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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s first novel, “Mycroft Holmes,” which stars Sherlock Holmes’ brainy older brother, will be published this fall by Titan Books.

Set in England and Trinidad, the story centers on Mycroft, a recent university graduate working for the British Secretary of State for War. Mycroft learns from his best friend of troubling events occurring in Trinidad — mysterious disappearances, dead children and strange, backward facing footprints in the sand. Mycroft goes to Trinidad to investigate and to follow his fiancée, Georgiana, who was raised on the island. Sherlock has a cameo as a King’s College student.

Mr. Abdul-Jabbar, a 19-time N.B.A. All-Star, began reading Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories more than 40 years ago, during his rookie season. “I was fascinated by Holmes’s ability to see clues where other people saw nothing,” he said in a statement released by his publisher. “Mycroft Holmes” was written with the screenwriter and producer Anna Waterhouse.

Mr. Abdul-Jabbar later read “Enter the Lion: A Posthumous Memoir of Mycroft Holmes,” a 1979 novel that was written by Michael P. Hodel and Sean M. Wright, and features Sherlock’s older brother. He was taken with the character, who appears in several of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories and works for the British government.

“I realized more could be done with this ‘older, smarter’ character and his window onto the highest levels of British government — at a time when Britain was the most powerful country in the world,” Mr. Abdul-Jabbar said in a statement.

Mr. Abdul-Jabbar, who has published an autobiography, as well as nonfiction and children’s books, will also release his third children’s book, “Streetball Crew – Stealing the Game,” in February.