The Great Shelby Holmes

For my fabulous agent, Erin Malone,
who has Watson's heart and Shelby's smarts
(and sometimes her mouth!), for your
excitement and enthusiasm since day one

CHAPTER

1

E
very
writer
needs
a
good
story
to
tell
.

So here was my problem: I had nothing to write about because nothing exciting had ever happened to me. Seriously, nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Diddly-squat. You'd think that someone who grew up on four different army posts in eleven years would've witnessed
at least one
exciting thing. Yeah, you'd think.

Nope.

My life = boring.

Then we moved from Maryland to New York City, and my new neighbor tried to blow up the building.

Sure, it all started like your average moving day for the Watson family. I'd gotten used to the constant packing and unpacking that came with having a mom in the military. But this time was supposed to be different. Mom and I were going to settle here, in an apartment at 221 Baker Street. We were even flattening out the boxes and leaving them
outside by the curb, instead of saving them for the inevitable future move.

Oh, and this was also the first time we were moving without Dad. As much as a writer needed to tell the whole story, I wasn't ready to go there. Yet.

So yeah, it was your typical moving day. Or so it seemed. It figured that the moment Mom became a civilian and we were off the military post and
allegedly
safe, we found ourselves dodging an explosion.

BOOM!

Our entire apartment shook. Mom grabbed me and pulled me down to the floor, covering my head. The four bulky movers attempted to seek shelter behind our furniture.

The only person who wasn't ducking for cover was our new landlady, Mrs. Hudson.