Young Sherlock Holmes 6: Knife Edge
Page 25
Having said that, Arthur Conan Doyle himself developed a strong interest in spiritualism and communication with the dead in his later life. He even published a book entitled The History of Spiritualism in 1926. This belief was probably because he lost a brother and a son in the First World War, and somehow could not let go of their memories. Despite his highly rational upbringing and training as a doctor, he somehow failed to bring his sharply logical mind to bear on some of the obvious frauds and cheats who pretended to be mediums, and who fleeced gullible and grieving members of the public of their money.
The magic tricks and techniques that Sherlock learns from Ambrose Albano in Chapter Twelve are, by the way, all real. The Magic Circle frowns on having these things revealed, but there are books out there that will take you through the basics of close-up magic. The one I have found particularly useful is The Ultimate Compendium of Magic Tricks by Nicholas Einhorn (Hermes House, 2009). Do try these tricks at home. They won’t make you into an instant magician – you’ll need countless hours of practice for that – but the book is fully illustrated with thousands of photographs and it will show you the different ways to pre-prepare your tricks and to misdirect the audience’s attention while you are performing them. After that, it’s up to you.
And that about wraps it up. I’ve had a great deal of fun writing this book – probably more than on all the previous ones. Partly that’s because, as I said earlier, it’s all set in one location, which means the characters (and the author!) can spend time getting to know the place without fear of suddenly being whisked off in a steam-train, a paddle steamer or a horse-drawn carriage to somewhere else, but partly (if I am being honest) because it reminds me of all Enid Blyton’s The Famous Five books I used to read as a kid, which were full of caves, castles and smugglers. Alas, real life isn’t.
Until next time . . .
Andrew Lane
Books by Andrew Lane
The Young Sherlock Holmes series
Death Cloud
Red Leech
Black Ice
Fire Storm
Snake Bite
Knife Edge
www.youngsherlock.com
Lost Worlds
www.thelostworlds.co.uk
First published 2013 by Macmillan Children’s Books
This electronic edition published 2013 by Macmillan Children’s Books
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ISBN 978-0-230-76639-6
Copyright © Andrew Lane 2013
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title page
Dedication page
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Books by Andrew Lane
Copyright page