Fabrice Bourland, a French writer, has produced a series of entertaining and yet mystifying novels featuring Canadian detective Andrew Singleton and his American friend, James Trelawney. The first in the series sees the duo confront, literally and figuratively, to the great figures of the literary pantheon of the end of the nineteenth century and between the two world wars.
The Baker Street Phantom (Singleton & Trelawney Case # 1) by Fabrice Bourland
When they set up their detective agency in 1932, Andrew Singleton and James Trelawney could hardly have expected that their first client would be the widow of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, nor that she would commission them to investigate an apparent haunting at the house that had only recently been allocated the number 221 Baker Street.
The world of 19th century spiritualism collides with the modern world of the early 20th century. Here two men undertake a journey to investigate the appearance of a ghost at the abode of a famous fictional detective, and encounter more than they bargain for when murder, mysticism and make-believe take centre stage.
The Dream Killer of Paris (Singleton & Trelawney Case # 2) by Fabrice Bourland
Having read the first installment of the pairing of Singleton and Trelawney - "The Baker Street Phantom" - I eagerly embarked on this second journey and was not left disappointed.
Paris 1934, whilst investigating the death of Gerard de Nerval 70 years prior, Singleton & Trelawney are again drawn into the spiritualist scene. With five mysterious deaths linked to what is being referred to as "deadly sleep", can our duo solve the puzzle before the body count rises?
This period - the spiritualist scene of the late 19th and early 20th century to which Conan Doyle himself was attracted - was not a particular genre I would have sought out. I was glad of having the opportunity to read both.
Next books in the series, yet to be translated are:
The Crystal Palace Devil (Singleton & Trelawney #3)
November 1936, and for nearly a week, Alice Gray's fiancé, Frederic Beckford, an entomologist at the British Museum, has disappeared without a trace. The only clue is a snippet about an accident in the middle of the night between a taxi and a wildcat, whose reading, it seems, greatly troubled Beckford.
The Fire Serpent (Singleton & Trelawney #4)
While the streets of London unfurl all their finery for the coronation of George VI, Singleton and Trelawney find themselves in the footsteps of a mysteriously missing mummy.
Hollywood Monsters (Singleton & Trelawney #5)
December 1938 - the holidays are not going as planned, and our detectives come face to face, in the middle of the night, with a creature looking straight out of a scary movie.
Nudge Books - interview with Fabrice Bourland
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