A Letter of Mary

In August 1923, Mary Russell and her husband Sherlock Holmes receive an unexpected visit from Dorothy Ruskin, an elderly amateur archaeologist who had met them years earlier during the events of O Jerusalem. As a gift, she presents Mary with a papyrus scroll believed to be a first-century letter by Mary Magdalene — only to be killed in a hit-and-run shortly after. When Holmes and Russell investigate her death, they uncover evidence of foul play involving three distinct suspects: a British colonel who sponsored Ruskin's dig; two Middle Easterners seeking the same papyrus; and Ruskin's sister, Erica. As Mary translates the scroll, she grapples with its theological implications while unraveling the mystery behind the murder.