Recently, there have been chilling tales of the ghost of Allerthorpe's deceased mother and worse; visions of a legend told to her in her childhood, the Black Thurrick.

Publishers Weekly praised the novel and said that Lovegrove joined "the top rank of authors of traditional Holmes pastiches.

"[2] Mark Yon of SFFworld enjoyed the book calling it "a deceptively easy read that draws you in and, once started, I found difficult to put down.

"[1] Sam Tyler of SFbook.com called it "a great Christmas gift for the Sherlock Holmes fan in your life.

"[3] Katie Turzansky, manager of Edmonton Public Library's Strathcona branch recommended the book on CBC's Radio Active with Adrienne Pan.