When twelve-year-old Amanda Lester is forced to attend a secret English detective school, she must decide whether to follow her heart and rebel against the life her parents want for her or stop arch-villain Blixus Moriarty from succeeding at his biggest conspiracy yet.A reluctant detective, a criminal mastermind, and . . . sugar?Amanda Lester wouldn’t be caught dead going into the family business. Her ancestor, Sherlock Holmes’s colleague Inspector G. Lestrade, is a twit. Nevertheless her parents refuse to see his flaws, and she’s going to a secret English school for the descendants of famous detectives whether she likes it or not. When Amanda arrives at the dreaded school, she considers running away—until she and her new friends discover blood and weird pink substances in odd places. At first they’re not sure whether these oddities mean anything, but when Amanda’s father disappears and the cook is found dead with her head in a bag of sugar, they’re certain that crimes are taking place.Now Amanda must embrace her destiny and uncover the truth. The only snag is that arch-villain Blixus Moriarty, a descendant of Holmes’s nemesis Professor James Moriarty, might be involved, and he doesn’t like nosy little girls interfering in his business.

A dead body. Weird crystals. A mysterious secret. After defeating the Moriartys, Amanda thought she'd put her troubles behind her. But she didn't reckon on the earthquake that changed everything. Now she must make a choice: learn to work with her nemesis or let disaster befall the detective school.If only Sherlock Holmes's great-great-grandson weren't such a dork . . .There’s a new student at the Legatum Continuatum School for the Descendants of Famous Detectives and Amanda is supposed to work with him. Scapulus Holmes is a descendant of the great Sherlock and he’s crazy about her. Unfortunately she thinks he’s a dork and would rather die than have anything to do with him.But when the kids discover a dead body encrusted with strange living crystals, Amanda realizes she needs Holmes’s help. If the crystals fall into the wrong hands they could be used for nefarious purposes, and only he knows how to protect them.Can the detectives keep the bad guys from learning the crystals' secrets? It would help if they could figure out who the dead body is too. Only if Amanda and Holmes can find a way to work together can they prevent a disaster, and it isn’t looking good.

Purple rainbows, a mysterious crypt, and pots of gold . . . Things are not going well for Amanda and the secret detective school. A priceless artifact has disappeared, a dangerous hacker is manipulating matter, and zombies are being seen all over the Lake District. Then the real trouble starts.