Book excerpt: 1888 - In the midst of the murderous phrenzy plaguing the streets of Whitechapel, a case of mistaken identity, a courier's dispatch containing a coded message, and an urgent request from Scotland Yard draw Sherlock Holmes into a case that uncovers criminal schemes fixed on removing the heads of the governments of England, France, and the German Empire. Convinced these events are not simply calamitous coincidences, Holmes goes to his brother Mycroft, reasoning such endeavors must be orchestrated by a single malicious mastermind. With his trusted colleague, John Watson, at his side, as well as a rogues gallery of characters, old and new, Holmes throws himself into the fray. With international implications, this case tests Holmes' abilities to their very limits, as he doggedly pursues the identity of the man behind the malevolence, and the destruction of such a Sinister House.