Now a failed novelist, poet and short story writer he dreams of returning the literature of England to those halcyon days of yore: to the sweeping prose of the Brontes, Jane Austen, Robert Louis Stevenson; the intricate plots of Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, Agatha Christie, the lyrical poetry of Byron, Coleridge and Keats.

On receipt of his 74th rejection he realizes that the way to accomplish his aim is simple: he will murder all those literary agents, editors and publishers who have turned down his work.

Enter Consultant Detective Silas Holmes, known to everyone as Sherlock. He has been called in by Scotland Yard to help solve the mystery of a series of grisly slayings of young women, each victim found raped, murdered and branded with the mysterious letters: FCQTV. The clues are few: the pressure mounts.

When Holmes crosses paths with the charming yet enigmatic Charles they decide to join forces to track down the ritual killers. Little does Holmes realize that his new companion has his own dark agenda.

As Neighbour proceeds with the slaying of assorted editors, agents and other members of the literary landscape Emily Lasalle, fiancée of Elias Whatney, Holmes' sidekick, offers herself as bait to trap the killers.

• Will Holmes and Whatney find Emily before she falls victim to the fiendish Satanic cult?
• Will Charles succeed in his mission to regain the soul of English literature - one murder at a time?
• And will the world's greatest detective realize that the solution to both mysteries is closer than he ever imagined?