Mycroft Holmes (novel) Mycroft Holmes (novel) Mycroft Holmes is a mystery novel by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse. It involves Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's character of Mycroft Holmes, the older brother of Sherlock Holmes, solving a mystery early in his career as a government official. It is Abdul-Jabbar's first adult novel. Mycroft Holmes, secretary to Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell, and his best friend Cyrus Douglas learn of disturbing reports from Douglas' birthplace Trinidad; stories of children gone missing, Douen, and Lougarou. Holmes' fiancée, Georgiana Sutton, was also raised in Trinidad and the stories terrify her enough to return home and
Mycroft Holmes [...] the most indispensable man in the country." He apparently serves as a sort of human computer, as stated in "The Bruce-Partington Plans": Mycroft appears or is mentioned in four stories by Doyle: "The Greek Interpreter", "The Final Problem", "The Empty House" and "The Bruce-Partington Plans". While he does occasionally exert himself in these stories on behalf of his brother, he on the whole remains a sedentary problem-solver, providing solutions based on seemingly no evidence and trusting Sherlock to handle any of the practical details. In fact, Mycroft's own lack of practicality is a severe handicap despite his inductive talents: