Fans of classic mysteries may do a double take at their local bookstore when they pass by this book and see that it is a Holmes, Marple & Poe novel. The subtitle actually refers to Brendan Holmes, Margaret Marple and Auguste Poe, who bear the surnames of two memorable characters and a legendary author. They run their own investigation firm based in Brooklyn and possess abilities not far off from their namesakes.

HOLMES IS MISSING is the second entry in this clever series from James Patterson and Brian Sitts. It is a fast, furious and intelligent thriller involving missing infants and a nefarious child-selling ring. The title is a tad deceiving as Holmes is indeed missing at first, but that’s only because he’s at an upstate rehab facility drying out from his drug addiction. Marple and Poe pay him a visit to see if he is ready to return and make him aware of the handful of newborns who were just abducted from a New York City hospital. Holmes is all set to leave and agrees to assist with the case, but he makes it clear to his partners that after this he is done with the investigation business.

"The ending is a race to the finish to take down the people behind the evil syndicate of baby traffickers and contains more than a few surprises."

Marple and Poe had worked with the hospital’s security to review footage of the maternity floor at the time of the abductions, but there were too many possible suspects who had access. The NYPD and Captain Graham Duff are not at all pleased that this trio is cutting in on their territory, and they have a nice back-and-forth case of antagonism. Initial suspicion falls on a nurse who has not returned to work since the crime, and the team digs into her. They follow this up with other staff members who look suspicious, and the fear becomes apparent that this may be just the tip of the iceberg of a much larger criminal operation.

There is a brief interlude whereby Holmes, Marple and Poe attend a writer’s conference and find themselves lambasted by real-life authors like Harlan Coben, Tana French and Lisa Gardner. They do not seem to take too kindly to the three of them adopting such famous literary sobriquets. I appreciated this very meta, tongue-in-cheek moment from Patterson and Sitts. An overeager “fan” named Oliver Paul, a watchmaker, latches on to Holmes and claims to be covering a case in which someone has been murdering a mother on the same date each year.

While Oliver might seem a bit creepy, he reveals that Holmes' mother, who was long thought to be dead, is actually alive. Holmes investigates and does indeed find her very much alive. As he confronts her on the decades-long subterfuge, Holmes also begins to wonder how Oliver came by this information.

Meanwhile, the case of the kidnapped children begins to snowball with an overturned bus of youngsters in upstate New York, resulting in the disappearance of the driver and all the passengers. Additionally, Marple heads across the pond to London where a similar case of child abduction is afoot and shows possible connections to their case, further complicating matters.

The ending is a race to the finish to take down the people behind the evil syndicate of baby traffickers and contains more than a few surprises. Thankfully, there is a whopper of a cliffhanger that sets up the next entry in the series, involving another classic name from one of the investigators’ pasts.