Hugh Ashton

British secret agent Brian Finch-Malloy (described by one reviewer as "a 1920s James Bond") was introduced in Beneath Gray Skies, set in an alternate history where the American Civil War never happened. Red Wheels Turning takes place in the same historical timeline, and features some of the same characters. With a backdrop of Tsarist Russia prior to the events described in Beneath Gray Skies, Red Wheels Turning once more mixes real historical characters with fictional characters and events in a an entertaining adventure featuring two of the most extraordinary weapons ever developed - the massive "Netopyr" and the rail cruiser "Zaamurets." Finch-Malloy battles against the maniacal gangster-turned-Bolshevik revolutionary Kolinski in a contest of wits to determine who will have control of these incredible machines. Described by readers as "a ripping yarn" and a "page-turner," Red Wheels Turning continues the tradition of high adventure, espionage and treachery, mixed with steampunk-like technology in a genre best described as "steampulp" which Ashton began in Beneath Gray Skies.

A Papal legate, on a secret mission to England from Rome, is discovered dead. How did he die? And why? Mycroft Holmes, master of many of the secrets of the realm, calls in his younger brother Sherlock to discover the answer to these questions. When he arrives at the scene of the crime, Sherlock Holmes discovers that the Cardinal's corpse has been moved - inside a locked room. A search for a missing document which may prove to be the clue to this riddle - but Holmes and Watson find themselves caught in a tangled web of mystery and political intrigue as they investigate The Death of Cardinal Tosca.

The Untime is a state beyond space and time, discovered by Professor R my Lamartine in the 1890s. His daughter Agathe, and her beloved Jules Gauthier, a reporter on a Paris magazine, become concerned when Lamartine goes missing.Inside the Untime, they discover horrors beyond our imagining - hideous creatures which can destroy the sanity of their victims, and which seem intent on ruling our world. Accordingly, they reluctantly return from the Untime and destroy the mechanism that enabled access.A year or so later, Gauthier and Agathe are married, but a strange outbreak of lunacy is reported. The newly-weds make their way back to the Untime, where they discover more surprises, and more dangers in this mysterious bridge between space and time.Gauthier tells his story in Gallic style, and while he is not a scientist, he provides explanations of the principles of the Untime as they were explained to him by Lamartine and his friend at the Sorbonne, Professor Schneider. A captivating series in the tradition of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, with a dash of H.P. Lovecraft stirred into the mix.

Sherlock Ferret's well-whiskered friend Watson Mouse M.D. tells the story of how Mr. Montague Mole shows photographs of his family, but he has no idea who has taken them Could it be a phantom photographer?As so often, the nefarious Moriarty Magpie appears to be involved, along with the mysterious Sir Basil Badger, who vanished several years before, after eating twenty-seven jam tarts (and lots of other delicious things ). But thanks to Sherlock Ferret's knowledge, his Big Books, and the Bakery Irregulars, all is put right in the end, and the Mole family can sleep safely all day (for the night is their busy time).

When Mrs. Fieldmouse visits Sherlock Ferret and his friend Watson Mouse M.D. and tells them that her twelve children have all fallen sick, Sherlock has to find out what has been going on. Together with Doctor Solomon Sloth, he discovers the cause of their illness.Then Lestrade, a rhinoceros friend (though not a very big one) tells him of mysterious doings at the pond. Sherlock anbd Watsaon meet large nefarious beasts, and the scurrilous Mopriarty Magpie.Hermie, the caterpillar with a surprising trick, ancd two more of Sherlock's friends, Beatrice and Benedict, help to solve the mystery and make the poisoned pond safe again.This is the third book in the popular Sherlock Ferret series, which introduces the world of detection to younger readers in a way that also delights any adults who read the books.

Sherlock Ferret and his well-whiskered friend Watson Mouse M.D. visit the Museum, where they look at many paintings, including the famous Ferret Before a Mirror, by Pablo Pigasso. Sherlock discovers that, though it is meant to be an old picture, the painting in the Museum is new What is the secret of this, and the other paintings by Pigasso? Sherlock and Watson investigate, together with their rhinoceros friend (although he is not very big) Lestrade. They talk to Moriarty Magpie and other nefarious characters, and Watson spends a very uncomfortable time in Pigasso's house before the answer is discovered.

The boxes once belonging to Doctor Watson containing notes related to cases and adventures of his friend, Sherlock Holmes, are still not empty. Here we find five such adventures, four of which are mentioned in the original collections published through Watson's literary agent, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and brought together here. The Adventure of the Broken Door is mentioned briefly (but not by that name), in The Norwood Builder. The Adventure of the Green Dragon has an oriental flavour and is referenced (though the reference is obscure) in The Cardboard Box. The Adventure of John Vincent Harden is mentioned in by name in the Solitary Cyclist. The Adventure of the Copper Pins is mentioned (but not by that name) in The Five Orange Pips. The Adventure of the Deceased Doctor is unusual, as it occurs some two and half years after His Last Bow, when Holmes and Watson are both serving their country in the Great War.

Miss Leticia Rabbit leaves her gold necklace on the grass outside her house one evening. When she gets up in the morning, it is gone To help her get it back, she asks Sherlock Ferret, who lives with his well-whiskered friend Watson Mouse M.D. (a Doctor of Mousology) in rooms under Mrs. Hudson's baker's shop. Sherlock and Watson, and their friend Lestrade, who is a rhinoceros (even though he is not a very big one) set out to find the necklace for her, meeting several interesting and nefarious characters, such as Moriarty Magpie, and the frightening Colonel Sebastian Moorhen as they do so.

The deed box of Dr. John Watson, entrusted by him over a century ago to Cox & Co. of Charing Cross, and which made its way to Hugh Ashton in Kamakura, Japan, continues to yield treasure. The box proved to have a false bottom, under which lay the manuscript of a full-length adventure of Sherlock Holmes, in which the great detective needs all his cunning and detective powers to unravel the mysteries at Hareby Hall. Mentioned in passing by Dr. Watson in his account of A Scandal in Bohemia, The Darlington Substitution is a tale of deceit, treachery, and murder most foul, set in the wild Border country of northern England. Holmes and Watson encounter a centuries-old legend which tells of the future extinction of an ancient noble family, and set themselves against one of the most ingenious and fiendish villains ever to cross the path of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes and his faithful biographer come to life again in this case, following in the tradition already set in the three volumes of the "Deed Box" series of shorter Holmes adventures published by Inknbeans Press. These have been extremely favorably received by readers and reviewers, with one commenting, "I would have assumed that they were indeed previously undiscovered Doyle originals," and another, "The author has followed the approaches of the original Doyle stories to the extent that these could have been easily included in the original works."