'A great new series. Wiggins is a captivating hero, and Lyle draws his Edwardian backstreets in convincing colour' Mick Herron, author of Slow Horses

'Skilfully mixing real history with action sequences worthy of Lee Child, this is historical crime-writing at its best' John Williams, the Mail on Sunday on The Year of the Gun

1914. Sherlock Holmes has been murdered. Nobody knows who did it, but Wiggins, former Baker Street Irregular and Holmes' protégée, suspects a German spy.

However, Europe is descending into the chaos of the First World War. Captain Kell of Military Intelligence has limited resources, and more pressing matters on his mind.

Wiggins is on his own. Almost. He pursues Holmes' killer across the continent, but as grief and rage close in it's not just the killer that eludes his grasp . . .

'Engaging series of historical thrillers... The story rattles along at pace, the characters are engaging and the fight scenes burst with action. But Lyle's great strength is in his depiction of time and place; from its stinking tenements, where babies cry from hunger, to its sinister docks and upmarket brothels, the Edwardian city - then still part of Britain - is brought to life in all its squalid, magnificent glory' Financial Times

'Impressive period detail and sharp dialogue add charm to the strong plot' Daily Mail (on The Irregular)

'Full throttle ... delivering entertainment in spades' Myles McWeeney, Irish Independent