In this captivating, witty, and weird fantasy novel, Alexis Hall will pay homage to Sherlock Holmes with a new twist on those renowned people.

Upon time for the town of Khelathra-Ven after five years fighting a battle in another universe, Captain John Wyndham finds himself looking for somewhere to live, and expediency forces him to take lodgings at 221b Martyrs Walk. His fresh housemate is Miss Shaharazad Haas, a talking to sorceress of mercurial temperament and dark popularity.

When Miss Haas is about The Affair of the Mysterious Letter enlisted to solve an instance of blackmail against one of her former fans, Miss Eirene Viola, Captain Wyndham finds himself drawn into a mystery leading him through the salons from the literary arranged to the drowned back-alleys of Ven as well as to a prison cell in dropped Carcosa. Along the way he’s beset by crooks, menaced by pirates, molested by vampires, nearly devoured by mad gods, and called upon to punch a shark.

But the further the companions proceed in pursuit of the elusive blackmailer, the greater impossible the situation appears. On the other hand, in Khelathra-Ven the truth is flexible, and the impossible is usually Miss Haas’ stock-in-trade.