[Holmes and Holmes 01] • A Study in Amber

Sherry Holmes is a young, wanna-be private eye in 21st century San Francisco. Her adoptive mother, a not-so-famous Hollywood actress, says she comes by her desire to solve crimes naturally since she’s related to her namesake, the famous fictional character Sherlock Holmes.

Sherry has set herself up in a flat in a Victorian house owned by her grandmother. She hopes to attract some of her ancestor’s talent by decorating her flat to look nearly identical to Sherlock’s Baker Street digs, which she had once visited on a trip to London. So she’s surprised but not shocked when she soon finds Sherlock’s ghost has taken up residence in her newly decorated flat and is demanding to know who she is and what she is doing in his rooms.

This awkward situation is eventually resolved and Sherlock reluctantly settles down to his new reality. He’s very skeptical, though, when Sherry tells him of her new vocation of private detective and challenges her to prove that she has some detecting talent. Thanks to a freshly discovered murder in the neighborhood, she takes up the challenge with the help of her granny, Tessa Reynolds, and the local handyman, Mark Watson, alias Doc (no kidding!).

As a ghost, Sherlock discovers he has severe restrictions: he can’t be seen, heard, or felt by anyone except Sherry and, worse, he can’t physically leave the flat. So he must rely on Sherry to explain what clues she has found and what she makes of them. Sherlock, of course, being the master detective, has many questions and suggestions for her and ultimately proves very useful in helping her solve this crime while the police are still trying to work things out.