title: The Revenge of the Hound (Sherlock Holmes Mystery)
author:  Michael Hardwick 
description: Two prior books by Hardwick, (Sherlock Holmes: My Life and Crimes and The Prisoner of the Devil) have been enthusiastically endorsed by both the Baker Street Irregulars and the Conan Doyle estate. Such approval may be daunting: one way to explain why, while it faithfully echoes a Holmesian novel in tone and design, this latest effort seems to lack any life of its own. Hardwick roams freely through earlier Holmes adventures, plucking characters and situations, to form a pastiche composed of deliberately familiar elements. Thus that legendary hound (formerly of the Baskervilles) now seems to have surfaced on Hampstead Heath, a compromising letter (like the one in A Scandal in Bohemia) must be retrieved and the throne of England saved from the usual madmen. The purloining of Oliver Cromwell's bones, the beheading of a statue of Charles II and the death of a Chinese seaman provoke the appearances of most of Holmes's comrades from Scotland YardLestrade, Gregson and White Masonbut it is up to Holmes to discover the pattern underlying those events, which he does with his usual aplomb. Though this book does little to advance the Holmes legend, it does pay tribute to a character who has been fascinating readers for a hundred years. Drawings not seen by PW. <br />Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  In the shadows, Wari rolled to his side, clutching his shoulder as blood
  flowed out between his fingers. He was white-faced with pain. At his feet,
  Razi lay pinned to the ground, a huge warhound standing over him, its jaws
  clamped around his throat. Razi, his hands knotted in the dog’s fur, gagged,
  and Wynter saw the flesh of his neck dimple under the pressure of the hound’s
  teeth.
  
  
  Across the fire, metal clinked softly against stone as Christopher allowed his
  knife to drop from his hand. A second warhound stood over him, its teeth
  locked on his straining neck. Wynter lurched to her knees, not knowing which
  way to turn, and Christopher rolled terrified grey eyes to her, and held out
  his hand. _Do nothing! Do nothing!_ Slowly he lowered his shaking hands to the
  ground, and he allowed his body to relax under the arch of the big dog’s legs.
  To Wynter’s relief, she saw the powerful jaws ease up slightly on
  Christopher’s throat.
  
  
  # [**Praise for**
  
  
  **_The Poison Thro