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Holmes Away From Home (An Althea Adler Mystery)
by Samantha Larsen
Holmes Away From Home (An Althea Adler Mystery)
Historical Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – London, 1911
Publisher : Severn House
Publication date : October 6, 2026
Hardcover
Print length : 240 pages
ISBN-10 : 1448322405
ISBN-13 : 978-1448322404
Digital Coming – September 16, 2026
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Introducing Althea Adler, accomplished thief and daring heroine with a mysterious link to Sherlock Holmes.
A heart-racing game of wits, murder and romance is about to commence . . .
London, 1911. Althea Adler receives a mysterious postcard with just four words, ‘Holmes away from home.’ Surely her mother, notorious thief and opera star Irene Adler, is instructing her to break into Sherlock Holmes’s safe? But when she does, Althea makes a shocking discovery . . .
Still reeling from events at 221b Baker Street, Althea accepts an invitation to a party at Twickenham Towers, the ancestral home of Lord Slough, where a murder throws her into further turmoil―as does handsome fellow guest William, the Marquess of Sheffield, who has been tasked with staking out Slough by the British Government.
Althea and William form an unlikely alliance as they set about catching a killer. But can they trust each other when they both have something to hide?
An addictive new cozy mystery trilogy featuring a super smart, lively heroine, a dashing lord and a fiendishly good whodunnit, perfect for fans of Sherlock Holmes’s classic mysteries, Deanna Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell Mysteries, and Netflix’s The Residence.
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Enjoy this peek inside:
The private library at his gentlemen’s club felt very warm. William saw a lively fire blazing in the hearth. The only man in the room was his employer, who sat on a wingback chair beside a mahogany table. His superior had salt-and-pepper hair that was combed over his round head and reached his ears. He was a large man in height and size; his lips and nose were unremarkable, but his blue eyes, nearly black, were unsettling as they were sharp.
“You’re back early, Sheffield,” he drawled.
“Sir,” William said, bowing to his superior. “There’s been important developments in my assignment. On Monday, I broke into Lord Slough’s London flat and found a custom metal wax seal with the Red Dawn symbol. It matches the design seals on the threatening letters received by the prime minister and other members of government. I nicked a piece of the crimson wax stick from his desk and had the police lab compare it to the other wax seals from letters of the Red Dawn—the compound is identical. It definitely ties Slough and his group to the bombing of David Lloyd George’s London residence in January.”
“I should like to see this metal seal.”
William sighed. “I left it in the secret compartment in his desk, because I wanted Slough to lead me to the other members of the society. I didn’t want him to realize that he was under investigation. It is unlikely that he is working alone.”
“A shrewd choice.”
William tried not to let the blood rush to his face over such a small compliment. Particularly since he’d had no further luck. “I’ve been tailing Lord Slough for a week now, but I am no closer to knowing if the current members of the Red Dawn anarchist society are the same ones from Slough’s secret club at Eton.”
“I need to know as soon as possible. The Red Dawn is still sending threatening letters to Prime Minister Asquith and promising to assassinate him if he continues to support restricting and removing power from the House of Lords. Other parliamentary members have also received menacing letters if they support Irish home rule.”
William sighed. Their threat to the government was even greater.
When he’d returned to London a week and a half ago he’d recognized the sun symbol on the wax seal at once, for he’d lifted Saul’s secret-society card off him more than ten years ago. Stealing had been the only way that William could get revenge on the larger boys in school that used him as a punching bag. At Eton, William had thought that the secret society was just a way for the aristocratic boys to bully members of the working class. They egged storefronts, taunted male laborers, and tried to steal kisses from young female shop assistants. But it seemed that their thuggish ways had escalated into bombs and a real political threat.
The older man tapped his thick fingers against the side of his chair. “The crown supports restricting the House of Lords’ power from one of veto to one of delay. While you were still in Egypt, King Edward VII gave a speech from the throne on the twenty-first of February to that very effect. We have been tasked not only to protect the prime minister, but all the members of his Liberal party cabinet. We must find the members of the Red Dawn as soon as possible. The House of Commons intends to pass resolutions in the next two months that will remove the power of the House of Lords to veto money bills and to reduce the term of Parliament from seven years to five—the king would have preferred four years, but concessions must be made for progress.”
William placed his hands behind his back, gripping one wrist tightly with the other hand—a prickling of unease on his scalp. “Perhaps we should arrest Slough. Maybe if we promise leniency in his sentencing he will tell us the other members of the group.”
“Don’t second-guess yourself, Sheffield. It’s unlikely that he would tell us the truth and even if he did, it would be Slough’s word against another man’s. No, your theory makes perfect sense: a group of aristocratic young men who will one day inherit hereditary positions in the House of Lords are trying to protect their future power with violence and threats. Perhaps they are even being encouraged by their fathers who are current parliamentary members who don’t want Irish home rule to pass. We need to catch them in the act of conspiracy against the government or their privileged papas will tear us apart in court.”
William lifted his chin. “I thought I needed to get closer to Slough, so I made contact with him. I wangled an invitation to his family home, Twickenham Towers, for the weekend . . . I am hoping that he is less cautious at home with hiding information or that I can gain his trust and perhaps receive an invitation to join the secret group.”
His employer nodded and his eyes narrowed. “Then he doesn’t suspect you?”
“No, no,” William assured him as he shook his head. “I pretended to run into him at a department store and Slough was adequately distracted by the most beautiful young woman I have ever laid eyes upon.”
The older man brought one of his sausage-like fingers to his chin. “Describe her.”
“Venus, Aphrodite,” William admitted, feeling his face flush with color. “Blue eyes, rich-coffee colored hair that you long to run your fingers through, an angelic face, and a figure—”
There were no words for the perfection of Miss Adler’s figure, so William whistled.
His employer’s lips moved a little, but William wasn’t sure if the movement was enough to be called a smile. “Did you get her name?”
“Miss Adler.”
“Adler?” his employer said sharply and leaned forward. “An American?”
“Yes,” William admitted, blinking. “Do you know of her?”
“I once knew a Miss Adler. She had the face of the most beautiful of women, and the mind of the most resolute of men. She was a formidable thief and a potential political nightmare for Europe.”
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About Author Samantha Larsen
Samantha writes cozy mysteries under Samantha Larsen and historical romances under Samantha Hastings. She met her husband in a turkey sandwich line. They live in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she spends most of her time reading, eating popcorn, having tea parties, and chasing her four kids. She has degrees from Brigham Young University, University of North Texas, and University of Reading (UK). She’s the author of: The Last Word, The Invention of Sophie Carter, A Royal Christmas Quandary, The Girl with the Golden Eyes, Jane Austen Trivia, The Duchess Contract, Secret of the Sonnets, The Marquess and the Runaway Lady, and A Novel Disguise. Learn more at: www.SamanthaHastings.com
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