A poisoned pawn in chess is defined as any pawn that, if captured, would lead to a serious disadvantage for that player. Here, presented for your enjoyment, are three new cases for Sherlock Holmes. Someone, or something, that may at first seem trivial, is actually the key to something far more consequential.

The first such problem is by Emanuel E. Garcia, an author who has published numerous scholarly articles on psychoanalysis, including investigations into several classical composers. Here his attention is drawn to Hamlet and a new interpretation, which reveals for the first time, just who is the real power behind the thrown in Denmark.

Roger Jaynes is an established author with two other published Sherlock Holmes novels. This latest adventure concerns Sir Arthur Wilcox, a high-ranking civil servant. Sir Arthur is about to embark on a diplomatic mission of the utmost importance to Athens. However, when his dead body is discovered close to his open safe, it is feared that the Government may fall, though Sherlock Holmes has other ideas.

Finally, Eddie Maguire tells the strange tale of a seemingly innocent weekend invitation to Dorset at which Holmes and Watson meet the Kaiser. Soon some of the Kaiser's personal possessions go missing and what starts as a theft culminates in a possible assassination plot.