art by Ash Collins
Charlotte Holmes, a brilliant polymath, and her companion Dr Watan, an Indian doctor, continue their adventures as they deal with a supernatural event and her pregnancy.
Charlotte decides to undertake her confinement at Redoubt, her matrimonial home, but the pregnancy becomes dangerous for both mother and child when she is haunted by the ghost of her dead child.
Her In-Laws are less than welcoming and she suspects they are plotting against her, so she enlists the assistance of Dr Watan to investigate the haunting.
The unresolved paternity of Charlotte's child, between a married spymaster, a treasonous husband and a dead Warlord, proves problematic.
Meanwhile Branwell acquires a guide, the dacoit Durga, who becomes infatuated with him, and resents his rapprochement with his bitter ex-fiancee Rebecca. Complications arise when the Widow Hansen, Rebecca's mother, attempts to seduce Branwell, and Watan is drawn into an affair with a Memsaab whilst dealing with an awkward junior doctor.
Maldehyde compels Branwell to apprehend the traitor Charles de Beque and he undertakes the quest with the aid of his guide Durga. Their perilous search leads them to a Chinese brothel, the murderous Wu Tu clan and a showdown with Charles de Beque over a gorge.
A haunting defies rational explanation as Charlotte struggles with a difficult pregnancy whilst her brother pursues her treacherous husband & the paternity of the child proves problematic.
Author's Notes - Spoiler Warning
The third story in the Charlotte Holmes series picks up immediately after the events of the second book, A Passover in Peshawar.
The book further develops the concept of different narrators, this time Branwell provides his own narration, in addition to Watan.
The plot was structured with Charlotte and Watan investigating together whilst Branwell had a separate narrative where he was chasing Charles with his guide Durga.
I decided to reflect Branwell's characater through his naration style and used a third person narration like one of the old Empire classics such as Sanders of the River or The Riddle of the Sand.
The story arc for Charlotte involved her pregnancy so therefore she had to have a confined storyline and, in addition, Watan was present to assist the investigation and pregnancy.
The plot was originally developed for an abandoned Sherlock Homes & Watson stage play, where incidentally Watson was the culprit plotting against Holmes,
the main plot points were re-worked into this story and extensively revised to work with this narrative.
This story was plotted in conjunction with the Peshawar book in this series, so plot developments are carried forward and some of them reach a natural conclusion in this book.
Enjoy!
