Ormond Sacker

A Sherlock Holmes Escape Book: The Adventure of the Two Flying Scotsmen is a unique form of puzzle book, in which the reader must solve the riddles to escape the pages.

The fifth title in this ingenious series of Sherlock Holmes Escape Books, The Adventure of the Two Flying Scotsmen is an exhilarating combination of escape room, puzzle book and adventure story. In this latest tale, Sherlock Holmes and Watson find themselves trapped on a Flying Scotsman bound for Edinburgh after being mistakenly led to believe that Sherlock is needed in Scotland to thwart a plot against the Queen. Readers will quickly discover that the actual plot in motion is to rig a rail race between the two Flying Scotsmen happening that day. A race where the Queen’s son Bertie has ill-advisedly lent money to a small gang of ne’er-do-wells within the household of the socialite Daisy Greville. A woman with whom Bertie is having a secret affair.

With Sherlock trapped on one train and the gang rigging the other, readers will face many challenges in order to thwart the gang and prevent the news of Bertie’s affair reaching the public. Something readers must do before the race between the two locomotives concludes in Edinburgh.

The readers as Sherlock must solve the puzzles aboard the train and alert the authorities before reaching the stop at York. However, this isn’t the only challenge the readers will face as anti-monarchists – aware of the gang’s plot, also seek to destroy the reputation of the monarchy by attempting to derail one of the trains so the money can be lost and Bertie’s secrets can be exposed.

With the reputation of royalty at stake, readers will follow Sherlock as he strives to solve the puzzles and prevent the royal scandal from breaking. If Holmes fails to solve the mystery, not only a train but also the reputation of the monarchy could be catastrophically derailed.

Puzzles include: Riddles, Logic Puzzles, Timed Challenges, Mathematical Brainteasers, Maps and Mazes.

This ingenious series is a spin on the current urban craze for 'Escape Rooms', in which participants are locked in rooms, and must solve the puzzles they find there to make good their escape. Here, the book becomes the locked room, the pages become the path, and the reader can take on a challenge every bit as brain-teasing from the comfort of their own home. Visual clues are hidden among the intriguing illustrations; fiendish riddles, logic puzzles, and timed challenges unlock hidden doors and reveal the direction of travel; and mathematical problems provide the codes required to follow the correct path. There are maps and mazes to explore; references to the original Sherlock Holmes adventures to unravel; and a code-wheel that holds the key to unlocking the next page. Solve the puzzles correctly to escape. Get them wrong, and you will find yourself further and further along the path to your own demise.