Irregular Lives: The Untold Story of Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars

Once again, I'm hooked on a new Sherlock Holmes novel, this one by Kim Krisco. I always enjoy it when the “Baker Street Irregulars” show up in a Sherlock Holmes story, and this tale is a particularly touching one. For readers not familiar with the canon, the Irregulars were a group of street urchins in three of the original adventures written by Sir Arthur Canon Doyle (A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four, and “The Adventure of the Crooked Man,” one of the stories in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.) Basically a street gang, they are led by a boy named Wiggins, and Sherlock employs them as street spies.

Irregular Lives jumps forward to the year 1919. WWI is over, but future threats to world peace loom. In Ireland, the Irish Republican Army is fighting British forces. Against this backdrop, Holmes, who has retired to his farm in Sussex Downs, receives an invitation by a mysterious S. P. Fields to a photography exhibit on Russell Square in London. Naturally, he attends, and finds the photographs are pictures of the “Irregulars” when they were children. Each photograph brings a memory of a particular case, and each case stirs emotions in Holmes, a man famous for keeping his life cerebral.

Then a second invitation to a special dinner at a posh home in Belgravia comes for both Holmes and Watson. They arrive and find all of the adult Irregulars in the photographs are there to honor the impact Holmes had on their lives. All but two, that is—Wiggins and Ruck. Those present have struggled up from their former Spitalfields lives, though, to Holmes’s dismay, the host works for an armament company. Then Wiggins shows up in a dreadful state and Ruck enters, packing a gun. What began as an inspiring evening evolves into a case that involves blackmail, murder, kidnapping, armaments dealing, a secret new weapon, the IRA, and Holmes’s personal enemy, the daughter of Moriarty.

The story is told in multiple points of view, and the author gives us a more rounded out Sherlock without changing his basic nature. The first part of the book sets the reader up nicely for the personalities of the adult Irregulars and Holmes’s reluctant awakening to an almost “parental” concern for them. The author has also made the London of George V palpable. The reader can walk the streets of that era in all the neighborhoods mentioned and almost see them and feel them firsthand. This is historical fiction at its best, as well as a deeply engrossing adventure that draws the reader in until the last page.

                 

Kim Krisco writes both fiction and nonfiction. You can learn more about him on his Amazon author page HERE (and pre-order his book as well. It will be released November 16, 2016.)

You can connect with him on Facebook HERE

Beyond Watson Stories

This post is not a "celebration" post (although a few weeks ago I did celebrate the publication of Beyond Watson.) In the coming weeks, though, in addition to Friday celebrations, I'm going to be posting about the other stories in this great collection.

With much pleasure, I'm working my way through them. I'm purposely going slowly, as I want to appreciate each story for itself. So far I've read three, and each is a gem:

Geri Shear's "Mrs. Hudson's Lodger" tells how Mrs. Hudson and Sherlock Holmes met. You'd be surprised. One of my favorite painters, the English landscapist William Turner (or J. M. W. Turner, more formally) is involved. The characterizations of Mrs. Hudson and Sherlock Holmes are excellent. The story, charming and completely engrossing, flows beautifully.

Marcia Wilson's "The Mortal Condition," takes place during a stake-out on a cold winter night. In this atmospheric tale, a reader sees Sherlock Holmes through the eyes of Lestrade, the inspector who is so often overshadowed by Holmes. Lestrade turns out to be a deeply philosophical and sympathetic character whose observations cast new light on The Great Detective and his partner, Watson. By the time I finished the story, Wilson's setting was so real that I felt I had actually been there and experienced the cold and damp, the ominous shadows.

Richard Paolinelli's "A Lesson in Mercy" is a brilliant reminiscence by none other than Sir Winston Churchill. (I love it when historical figures are pulled into a Sherlock Holmes story!) The famous prime minister shares an incident that he considers "the darkest time in my career." What that event was, you'll just have to read the story to find out. But the characters are engaging, and we get young Churchill's view of both Holmes and Watson.

Now I'm starting Derrick Belanger's "Yes, Virginia, There Is a Sherlock Holmes." (Belanger as in Belanger Books.) With typical modesty and support of the other authors, Belanger put his story last in the anthology. Reading the collection, I started at the beginning, and was working my way down. But then my husband read "Yes, Virginia . . ." and his reactions were such that I simply had to skip ahead and read it now. I'll be sharing that and other stories next time.

Meanwhile, you can order Beyond Watson at:
AMAZON

How about you? Do you have any story collections to recommend? Do you like the idea of seeing Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson through new eyes?

You Buy Bones, A New Book of Sherlock Stories

My apologies for not posting earlier yesterday -- medical appointments interfered, and I'll share more about that in a later post. But I have been enjoying reading a series of Sherlock Holmes pastiches, and this latest really absorbed my interest: 

Bones are at the crux of Marcia's main novella in this story collection. The title comes from a 17^th-century English proverb: “You buy land, you buy stones; you buy meat, you buy bones.” Throughout, the stories give us Scotland Yard’s view of Holmes as being brilliant, but a bit crazy, while Dr. Watson wins the Yard’s sympathy and growing respect. Watson, in fact, is the hero of the title novella:

Watson has come across disturbing information at a medical convention—the skeleton of a young female exhibited by someone he knew in the past. Watson suspects the skeleton is that of someone related to Inspector Lestrade’s sidekick, Bradstreet. Since the suspect is in the medical profession and a fellow Scotsman, Watson feels personal responsibility to track him down. Because it may be a difficult case to prosecute, he leaves Holmes out of it to avoid jeopardizing the consulting detective’s career.

As the case progresses, body thieves, grave robbers, and ancient folklore about selkies (seal people) come into play, along with genetic traits inherited in certain North Sea cultures. To say more than that would involve spoilers.

What I particularly enjoyed in this collection of stories was the new take on Watson and Holmes, as well as the interplay between Lestrade and Gregson. The latter two show up in the cannon as inspectors working with Sherlock Holmes, but here we see their personal rivalry and individual personalities, with Lestrade the more complex and sympathetic lawman who shares Watson’s temperament and approach to things.

Watson himself becomes more three dimensional than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s returning war soldier. The cannon wavers between whether Watson’s leg or shoulder has been wounded. Given realities of modern warfare (of the 20^th century), Wilson shows Watson suffering from recurring pain in both his leg and shoulder, as well as giving him a certain cynicism, despite his sturdiness of character. Watson becomes a modest hero one can root for without ever detracting from the brilliance of his roommate at 221b Baker Street. Additionally, Wilson gives a reader the texture of London’s backstreets, as well as that of late 19^th century Edinburgh.

This fine story collection is a good addition for any collector of Sherlock Holmes fiction and a good find for anyone who enjoys a complex mystery.

You can buy this book at:

Amazon: 

Barnes and Noble:

MX Publishing, USA:

Strand Mystery Magazine:

and all good bookstores and e-bookstores worldwide

Do you have a favorite Holmes and Watson mystery to share here? Or even any mystery? I'm always on the lookout for recommendations.

A Delightful Mystery for Sherlock Holmes Fans

For some time, I have meant to write a review of Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Ruby Elephants, a "must read" for Sherlock fans. It has everything: a truly puzzling mystery, fast pacing, great characters (along with the famous pair), and some very funny scenes.

Where to begin with this wonderful book? The interlocking mysteries in this grand adventure include: an elephant on the rampage, competing secret societies, mysterious notes, a beautiful violinist, hidden passageways, a lethal group of four assassins known as the Archangels, a mad confectioner, Holmes and Watson look-alikes, an exiled Maharajah who wants to go home, stolen diamonds, stolen paintings, a stolen ruby, a kidnapping, dead bodies in strange places, and more than one dicey escape for the famous duo from pursuers who mean business. Central to the plot are eight ruby elephants that everyone wants. (Thus the book’s title.)

The adventure takes place in summer of 1890. Watson’s wife, Mary, is on holiday with a friend in Bath, and Watson has decided to visit his old friend at 221b Baker Street. Like all good pastiches, the author tells the tale purportedly through the reminiscences of Watson, and in Watson’s voice. James captures Arthur Conan Doyle’s style beautifully: With his famous powers of observation, Sherlock continues to astound characters with what he has deduced about them before they have a chance to tell him anything. He out-thinks Watson and his enemies in scene after scene—although sometimes he gets it wrong, and, in a couple of situations, Watson gets it right. No spoilers here; you'll just have to read the book.

An added pleasure for the reader is a thread of subtle humor that runs through the book: Mycroft  and Sherlock vie with each other as to who can deduce more accurately what happened just before their arrival in a key scene. Sherlock has a Shakespearian quote for nearly every situation. All the other characters are splendidly “Victorian,” although they, too, have a humorous edge to their dialogue: A hatter says of a man threatening Watson, “But say what you like about him, he is the owner of a magnificent hat.” In the National Gallery when police are vigilant for art thieves and a huge porcelain vase begins moving, Gregson  takes aim. “. . . but not before Sir William [the director of the gallery] had thrown himself in the way. “For God’s sake, man,” he yelled. “It’s ninth century!” Through it all, the pace never lets up as clue leads to clue and the overall patterns shift like those in a kaleidoscope.

This was a grand read, and I certainly hope the author has planned more adventures for the famous pair.

You can visit his website HERE

and on Facebook HERE

His book is available on Amazon, MX Publishing, and Strand Magazine, among other sites. 

How about you? If you are a Sherlock fan, do you have a favorite title to share?