The Conan Doyle Notes: The Secret of Jack the Ripper uncovers clues as to why the dog did not bark in the night... Sherlock Holmes concluded that it was because the intruder was known to the dog. Madsen's new mystery questions whether the identity of one of the greatest criminals of all time, Jack the Ripper, was deduced by Conan Doyle. Conan Doyle was already famous with his popular Sherlock Holmes stories when Jack the Ripper struck London in October 1888. So why was Conan Doyle silent about this case? This thrilling adventure may well hold the key…

London, 1889. In a city still reeling from the depredations of Jack the Ripper another killer arises. Stalking the West End and Marylebone and striking at a seemingly unconnected group of victims, the murderer leaves fear and confusion in his wake. Mr. Sherlock Holmes, Dr. John Watson, and Inspector Lestrade face a case like no other they have yet faced. A case that will leave each of them changed and bring personal danger as they race against a mounting death toll to bring down the Molly-Boy Murderer.

In Dust and Shadow Sherlock Holmes hunts down Jack the Ripper with impeccably accurate historical detail, rooting the Whitechapel investigation in the fledgling days of tabloid journalism and clinical psychology. This astonishing debut explores the terrifying prospect of hunting down one of the world's first serial killers without the advantage of modern forensics or profiling. Sherlock's desire to stop the killer who is terrifying the East End of London is unwavering from the start, and in an effort to do so he hires an "unfortuate" known as Mary Ann Monk, the friend of a fellow streetwalker who was one of the Ripper's earliest victims. However, when Holmes himself is wounded in Whitechapel attempting to catch the villain, and a series of articles in the popular press question his role in the crimes, he must use all his resources in a desperate race to find the man known as "The Knife" before it is too late. Penned as a pastiche by the loyal and courageous Dr. Watson, Dust and Shadow recalls the ideals evinced by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most beloved and world-renowned characters, while testing the limits of their strength in a fight to protect the women of London, Scotland Yard, and the peace of the city itself.

Diane Gilbert Madsen's new book from MX Publishing, Cracking the Code of the Canon, breaks the Canon wide open to offer a totally unique and different way of looking at Holmes and Watson and all the stories in the Canon you know and enjoy. It was written by lifelong Sherlockian and award winning mystery author Diane Gilbert Madsen (The Conan Doyle Notes: The Secret of Jack the Ripper; Hunting for Hemingway; and A Cadger's Curse.). She brings her amusing style to a remarkable overview of the Canon that will intrigue Sherlockian novices and aficionados alike. Her very readable and entertaining take on the Sherlock Holmes approach to crime, criminals, victims and justice may alter many of your views of the Canon. Statistics can be fun when they relate to Sherlockian lore.

Who’d have guessed that running employee background checks at the HI-Data Corporation would make DD McGil the target of a ruthless killer? For DD, a thirty-something English professor turned investigator, the routine job should have been a welcome distraction from her fiancé’s death and her eccentric Aunt Elizabeth’s quest to authenticate an unlikely literary treasure—a Robert Burns text worth millions if proven genuine. Relying on her own moxie (bolstered by the occasional shot of Glenlivet), her sexy lover, and the fact-finding acumen of her antiquarian bookseller friend, DD races to find out who’s behind the high-tech treachery at HI-Data before it’s too late.

I am afraid that I, Sherlock Holmes, must act as my own chronicler in this singular case, that of the Whitechapel murders of 1888. For the way in which the affair was dropped upon my doorstep left me with little choice as to the contrary. Not twelve months prior, the siren's call of quiet domesticity and married life had robbed me of Watson's assistance as both partner and recorder of my cases. Thus, when detective inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard required a lead-any lead-I found myself forced to pursue Jack the Ripper alone and without the aid of my faithful friend. And all for the most damnedable of reasons: Early on in my investigations, Dr. John H. Watson, formerly of 221b Baker Street, emerged as my prime suspect.