It is the summer of 1868, and Sherlock Holmes is 14. On break from boarding school, he is staying with eccentric strangers --- his uncle and aunt --- in their vast house in Hampshire. When two local people die from symptoms that resemble the plague, Holmes begins to investigate what really killed them, helped by his new tutor, an American named Amyus Crowe. It's the start of Sherlock's true education in detection, as he discovers the crimes of a brilliant sinister villain beginning the legend of the unforgettable Sherlock Holmes.

DEATH CLOUD: Sherlock Holmes: The Legend Begins © Copyright 2011 by Andrew Lane. Reprinted with permission by Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.