Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Alliance

As the city of Minneapolis prepares for a visit from President William McKinley, someone else prepares for murder. On the day before the visit, a union activist is found hanged, naked, outside a ruined mansion. A placard around his neck reads “THE SECRET ALLIANCE HAS SPOKEN.” Who is the alliance? What does it want? How was the victim involved with the city’s corrupt mayor? And why did he possess a photograph of a prominent citizen in a compromising position? Shadwell Rafferty searches for answers, encountering bribery, corruption, union organizers, anarchists, and conspiracy, putting himself in danger. But as luck would have it, his old friends Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John H. Watson are on their way.

In this fourth installment of Larry Millett’s Minnesota Mystery series, Shadwell Rafferty commands center stage in a brand-new city. Packed with Millett’s signature historical and architectural detail, this book is deviously delightful.

Larry Millett was a reporter and architecture critic for the St. Paul Pioneer Press for thirty years. He is the author of fifteen books, including five other mystery novels in this series featuring Sherlock Holmes and Shadwell Rafferty, all in new editions from the University of Minnesota Press.

Contents

Map of Central Minneapolis, 1899 vii

Prologue: Minneapolis, September 28, 1899 1

Book One: The Mystery of Michael O’Donnell
1. “They Strung Up Michael” 9
2. “Do You Know Who This Man Is?” 20
3. “I Want a Man Who Thirsts for Justice” 34
4. “God Cuts Many Paths” 48
5. “Spite, You See, Can Be a Form of Idealism” 58
6. “We’ve Met” 71
7. “Go Back to St. Paul” 84
8. “I Met a Man Much Troubled by Rats” 97
9. “Rafferty Won’t Be a Threat” 109
10. “Come Alone” 123

Book Two: The Wound of Time
11. “It Was Just a Cheap Attempt at Blackmail” 139
12. “There’s People in There That’ll Kill You” 152
13. “Something Sinister Is Coming My Way” 166
14. “I Think He Might Be Living in There” 177
15. “Get Off Me, You Brute” 190
16. “His Exact Words, Sir, Exact Words!” 203
17. “It Will Be Haymarket All Over Again” 216
18. “He May Have Been Murdered for Doing His Duty” 230
19. “She Will Be There” 248
20. “Do You Remember Louis Lingg?” 260
21. “Do Not Confuse It with an Apology” 280

Epilogue: “Rest Quietly” 297

Notes 303
Author’s Note 321