that insight might lead Zaleski down a path he cannot bear to go. First published in Sherlock Holmes in Orbit, an anthology authorized by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s estate, “Second Fiddle” offers an intricate series of unexpected twists and surprising turns that only Kristine Kathryn Rusch can deliver.
“Second Fiddle” by USA Today bestselling writer Kristine Kathryn Rusch is free on this website for one week only. The story’s also available for $2.99 on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, Omnilit, and other e-bookstores.
Second Fiddle
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
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4 responses to “Free Fiction Monday: Second Fiddle”
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I *so* love Sherlock Holmes. I’ve read the complete collection. And I wrote an adventure in the style of ACD, which reveals that Holmes was secretly involved in the strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I was planning a casebook with the same take on Frankenstein, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dracula and other gothic horrors… But got a bit scared off by the copywriting kerfluffles and thought I should publish some fiction of my own before delving into fan fiction! I thought your story was wonderful, Holmes was perfectly in-character.
Another fine story. Thank you as always.
Thanks, Steven. 🙂
Kristine,
Enjoyed the story, as always. Just one factoid for you…
Curved pipes, like the ones you’re thinking of, aren’t made of ivory. There are no ivory tobacco pipes. They’re made of meerschaum, a white lightweight porous mineral that is mined and often decoratively carved.
And what Sherlock Holmes famously smokes is neither ivory nor (entirely) meerschaum, but a calabash, a curved gourd with a bit (made of various materials depending on the time period) and a meerschaum bowl.
This isn’t esoteric knowledge. Any pipe smoker would know (and be tossed out of the story, as I was).
Thanks for the great read!