Mary Russell's loyalties are tested by the appearance of her long-lost uncle, and a puzzling case that even Sherlock Holmes cannot solve.
When Mary Russell was a child, she adored her Uncle Jake, the prodigal son. But she had not heard from him for many years, and she thought that his reckless behavior had led him to a miserable fate, until he suddenly appeared at her door in Sussex. Yes, Jake is back, and with a lot of problems for his smart niece. Perhaps most notably, the reason the family rejected him in the first place: he was involved - in one way or another - in...The fateful disappearance of the Irish Crown Jewels from a safe in Dublin Castle.
It was a theft that shook the pillars of government, angered the king, threatened the English establishment, and confounded not only the Dublin police and Scotland Yard, but Sherlock Holmes himself. And now, Jake expects Russell to get involved in all of this? To sneak out with him without telling Holmes what you're up to? And she knows that the robbery - which was unsolved, which was covered up, which sparked a scandal - must have been involved in Mycroft Holmes as well?Of course, she couldn't do anything like that. Standing by her uncle, even briefly, will only pit her against her husband, her partner, and his mysterious, powerful brother. She has to refuse Jake's request.
On the other hand, this is Jake – her father's younger brother, her childhood hero, the beloved, long-lost survivor of a family whose numbers have dwindled.
Conflicting loyalties, international secrets, blatant lies and gullible deception: it seems to be another case for Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes.
