--- description: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar releases Mycroft Holmes title: Review: Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s Mycroft Holmes image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Books](/tag/books/) ## Books Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Review: _Holmes_ Is Where the Heart Is  by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 17, 2015 10:04 AM CUT  by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 17, 2015 10:04 AM CUT Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s sleuth Sherlock Holmes has proved an unusually visible character of late: He’s been played on film by Robert Downey Jr. and, in this year’s _Mr. Holmes_, by Ian McKellen; he’s the star of TV series as varied as Benedict Cumberbatch’s _Sherlock_ and the procedural _Elementary_. Each Holmes is redefined (violent, aged, tech-savvy) to suit his new interpreter’s interests. In his first novel, _Mycroft Holmes_, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar uses the Sherlock story as a way to explore race and history. The former NBA star (who’s written several nonfiction books and is a TIME columnist) takes us to Trinidad with Sherlock’s elder brother Mycroft as he attempts to deduce who or what has been making locals disappear. The book, co-authored by Anna Waterhouse, lends itself well to Abdul-Jabbar’s interests: Mycroft, a sheltered Brit, witnesses the practice of slavery and learns of his companion Cyrus’ painful past. But Holmesians will find much to appreciate in the novel’s depiction of a character whose mind is as keen as Sherlock’s but who is a less agile sleuth. Mycroft, who travels across the globe at the behest of his friend, is more sentimental than his analytical sibling. Doyle’s Mycroft is lazy and dull; Abdul-Jabbar, a dedicated Holmes fan, gives the young Mycroft appealingly un-Sherlock-like traits and a set of traumas that explain why he eventually left the detective work to his brother. –DANIEL D’ADDARIO ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4038111/holmes-is-where-his-heart-is/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4038111/holmes-is-where-his-heart-is/"},"headline":"Review: Holmes Is Where the Heart Is","datePublished":"2015-09-17T10:04:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:01:09.696Z","description":"Kareem Abdul-Jabbar releases Mycroft Holmes","url":"https://time.com/4038111/holmes-is-where-his-heart-is/","keywords":["Books"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel D'Addario","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4038111/holmes-is-where-his-heart-is/","name":"Review: Holmes Is Where the Heart Is"}}]}] ```