Eye+of+the+Crow

//Eye of the Crow// by Shane Peacock
The Boy Sherlock Holmes – His First Case

Booktalk by Chris MacLennan

Sherlock Holmes is probably the most famous detective in English Literature. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote many books about him and the horrific cases he solved during the late 1800’s in England. Sherlock Holmes never got married. He never allowed himself to become emotionally attached to anyone, He never, ever talked about his family. Shane Peacock, the author of this book, has been fascinated by the character of Sherlock Holmes his whole life. He wondered why Sherlock was so unattached, and what kind of family he had. So he decided he would tell the story of how the events in young Sherlock’s life affected the rest of his life as the most famous detective of all time.

We are in London and it is the year of our Lord 1867. Sherlock Holmes is 13 years old. Sherlock hates school He is bright, so bright that school bores him to tears. He skips school most days and wanders around London observing people and the things around him. The talk around town is about a terrible crime in a dark alley in a poor area of town. Sherlock finds a discarded copy of the Police News and is intrigued by the picture of the beautiful young lady who had her throat slit and was left to bleed to death. The young lady looks a great deal like his mother when she was young. Sherlock decides that he will go the place of the grisly crime just to look around. He is very curious. Here is what happens

Read page 33 from “Sherlock hesitates” to “stained red”

Sherlock is standing in the exact spot the woman was murdered. He is so spooked by the blood and the crows he runs all the way home. He wonders what the crows were doing there. His father is an expert on birds, so he asks him some questions about crows. His father tells him that crows love shiny things, and will spend hours trying to steal or dislodge any kind of shiny object. Sherlock feels that there must be some kind of clue back in the ally. Even though it scares him to go back, he does. He finds a most peculiar clue. A glass eye. Meanwhile the police feel they have found the killer. They have arrested a young Arab man who is in possession of the murder weapon. Sherlock goes to the jailhouse to see what he looks like. He is lined up with the rest of the curious onlookers as the young man is dragged to jail. He stops right in front of Sherlock, looks into his eyes and says “I’m innocent!” Sherlock is taken aback by the look of fear in the young man’s eyes. The police have been watching the alley. They are convinced there is an accomplice to this crime, as the young ladies purse is missing. They have seen Sherlock at the crime scene. They now have seen the murderer talk to him. They arrest Sherlock as an accomplice! He must escape. He must find more clues to free himself and the young Arab who he knows is also innocent. The glass eye he has hidden in his bedroom must belong to the person who did commit the crime. How will he be able to escape and solve the murder? To find out read Eye of the Crow by Shane Peacock.