ABANDONED. Looking for a mystery that could be a Sherlock Holmes book

[Ginny]

I thought it was going to be a while before I needed the GoodReads detectives, but I a mystery (literally) brings me back. A young lady in the 5th grade is looking for a book, but she only remembers the cover. The cover had a Sherlock Holmes figure smoking a pipe, with a trench coat and deerstalker hat. Two more clues about the cover it has a dead body on it and the word "patch" in red. She said the picture is realistic and not cartoony. The only other thing is that it is a soft cover. Have at it my fine sleuths!

[Kris]

Any chance the word is "dispatch" or "dis-patch"?

For example, I've seen the title "Thinking Outside the Tin-Dispatch Box" by William R. Cochran. The cover only has some of the elements you mention - http://www.batteredbox.com/images/Thi...

[Holly]

Was this a kids book or an adult book, btw?

It might be worth taking a look at this list, but I'm not sure it's on there https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8...

Do you know anything about the plot of this book?

[Ginny]

Well, the young could only tell me about the cover. Her teacher had the book and she was intrigued. She didn't tell me if it was a kids book or not. It could well be a Sherlock Holmes book. I will see if I can find out more, she was in a rush and so I got the details I could. Let me talk to her and see if she has more to tell or if she talk to teacher and knows the name of the book.

[Hillary]

This is a super long shot, but I instantly thought of the illustrations in the second book of the Lewis Barnavelt series by John Bellairs. title is The Figure in the Shadows, and it has had quite a few illustrators over the years. I pulled my ancient copy, which is the Dell Yearling edition with the Mercer Mayer illustrations The Figure in the Shadows and the cover has our main character in his Sherlock Holmes hat, which is a part of the story. There are other illustrators, and as the Sherlock Holmes hat is a plot element, all could have included it somewhere.

[Saz]

Could be this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crim....
It fits the title and sherlock theme

[Kris]

Interesting find, Saz!

[Ginny]

I haven't been able to get confirmation from the young lady, but Saz's find does look good.

[Ginny]

Okay, the patron hasn't gotten back to me and I think that probably she resolved it with her teacher. I want to move it to abandoned, but am not sure how I do that.

[Ginny]

Thanks everyone for trying.

[Andy]

I'm thinking that the word was "Rache" and the book was "A Study in Scarlet" - see one possible cover https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/...

[Kris]

Oh, Rache is from the original story? I've read very little Sherlock Holmes, but love the TV and movie adaptations. The "Rache" scene from BBC's "Sherlock" series was quite funny. :)

Clever deduction, Andy!

[Andy]

Kris wrote: "Oh, Rache is from the original story? I've read very little Sherlock Holmes, but love the TV and movie adaptations. The "Rache" scene from BBC's "Sherlock" series was quite funny. :)

Clever deduct..."

Yes, "Rache" (German for 'revenge') is from the original story.

[Ginny]

Well, I wish I could tell you either way.

[Ginny]

I think I figured out how to make it abandoned. Let me know if I need to do more.

[Kris]

Ginny, thanks for updating the folder.

Too bad this one is abandoned. But it was great seeing Andy's link to the old Conan Doyle comic and learning more about that classic.