Created by James Patterson & Brian Sitts
Coming from the House of Patterson, it almost seems awfully pre-fabricated.
Three sleuths with major name recognition among mystery fans come together to form a New York City detective agency? Under the auspices of an author with a little name recognition himself? Full of short chapters and concurrent threads?
It almost writes itself.
BRENDAN HOLMES is supposedly the “brains,” MARGARET MARPLE is the “eyes” and AUGUSTE POE is the “muscle”, we’re told, but nobody’s letting on where these gumshoes (or their names) are coming from, and it’s bugging the hell out NYPD Detective Helene Grey, who hits a stone wall every time she tries to look into the background of the mysterious trio.
Breezy and slight, but punchy enough to satisfy, the co-authors offer a few “tweaks,” of course, to make the characters their own: Brendan is a junkie, Margaret isn’t a elderly spinster but a sexy babe, and Auguste is no brainiac —he’s more like a well-armed Jack Reacher.
Curiously though, after the first book, the series title was switched to the Holmes, Marple & Poe Mysteries. Were the Christie Estate lawyers threatening lawsuits again?
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
James Patterson, the world’s bestselling author, may be best known as the creator of Alex Cross, but he has probably produced, alone and with his numerous collaborators, more fictional detective heroes than any other novelist alive. Including Philadelphia private eyes Veena Lion & Cooper Lamb, and the bestselling Private series, which follows the adventures of various operatives for a large international detective agency with offices all over the world, coincidentally written with writers from all over the world. Patterson? He lives in Florida with his family.
Brian Sitts is an award-winning advertising creative director and television writer, who has collaborated with James Patterson numerous times. He lives in Peekskill, New York.
NOVELS
- Holmes, Marple & Poe (2024) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
- Holmes is Missing (2025) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
They are good one sitting reads