No One Notices the Boys

by Michelle Birkby

A murder at the hospital draws Sherlock Holmes’s bedridden landlady and Dr. Watson’s wife into another puzzling mystery.

Patients are dying in the hospital ward. Surely this isn’t news. But to Mrs. Hudson, ill and dizzy from medication, the deaths—one patient, then another, and all of them women!—seem sinisterly connected. Even if she’s the only person who sees the connection. Mary Watson knows just how she feels, though her focus is less on sick women than on missing boys—the skinny, grubby, poor ones that nobody wanted in the first place. Sherlock Holmes isn’t interested in either issue; he and Dr. Watson have more important puzzles to solve. So once again, it is left to Mary and Mrs. Hudson to help the truly vulnerable, to draw lines between the dying women and the disappearing boys, and to follow those lines to their grim conclusion.

“Riveting. . . . A thrilling historical mystery novel about a woman’s work to uncover the twisted nature of humanity’s worst beings.” —Foreword Reviews

“[A] solid sequel.” —Publishers Weekly

Genres: Mystery

278 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 14, 2021

About the author

Michelle Birkby has always loved crime stories, and read her first Sherlock Holmes book when she was thirteen. She was given a beautiful collection of all the short stories and has been hooked with the wonderful, gas-lit, atmospheric world of crime and adventure ever since. A few years ago Michelle was re-reading The Empty House and a blurred figure in the background suddenly came into focus. It became clear to her that Mrs Hudson was much more than a housekeeper to 221b and she'd always been fascinated by Mary Watson's character. So she set about giving the women of Baker Street a voice and adventures of their own . . . The House at Baker Street is the first book in the exciting Mrs Hudson and Mary Watson Investigations.

Reviews

[Bambi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun piece of Holmes fan fiction. Told through the eyes of Mrs. Hudson and Mary Watson, it offers a fresh perspective on the Holmes universe. The central mystery is dark in a satisfying way, and I appreciated how it explored some of the grittier, more overlooked corners of that world.

[Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must admit that I was hesitant to pick this up. I am accustomed to the Sherlock/Watson duo and thought this would somehow not measure up to my expectations.

I found this story difficult from the start with introduction of several characters and what seemed to me a slow pace. This is also the second case in the series of Mrs. Hudson and Mary Watson and there were many references to their first case. I constantly felt like I was missing something ( which I obviously was…).

Really had to make myself finish it, and all in all, it will go the Donate to Library box.

[Heatherinblack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twisted

That was a seriously twisted murder mystery. Mary and Mrs Hudson make an excellent pair. Their talents make the whole. And Mrs Hudson is human about what she has done. Twisted but very well written.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am always a bit hesitant to read Sherlock Holmes spin-offs. I really like the originals! I re-read them again and again. But this contribution to the growing pile of "Sherlockiana" was delightful. Very good characters, really strong characters, in a nicely plotted novel.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

7/10 I hope there will be more

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great!

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved book one in this series and book two does not disappoint. Martha Hudson and Mary Watson make a dynamic team of women detectives. In this book, Martha Hudson becomes seriously ill and has to have an operation. She is recovering at St. Bart's Hospital when one of the women on her ward dies in the night. It seems that Martha had a "dream" that a shadowy figure crept to the woman's bed and killed her. Was it a dream? Was it the medications making her hallucinate? She isn't sure until Mary and she begin to investigate that and several other perplexing problems. Very good book.
Patients are dying in the hospital ward. Surely this isn't news. But to Mrs. Hudson, ill and dizzy from medication, the deaths--one patient, then another, and all of them women!--seem sinisterly connected. Even if she's the only person who sees the connection. Mary Watson knows just how she feels, though her focus is less on sick women than on missing boys--the skinny, grubby, poor ones that nobody wanted in the first place. Sherlock Holmes isn't interested in either issue; he and Dr. Watson have more important puzzles to solve. So once again, it is left to Mary and Mrs. Hudson to help the truly vulnerable, to draw lines between the dying women and the disappearing boys, and to follow those lines to their grim conclusion.