Ocean City Author Solves the Mystery of Sherlock Holmes

Why does Sherlock Holmes so often make a distinction between the law and justice? Why does Holmes distrust of women exempt those clients named “Violet?” How did Holmes really acquire his valuable Stradivarius, and where did first meet a clever street urchin named Wiggins and his future, long-suffering landlady, Mrs. Hudson? And what is behind this cryptic comment to Watson in The Sign of Four: “I assure you that the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance money.”

Hidden Fires: A Holmes Before Baker Street Adventure, the latest novel from Ocean City author Jane Rubino, answers these questions in the form of an “origin story” that recounts the case which turned a twenty-something Sherlock Holmes, into the world’s most famous literary detective.

Hidden Fires was released in October by MX Publishing (UK) the foremost publisher of Sherlockian fiction and non-fiction, and quickly became their the top seller for that month.

A long-time resident of Ocean City, Jane Rubino is the author of a mystery series set at the Jersey shore, a volume of Sherlockian novellas, and co-author of Lady Vernon and Her Daughter, an adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Lady Susan." She has also authored a number of short stories for the popular MX Sherlock Holmes anthologies. Royalties from these anthologies are donated to charities, particularly Undershaw (Conan Doyle’s former home, now a school for children with disabilities) and Happy Life Mission, in Nairobi

Hidden Fires may be ordered at Sun Rose Words and Music, or from any of the major online retailers. A small number of copies are also available at the Ocean City Historical Museum with the purchase price donated to the museum.