Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Writes MYCROFT HOLMES Novel

Basketball legend — and successful non-fiction author — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has written a new novel about Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s older brother.

Co-written with screenwriter/producer Anna Waterhouse, Mycroft Holmes takes place in London and Trinidad, following the older Holmes in his work for the British Secretary of State for War. Mycroft learns of mysterious events in Trinidad (which, along with Tobago, were part of the British Empire until 1962), and he goes to investigate, following his fiancée, Georgiana, who was raised on the island.

Dead children, unexplained disappearances, and backward-facing footprints are just some of the odd particulars of this mystery. Along the way, we get a cameo from younger brother Sherlock, who is a King’s College student at the time.

Abdul-Jabbar has been a fan of the original Sherlock Holmes mysteries since his rookie season in the NBA over forty years ago. “I was fascinated by Holmes’s ability to see clues where other people saw nothing,” he said in a statement released by his publisher. He became interested in the Mycroft character after reading Enter the Lion: A Posthumous Memoir of Mycroft Holmes by Michael P. Hodel and Sean M. Wright. Mycroft frequently appeared in the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. “I realized more could be done with this ‘older, smarter’ character and his window onto the highest levels of British government — at a time when Britain was the most powerful country in the world,” Abdul-Jabbar said in a statement.

Mycroft Holmes will be released this fall by Titan Books.