Interview: Cassie Parkes - Creator of Clarence Oakes, Victorian artist and solver of mysteries!

Cassie Parkes writes the most unique period adventure stories I've come across - her character is a Wildean artist whose proclivities could get him arrested, but he cannot seem to avoid trouble... after falling in love with Cassie's amazing prose - which you can sample for yourself on her blog - I asked her a few questions about it and life as a seventeen-year-old writer who still has to go to school.  

Tell the nice people a bit about your home town – 
Well, I currently reside in Kent, I've been living here for almost eight years now. I'm grateful for its natural beauty as I like to be able to look out of my window and see trees instead of tarmac. I'm also grateful for the friends I've made here, and the fact that I'm near Central London - one of my favourite places to visit for writing inspiration.

You’re still at school, have you be writing stories long? – I was always good at English, but I've only decided to take up writing seriously in recent years. I realised that most of the people I admired in life were writers, and so I decided to have a go myself!

  

Your lead character, Clarence is a refreshing change to the usual Victorian/Edwardian hero, what was your inspiration for him? – 
 Firstly, thank you! I think Clarence is really a subconscious culmination of every literary character that I love rolled into one, he's effectively years' worth of reading made into one strange creature, haha. I think he is the kind of character who tries very hard to be like the people he admires, but he doesn't quite get there. In a way, I think he's a metaphor for my own fears about my writing; the constant questioning of “Why do I deserve to have a voice?” and “Why can't I be as good as all of my favourite novelists?”

Tell us a little more about him, who is he? – Clarence Oakes is a young gay Victorian/Edwardian portraitist, who would like to think himself far braver than he actually is. He gets muddled up in a lot of crime completely by mistake, but he's not exactly bumbling...he's more unwilling. He'd much rather stay home and paint, but poor Clarence hardly ever gets a moment's rest. He's effectively the opposite to Sherlock Holmes: he whines, he is squeamish and he just wants to stay in the warm!

  

If you had lived in Clarence’s era, who would you like to have been? – 
I think I would have loved to work with clothing -Victorian fashion is so iconic and beautiful. Apart from that, I think it'd be quite fun to have been a Clarence-type figure who inherits a lot of money and just runs around London, stumbling into adventures and falling in love with ruffians.

The sexy geek, Ben Whishaw

If Clarence’s stories ever made it to the big screen, who would be your ideal actor? And who would play his annoying friend, Edgar?: Clarence is quite a soppy/melodramatic young thing at times, so I'd need someone who could pull that off well. Maybe Ben Whishaw? (Known to most as “Q” in Skyfall, the latest Bond film.) His portrayal of Sebastian Flyte from Brideshead was quite Clarence-y in many aspects, I think. As for Edgar...hmm. I'd always thought it'd be fun to have someone tall play him - for him to basically be an elongated Labrador that never knows when to stop nudging and licking you. I think it'd be hilarious to have Lachlan Nieboer (Torchwood, Downton Abbey etc.) play him, but he might kill me for saying that!

Lachlan Nieboer

Was it important for Clarence to be a gay character? Is that something you feel strongly about? – A lot of people ask me this question, and I'm never quite sure how best to answer it. I don't set out to write a story thinking: “This character is gay and this will be a gay story.” I don't really think of Clarence as some kind of gay pioneer, he's just a man who happens to be gay! His homosexuality isn't the focus of the story because it doesn't need to be. Certainly, his affections for Rupert (his “Watson”) sometimes drive him on, but I haven't written a romance novel, I've written a mystery novel. The romance (if Clarence staring at Rupert whilst Rupert looks on uncomfortably can really be called that) is simply a subplot, a character development thread that runs through all of the stories. Whether people like reading Clarence stories for the mystery or the romance doesn't especially bother me, as I'm mainly just terribly grateful that people are reading them, haha!

Have you read any of the stories which cast Oscar Wilde in the role of detective? –
I have read Gyles Brandreth's series of novels which do just that, all of which are very good indeed! The first one (Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders) has him team up with Conan Doyle, so I was instantly hooked from the first few pages. The one thing I would like to see more of in these stories is some explicit explanation/discussion of Wilde's sexuality-the subject is skirted around a fair amount, and I feel that confronting it directly would make for an interesting read. The idea of Wilde as a detective is a brilliant concept, mixing macabre wit with gruesome crime is one of my favourite things to do in my writing, and Detective Wilde is just perfect for that. I'd love to give it a go myself one day.

What do you prefer, writing in present day or a previous era? – Why?
I love history, so writing in a previous era is effectively just a nice free method of time travel for me! However, I also love making topical references/anecdotes in my writing, and it's annoying when I think of something decent to write, then I realise it doesn't make any sense for the time period! I like to mix and match, I think. At the moment I'm more focused on historical pieces, but I have some ideas for contemporary plotlines, so we'll see!

Do you do much background research for your settings? Is it important to get the historical context right, or do your stories fit any era? – 
Whilst I tend to focus on character-based stories, research and context is still desperately important, especially with historical pieces. No-one will believe in your characters if they do not believe in the world you have placed them in, so I think it's important to get that right.

Have you created any other characters in other stories? – 
Oh, yes! I always have a million ideas on the go at once, which is why I never manage to finish any of them very easily, haha! I find that's helpful though, because when I get frustrated with one idea, I can just move onto the next. Some people have to focus all of their attention one one idea until its complete, but I prefer to flit between texts to play around with different styles and voices.

What would be your ideal career? – 
I love writing, so that's what I'd ideally love to make money off the back of, as tough as that can be these days! Besides writing, I'm not really sure. I love people, I love talking to people...maybe something in social care? Therapy? I really don't have a clue, actually. I'll put that down to my adolescence as opposed to my disorganisation!

What are you working on just now in terms of writing? – Well, Clarence is plodding along nicely! Apart from him, I have several novels on the go. Finding the time to write is holding me back right now, so when I can get a spare moment, I can actually get working on some of them! I have a novel that is more fully-fleshed than Clarence right now, so that may end up appearing first. We'll see. Either way, I'll keep on writing!

Thank you, Cassie for your interview, best of luck for your first publication when it comes!

Interview: Luke B Kuhns

Author of The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Luke Benjamen Kuhns is another writer from the MX stable.  He answered a few questions for me lately, here's what he said:

1.     You’re an American, what brings you to dear old Blighty?

I was American, or maybe I still am. I should probably check and see. Well, I moved to England in 2008. I started in Manchester where I went to the University of and when I finished I simply never left!

2.     When did you decide to write Sherlock Holmes’ pastiches?

It wasn’t a planned thing. I remember sometime last year just sitting at home one night and thinking, ‘I wonder if I could write a fun Sherlock Holmes story?’ and I started playing with ideas and The St Mary’s Murder was born.

3.     How did you feel when you knew that your first book was going to be published?

I was in disbelief, to be honest! But at the same time super excited! However, when I got the green light, I kept the news to myself for quite a while because I didn’t want to jinx myself. But when things got closer and closer I couldn’t be quiet about it!

4.     What was the first ever Sherlock Holmes story you read?

I remember reading ‘a story’ when I was a kid, but which story that was I cannot remember. But when my interest in Holmes was reignited I remember buying a book that had an awful cover that made me feel like I was buying curriculum book, but it contained The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes and I started with A Scandal in Bohemia! 

5.     Who is your favourite TV/stage Holmes? And Watson?

That’s difficult! I adore the Granada series and think Brett is a great Holmes and Edward Hardwicke a great Watson. (Sorry David Burke). At the same time I’m a Cumberbatch & Freeman/Downey Jr & Law fan, and I do like Basil Rathbone. I honestly can’t say I have an exact favourite because I enjoy so many of the interpretations.

6.     Where did you get your ideas for the new stories you wrote?

Being a fan of macabre and outré helps. It’s never just one source, it’s a mixture of ways. Inspiration comes from personal events of my own and just the endless roaming of my imagination. I can be inspired from music, pictures, or nearly being hit by a car! Ideas just pop into my mind all the time. 

7.     I hear you’re a musician, do you play an instrument? Write songs? Tell us more!

I am a musician. I play piano and bass guitar. My musical journey has been very fun and interesting. Starting with my music teacher, he was something of a legend in fact. He was big on eco-living and developed a way to power his house through car batteries! I kid you not! Sadly he is no longer with us, but he was a great guy and I enjoyed our lessons. He encouraged me to write songs and keep writing and I still do. For a while I was the frontman of a metal band called Forty Days Til Dawn which has a lot of fun. I continue to write and produce my own music for fun. I have a few tunes on my reverbnation.com page, including a couple of Christmas treats.

8.     You recently released a book of poetry, that’s vastly different from Sherlock Holmes! Have you always been a poet?

I did. It’s called Fragile Words and it is vastly different. The idea behind the book is that each story actually has a inside has very special significance to me and my life. Moments that were, Fragile. So it’s kind of an open door into my mind and heart. But that means there is some humour in there, and a few scary moments.

9.     What is your writing routine, or indeed, do you have one?

A routine. Boy oh boy. I’m always working on something it seems. I’ve got a lot of projects in the pipeline that I want to get finished and hopefully released, some of which are not Holmes projects. So my routine to trying to devote enough time to each thing.

10.      Who are your favourite authors?

C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien straight away. They are my biggest inspirations. But I also love Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Douglas Adams. Truthfully the list could go on, but these guys are the ones that I just really adore and get great joy reading.

11.      Who are your heroes/heroines from history?

I suppose it’d be lame to say C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien again huh? But they are. For literary reasons and for theological reasons I have a lot of respect for them and view them as my ‘heroes’. Unless Spider-Man counts?

12.      What are you doing for Christmas this year?

Well I hear a Blue Carbuncle has gone missing...I might investigate!

13.      Dare we ask you to choose your favourite Holmes story?

Whew! I honestly like so many of them. If I had to pick my favourite story I’d say the Sign of Four would be my favourite novel and (right now) The Boscombe Valley Mystery as my favourite short story.  But ask me again tomorrow and they will change!

14. Apart from Holmes and Watson, who is your favourite regular character in the Strand stories? Will we be seeing them in any of your new pastiches?

I quite like Lestrade, his mug seems to turn up. I really like Mycroft and would like to one day do something interesting with that character...there is always a follow-up to Untold Adventures, so who knows!

15.      What special event happened to you this Monday past?:

Monday, 10/12/2012, is a special day as it will be the day that I released my second Sherlock Holmes’ book entitled Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Crystal Blue Bottle. But it’s not just any book, it’s a comic-book! I have been a big comic-book fan since I was a kid and it just made sense to combine this long time love of something with another and do a Sherlock Holmes’ comic-book. As you know there is the campaign to help raise awareness for The Undershaw Preservation Trust. So with that in mind I reached out to lots of different Illustrators and put together a team of 10 amazing artists who were passionate about Holmes and also shared in the desire to save Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s former home, Undershaw. We’ve got people who worked with Marvel, DC, and Disney including Steven E Gordon who was an illustrator for a little film called Basil, The Great Mouse Detective! The book really is stunningly illustrated and includes an ‘art section’ where there is some very special and unique Sherlock Holmes art created specifically for this book. It’s a very special project and one I am very excited about!  

Many thanks Luke, for your honest and entertaining interview! 

The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Blue Crystal Bottle are available to purchase from the MX Publishing site, and major online retailers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and the Book Depository.  Fragile Words can also be found on Kindle. 
You can follow Luke on Facebook where you will find individual pages for his works too! 

A Review: Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Edinburgh Haunting by David Wilson

I read this with great anticipation knowing that there were several real historical personalities in the story including Conan Doyle’s inspiration for Holmes, Dr Joseph Bell, an eminent surgeon who taught young Arthur at Edinburgh University Medical School.  Indeed we also meet Dr/Prof Patrick Watson, who was a contemporary of Bell’s, and in the story we learn is our John Watson’s cousin; and we meet young pianist Helen Hopekirk who gives a recital which the characters attend, she went on to be a famous and highly-regarded pianist and composer, studying with Liszt and others, and working in America.  (She married a William Wilson – I’m wondering if this might be an ancestor of the author and why he chose to include her, or was it just a bit of authentic contemporary colour?)

The basic premise of the story is that John Watson is invited to come and stay with his cousin Patrick and see Edinburgh Medical School.  Holmes is initially reluctant and is, as we often see him in the Canon, bewailing the lack of interesting cases to investigate.  There’s a cute opening to the story as Watson, in his customary diary mode, tells us he is avoiding re-entering their Baker Street rooms as Holmes is making a noise with his “infernal violin”!  Watson did not always dislike his friend’s music, but it sets up the reader to realise Holmes was never at rest.  Watson eventually tempts Holmes to join him on his visit to Scotland by mentioning that his cousin works with Dr Bell.  It is highly amusing as David Wilson puts into Holmes’ mouth a complaint that Bell is using his methods in the field of medicine. 

The story carries on as a traditional Canon tale would do – most of Watson’s narrative is spot on, what any fan would expect him to be like, however, in this story we have split narratives.  To elaborate, chapter six introduces an omniscient narrator who tells us the story of another principal character, police constable James Morthouse, then in chapter ten we get an overview of the action from all the characters – following Watson as he goes to the school with his cousin and meets Joseph Bell; following Holmes as he attempts to aid Constable Morthouse in solving the mysterious happenings at the house of the Turners in Heriot Row, Edinburgh.  We return to Watson’s narrative in chapter twenty.  I actually liked this, because the reader is able to learn more about Holmes’ methods of detection and fact-finding, including recruiting the help of some street children, buying old clothes from some foreign sailors in order to dress up and follow a suspect, and breaking into the Turners’ house to disprove the supposed “haunting”.  

As for Morthouse, he is brilliant! We learn he is somewhat like Holmes, in that he has an older brother with whom he doesn’t exactly see eye to eye, and he is observant.  When the two meet, Holmes immediately warms to the young policeman and shows an almost paternal desire to help him triumph over his bad-tempered detective inspector. 

I really don’t want to give too much away, but the “haunting” is already shown to be much more than it seems from the beginning, as when Holmes and Watson arrive in Edinburgh and are being shown around by Patrick, they encounter a coffin being carried out of the Turners’ house; Holmes spots Morthouse, on duty at the scene, and, as if in his desperation to have a case to investigate, especially one where apparent supernatural happenings have occurred, so he can debunk them, he signals to the constable.  This has the desired result and Morthouse smartly discovers Patrick Watson’s home and that he will certainly point him in the direction of Holmes.  The haunting intrigued me as it immediately bore a resemblance to a case I was convinced I’d heard of.  I couldn’t remember whether it was Portsmouth or Edinburgh, but certainly somewhere that there had been violent noises in the night, poltergeist activity etc, which had never been explained despite a police investigation.  

The author confirms that several events in the story are based on reality, but I couldn’t find this one!  It was very likely for the times, since after major military conflicts at the end of the Victorian era there seemed to be a surge of interest in the supernatural.  We know that Conan Doyle himself eventually became a great advocate of Spiritualism, despite his character’s disbelief, so nice touch, Mr Wilson!  Scotland of course always had its ghosts and haunted houses; Edinburgh’s tourist industry is built on ghosts, murder, blood and guts, so for there to be ghosts in Scotland’s capital is no surprise. 

The character of Morthouse is brilliant as I’ve said; he bears a little bit of resemblance to Brian Ruckley’s policeman in The Edinburgh Dead, a ghostly horror tale set a few decades before this one.  In both cases we have a virtuous man who wants the truth and will stand up to his superiors to get at it, though still attempts to abide within his position.  Delighted to announce that Morthouse will appear in a story of his own soon!

Best bit of the book? The fascinating meeting between Dr Bell – a real person – and Sherlock Holmes – the fictional person based on Bell’s observational methods!  It is as I would have imagined; the two men spark off each other, comparing methods, leaving the rest of the guests at the dinner table out in the cold!  Watson complains that they need to explain their deductions for “us mere mortals”, which gives us a great impression of a meeting of two intellectual giants who find they are very much alike.  The incredulity on John Watson’s face when Bell and Holmes both pronounce the means by which the murder victim was despatched just crowns this little scene.  The icing on the cake strangely reminded me of the Dr Who episode (Evolution of the Daleks) where the Time Lord wishes he had a giant DNA lab to save the life of Laszlo and of course realises he can use the Daleks’ one – in David Wilson’s case, Holmes wants to prove the presence of the opiate solution, Laudanum, and wishes he was back home in his lab at Baker Street.  Dr Bell invites him to come and use his lab which is in his study.  We get a sense that Bell and Holmes are mirror images of each other.

David Wilson - author
who hails from Stirling
in Central Scotland

I really don’t have a complaint about the story – it works on all levels.  The handling of the real people is ideal; the use of true contemporary colour and Canon references is spot on, and being someone who knows Edinburgh, the setting is just right.  Incidentally, the use of “Heriot Row” as the setting for the haunting was inspired! Not only did Scots author Robert Louis Stevenson live there, but the Edinburgh Psychic College was set up there in the 1930s.  Conan Doyle would have been proud.

A brilliant pastiche, a ripping yarn just perfect for Holmes and Watson, and interesting use of spilt narrative.  This is David Wilson’s first Holmes novel, his earlier work, The Kings Park Irregulars published by the History Press, featured a female amateur detective called Abigail Craig.  

The Case of the Edinburgh Haunting will be published by MX Publishing on the 17th of October, and will be available from Amazon UK, MX and several other outlets.  

Interview - David Ruffle, author of The Lyme Regis Horror et al

The first of a series of interviews with my fellow Sherlockians.  This began because David Ruffle asked to interview me, so we made it a quid pro quo deal.  Here's what I asked him...

Before you were a writer, what was your profession?

Before moving to Lyme I was involved in Logistics, in particular the delivery of cars across the UK. I was Logistics Manager for a company in Oxford for eight years. Before that there was no profession to speak of! Now, I work in s small tourist-type shop in Lyme.

What was the first Sherlock Holmes story you read?

A Scandal In Bohemia. I was 12 ( long time ago!)

Who are your favourite Holmes and Watson?

I have seen no one to rival Jeremy Brett. When I write, it's him I picture as Holmes. Edward Hardwicke get my vote as Watson; steady, dependable and loyal.

Who is your favourite Doylean villain?

Baron Gruner and Charles Milverton are particularly well-drawn and deliciously evil and of course both get their come-uppance in spectacular fashion. To hark back to Granada once more; Anthony Valentine (remember him as Raffles) and Robert Hardy brought those two men to life so vividly.

Have you read any of Conan Doyle's other stories, like Professor Challenger or the medieval ones?

Regretfully, hardly any, well in fact, just one; The Lost World-proper Boy's Own stuff.

Most fans of your work will know that Lyme Regis is a major setting - have you always lived there, and if not, what attracted you to it?

I have been here just a little over eight years. I paid my first visit here in January 2004, fell in love with it and was a resident by July the same year! It has beauty, it has history and there can be no friendlier place in the UK! Or anywhere....not even the 'Blue Toon' !

In the Canon stories, Conan Doyle sends Holmes and Watson to many places in the south of England he would have known, will you be moving them to other places that interest you in future stories?

A current collaboration in progress places them in Scarborough in 1901, but as yet have not thought out the future as regards where they may pitch up again.

What is your writing routine?

I don't get much time to write in reality, but when I have an idea it tend to come our rather quickly...sometimes just a paragraph as I pass the PC. Generally l write by day if not at shop...but to be honest I don't have a thing as a routine!

Do you get anyone to read your work as you go, or do you proof it all afterwards?

I am the only one to see it until I consider it finished. The I have someone read it al back to me over a course of days and edit from there.

What made you decide to start writing about Holmes and Watson rather than creating your own characters?

Just something I always wanted to try my hand at, along with hundreds of others, hell, it's almost compulsory for Holmes enthusiasts to have a 'bash'!

What's the best thing about living in Lyme Regis?

The friendliness of the place, the atmosphere, the fact there is always something going on, making living here seem like a permanent celebration of life. You can never be tired of Lyme!

What do you want from Santa Claus this year? :-)

Good reviews from all the national papers for 'Sherlock Holmes and the Missing Snowman'!  Failing that, health for everyone I love and a rotary nasal hair trimmer.

Many thanks to David for taking the time to answer my questions - you can find the Lyme Regis Horror and other stories on Amazon, MX Publishing and a few other places.  Look out for his new illustrated story Sherlock Holmes and the Missing Snowman out soon!

A Rose by any other name...

Yep - the wheels of industry grind on.  I can now reveal the name of my next play is Sherlock Holmes and the Riddle of the Dancing Dragons.

It is June 1888 and Watson receives a letter from a distant relative of his maternal grandmother.  He and Holmes are invited to a wedding.  Holmes meanwhile is lamenting the fact he has no work and is in danger of slipping into the temptation of the seven percent solution again.  However, a curious correspondence gets his detective juices following again - a letter, written as if by a child's hand, yet full of clever riddles which Holmes admits tax his brain at first glance.

So, the pair travel to Chichester to meet Watson's grandmother's cousin, Eleanor, whose elder niece is to be the happy bride.  It is there Holmes will encounter his riddler...

I can't wait to get on with this, scene one has already been written. :-)

I've been tweeting some simple riddles this week, but everybody is too smart! If you can come up with any, please leave them in the comments below!!

"Holmes & Watson: End Peace" a review of David Ruffle's novel

End Peace: a very different Sherlock Holmes story.  Here there is no external narration by Watson, but a dialogue between our well-known friends, apparently at the end of Watson’s life.  The story is set in a hospital “somewhere in Dorset” in 1929 beginning with Holmes visiting his old companion as the good doctor lies in bed, worn out and breathing his last. 

 Reading it, I could hear the Doylean-style language and recognised the enduring friendship of the characters.  So, what do Holmes and Watson discuss at the end of all things?  They reminisce about previous cases, their beliefs, politics, thoughts for the future, in which we gain the solutions to certain canonical mysteries, including the origin of the Giant Rat of Sumatra!  

Holmes admits that some of his behaviour pushed their housekeeper’s patience to the limits, but refuses to back down on other issues with Watson challenges him, including how he profited financially from cases like The Blue Carbuncle and The Priory School.  However, Holmes praises Watson and chides him equally for not making more of himself in his written accounts of their adventures.  What we get is an impression of a very deep, loving friendship which has survived many difficulties, and two men who know they may never see each other again laying open their very hearts.

It’s not all weepy; don’t get me wrong, there are many examples where the two needle each other while going back over the past.  Holmes makes his atheism clear, and is rather gloomy about the future of his “science of deduction”, yet Watson is more sympathetic, recalling how his parents made no demands on him and his brother to conform to their beliefs.  The more we hear of Watson’s idyllic childhood, the more Holmes reveals his strong dislike of Mycroft, and openly admits he hated his father.  We see here a possible explanation for his lack of contact with women – his mother was everything to him, and we sense that no other could measure up.  He dismisses any question of a romantic interest in Irene Adler, or any of their female clients, including a reference to Violet Hunter of the Copper Beeches fame.  Watson criticises Holmes for “dropping” her as soon as the case was resolved.  Holmes’ inhuman streak is self-inflicted; no-one may come in contact with his softer emotions, only Watson has been privileged to see tiny flashes of kindness throughout their association.

Meanwhile we start to realise that things are not as they seem; as Watson tires and dozes off, we get snatches of conversation between the nurses and the matron.  I won’t spoil the story, but here is a fine example of the author playing with our perceptions.  Don’t believe everything you read!  Suffice to say some things we read have perhaps already taken place before the novel begins. 

The end is shocking and somewhat depressing.  I can certainly believe that Holmes was capable of what he confesses to Watson, as the comments about his father seem to be boiling up to a head, but as for the good doctor’s revelation, no way! Come on, no, I can’t accept that would have been the case.  Watson is portrayed right up to that point as the gentler, kinder partner in crime; his very Victorian gentlemanliness is what we understand has kept Holmes from going under altogether.  Watson is tired, but he must make things clear before he leaves the earth, as perhaps he, unlike Holmes, still fears a divine judgement to come.  Holmes however is still bursting with energy, though we begin to realise that energy might have been anger-fuelled from the experiences in his youth within the home.  So, sorry, I take exception to this bit, it reminded me of reading the first novel in a series from a local crime-writer and loving it until I came to a bit that was so far-fetched I thought, no, can’t happen like that, just cannot!  However, the very, very end has a supernatural twist that I liked. 

BBC Watson by Kevin Bolk

 David Ruffle has achieved something very interesting with this book – he’s given closure, which poor Arthur Conan Doyle was never allowed by his readers to do.  This is an end, and the whole world of pastiche could now happily use this or at least some of it as a framework.  However, I’m sure there will be people who will pick fault with David’s conclusions on certain canonical matters, and he anticipated that with his “End Piece”, his little apologetic at the end.  I didn’t think there was a need for that, David, you should have just put it out there, stood by your work and let everybody else please themselves, because us writers will always have critics! 

Despite the author’s own fear of how the work will be received, I definitely give it the thumbs up, and find it perfectly acceptable as another interpretation of the Canon, and one that few have attempted.  I defy any reader not to recognise the Great Detective and the Good Doctor in this, it is indeed they who speak.  

One thing I found while reading was that images of different actors would pop into my head at certain points – Jeremy Brett where Holmes is being candid and kind, and new boy Benedict Cumberbatch as he rails against his father, Mycroft and lauds science as his deity!  How strange!  I suppose what that means is there are flashes of modernity in there, which of course there would be for two men who had lived through the Great War and were now aware another threatened, yet they still remain essentially who they were in the 1880s when we first met them.  This is a stunning piece of work, and I’m glad I got the opportunity to review it.  Well done, Mr Ruffle!

The Many Voices of Sherlock Holmes

Event poster by the wonderful Buzby Took

It's SHERLOCK HOLMES WEEK!! Eek! My very first one as an MX Author.  SH Week is an international event for fans to celebrate all things Holmes.  It has its own website with details of this year's other events.

I'm on it already, thanks folks! 

So, what are we doing? Members of a local writers' group and I will be performing extracts from both the Canon and many pastiches written by my friends at MX Publishing.  Stories include:

• A Case of Witchcraft by Joe Revill
• My Dear Watson by Margaret Park Bridges
• The Detective and the Woman by Amy Thomas
• The Sign of Fear by Molly Carr
• Anomalous by Samuel Williams Jnr
• Tales from the Strangers' Room by David Ruffle
• The Punishment of Sherlock Holmes by Philip K Jones & Bob Burr

These represent a diverse collection of settings, identities and adventures for our favourite detective and his long-suffering biographer.  What if Holmes was female? What if Holmes met up one more time with the enigmatic Irene Adler? What happens when Holmes encounters historical personalities such as Aleister Crowley, Al Capone and Jack Johnson, the African-American boxer? Can Holmes be comical? Such questions represent the intriguing possibilities presented by my fellow authors.

I'll be looking after the Canon.  I've decided to begin with A Study in Scarlet, as this year is the book's 125th anniversary, it was the first Holmes story, and close to my heart as Arthur Conan Doyle wrote it in Southsea, where I worked from November 2010-April 2011 as the Projects Officer for Richard Lancelyn Green's  unsurpassed Doylean collection.  My house was two streets away from Elm Grove, and ACD's home when he first began his medical career.  Conan Doyle's Baker Street is really Southsea's Elm Grove, as many fans have eventually realised.  I will describe that first meeting of Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes, and how Watson's friend, young Stamford, paints a picture of an oddball with little regard for the rest of humankind!

I think I'll be using extracts from The Copper Beeches - where Holmes begins with a rant about how Watson has failed him in chronicling his cases by turning "what should have been a course of lectures into a series of tales."  Of course, we are ever grateful that John Hamish Watson provided us with such entertainment!

Jeremy Brett as Holmes [Mmm!]

Also, my fave, Silver Blaze, firstly for the fact the horse did it, and secondly for the source of "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time", which of course, Mark Haddon used for his brilliant book of the same name.

I'm also delighted to report that our very own Derren Brown, Aberdeen Magician and Mentalist, Dave Goulding will be our special guest, demonstrating some of those observation skills with which Holmes often dazzled his clients and puzzled Watson.  I'm not giving too much away about his act, but it'll be brilliant, I can assure you.

The event takes place in the lovely little venue of the Old Torry Community Centre, in Abbey Place, Torry. This is a community-run centre which although still council-owned, is looking to hold all sorts of events to benefit a local audience, including a knitting circle, children's clubs, plays, shows, concerts etc.  I can't recall there EVER being any Sherlock Holmes-related events in the city, so it's great that we are able to do this in such a historic year.

I will of course not forget to mention the Undershaw campaign.

So, if you're coming - it's 7.30pm, £4 /£2 concessions, BYOB, but tea and coffee available as well as lovely home-made cakes.

The luscious Benedict Cumberbatch as our 21st century Holmes