Eye of the Crow: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His 1st Case [Paperback]

Shane Peacock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 12, 2009 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: The Boy Sherlock Holmes (Book 1)

Sherlock Holmes, just thirteen, is a misfit. His highborn mother is the daughter of an aristocratic family, his father a poor Jew. Their marriage flouts tradition and makes them social pariahs in the London of the 1860s; and their son, Sherlock, bears the burden of their rebellion. Friendless, bullied at school, he belongs nowhere and has only his wits to help him make his way.

But what wits they are! His keen powers of observation are already apparent, though he is still a boy. He loves to amuse himself by constructing histories from the smallest detail for everyone he meets. Partly for fun, he focuses his attention on a sensational murder to see if he can solve it. But his game turns deadly serious when he finds himself the accused — and in London, they hang boys of thirteen.

Shane Peacock has created a boy who bears all the seeds of the character who has mesmerized millions: the relentless eye, the sense of justice, and the complex ego. The boy Sherlock Holmes is a fascinating character who is sure to become a fast favorite with young readers everywhere.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Selected as a Booklist "Top Ten in Young Mysteries"

Winner, Arthur Ellis Award for Juvenile Crime Fiction

Gold Medal Winner, Foreward Magazine's Book of the Year Awards

Winner, IODE's Violet Downey Book Award

“…the first intriguing volume in an ambitious new series….a shadowy, vividly described London….Creative references to Doyle’s characters abound…and Sherlock himself is cleverly interpreted….[made] both fascinating and complex….plenty of readers will like the smart, young detective they find here, and find themselves irresistibly drawn into his thrilling adventures.” 
— Booklist, Starred review and named one of the Top Ten Crime Fiction for Youth

“The details of the plot are plausible, the pacing well timed, and the historical setting vividly depicted…The titular crow comes fascinatingly into play…On balance, the characters enrich the book and help give Holmes’s storied abilities credence.” 
— School Library Journal, Starred review

“…young people familiar with Holmes’ canon will best appreciate Peacock’s riffs; but plenty of readers will like the smart, young detective they find here, and find themselves irresistibly drawn into his thrilling adventures.” 
— Book Links, Named Best New Books for the Classroom

“Peacock effectively evokes Conan Doyle’s London alleyway, and his young Sherlock is a compelling and poignant character.”
— The Horn Book Guide


From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Shane Peacock was born in 1957 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, one of four brothers. He attended school in the northern town of Kapuskasing, before attending university, where he studied history and English literature. A biographer, journalist, and screenwriter, he is also the author of six novels and three plays, and has been nominated for numerous awards including several National Magazine Awards and the Arthur Ellis Award for crime fiction. When not writing, Shane Peacock enjoys playing hockey with his three children, and watching sumo wrestling. He lives near Cobourg, Ontario.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Tundra Books; Reprint edition (May 12, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887769195
• ISBN-13: 978-0887769191
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 7.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #672,172 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye of the Crow, June 18, 2008

By 

Jewish Book World Magazine (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eye of the Crow: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His First Case (Hardcover)

Read it now, because next year you will probably see in on Broadway. In the dead of night, under the dense fog of London, a terrible crime has been occurred. A beautiful woman is stabbed and left to die in a pool of blood. No one has witnessed the crime, or have they? Meanwhile, in a dreary London flat, a brilliant, bitter and decidedly odd teenager named Sherlock Holmes dreams of a better life. His mother, a highborn lady, has been cast out of her family because she married a Jew, his bright university trained father, who is unable to attain his true potential because of anti-Semitism in the London of 1867. The father toils at a low-paying job, while his mother tutors voice in the homes of the wealthy. Young Holmes, as he visits the murder scene and speculates on the clustering of crows above it, becomes a suspect. Danger runs high and interest piques page by page until the mystery is finally solved. This is a page-turner par-excellence. Shane Peacock has created a boy who bears all the seeds of the future adult Homes. His clever characterization of the boy Holmes, hints at the great detective Holmes will become. As for Jewish interest -it is there in the discrimination issues, and (pardon me) in the depiction of Jewish seichel. Ages 10-14. Reviewed by Marcia Posner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Young adults who relish detective stories will find much to like in EYE OF THE CROW, April 3, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eye of the Crow: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His First Case (Hardcover)

Young adults who relish detective stories will find much to like in EYE OF THE CROW, set in 1867 London and telling of a woman's murder and the son of a Jewish intellectual, Sherlock Holmes, who dreams of a better life to rise him above impoverishment. His investigation of the murder brings him into social and cultural conflict in this 'boy Sherlock Holmes' story.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Darker "Young Sherlock Holmes", December 13, 2010

By 

Agnes Morgwain (Norwich, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eye of the Crow: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His 1st Case (Paperback)

Sherlock Holmes is a lonely boy who skips school and wonders the streets of London observing the comings and goings of both rich and poor. A young woman has been killed and a Muslim boy is accused of the crime. Holmes knows the boy is innocent and seeks to discover the real murderer. This is not a light Sherlock Holmes mystery. Peacock's version of Holmes is very conflicted. He faces anti-Semitism and lives in poverty. The murder is especially brutal and although Holmes does solve the mystery, it comes at great cost to himself. The narration is also very complex and indirect which may be off putting to some readers. Readers who are already familiar with the Holmes stories will be pleased to see familiar characters like Inspector Lestrade (as a little boy) and the author Arthur Conan Doyle appears as a crusader for equality. The storyline includes many encounters with London street gangs and Peacock is accurate in his descriptions of the poverty of London's East End and the strict class structure of Victorian English society.