John M Holmes

Three Dark Jewels John M Holmes

Three compelling novellas with Hitchcockian twists. Old Poison - Lylah has managed to hold her marriage together for a dozen years in 1960's suburbia, when on a seemingly ordinary afternoon, her family life begins to disintegrate. A doctor's diagnosis, troubling memories from her past, and the strange power of an antique family artifact - all begin to join forces against her as the day progresses. Her husband, stepson and eleven year old daughter are caught in a whirlpool of anxiety as a storm converges on the city hospital where the family is drawn together on this awful night. Dash - Set in the same town and turbulent decade of the 1960's, a young male librarian asks one of the patrons, Bea Wood, for a date. Gradually, she insinuates her way into his life and relationship with his best friend, Dash. The town's resident "mad scientist" collides with Dash's efforts to evade the draft by crossing the border into Canada. The librarian and his new fiancée begin to connect the sinister dots in a strange mystery that is enveloping their lives in the tranquil town. Dr. Jekyll's Graveside Service - Victorian London and Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale are given a sharp spin in this sequel, as new life is injected, literally, into the familiar story. The chief focus here, however, is the doctor's devoted butler, John Poole. Along with several other of the original characters, and a young inspector from Scotland Yard, they take part in a grisly adventure in a cemetery the night following Jekyll's burial. It leads to shocking revelations and dark deeds appropriate to the famous story's gothic atmosphere.