When a meeting with a client goes disastrously wrong, Sherlock Holmes soon finds himself involved in a case of murder with two dead bodies and too few clues.
Welcome to one of the December 8th stops on the blog tour for Three May Keep a Secret by Richard T. Ryan with iRead Book Tours (schedule linked.) Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, author guest posts & interviews, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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Author Guest Post
With Holmes, the Devil Is in the Details
by Richard T. Ryan
“I am an omnivorous reader with a strangely retentive memory for trifles.” – “The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane”
Anyone who is going to attempt to write a Sherlock Holmes mystery had better enjoy history and research. They had also best be prepared to do a little sleuthing of their own. Obviously, the world of the Great Detective – Victorian and Edwardian England – is much different from our own.
In my first novel, The Vatican Cameos, the story alternates between Rome in 1901 and Rome in 1501. As you might expect, I had to brush up on my Renaissance art, the history of the papacy as well as the various churches and palaces of the Eternal City – not to mention any number of other historical oddities. Moreover, I also found myself researching such other diverse topics as how far a horse could travel in a day; the average speed of a train in 1901, and the types of stones best suited for cameos not to mention early typewriters and fountain pens.
In my other works, I’ve had to look into the ancient writing form of ogham and the pagan feasts of prehistoric Britain (The Druid of Death); the history of the Stone of Scone and the Irish independence movement (The Stone of Destiny). I’ve spent countless hours researching Faberge eggs and Blenheim Palace (The Merchant of Menace) and the Beowulf manuscript and Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary (Through a Glass Starkly). My latest pastiche, Three May Keep a Secret, revolves around the Mérode Cup, which is depicted on the cover, and various other medieval artifacts.
In short, authors are creating word pictures, albeit very long ones, but if the reader spots an error in the composition, the illusion is destroyed. I think readers are willing to suspend disbelief, how else can we explain the popularity of Lord of the Rings, horror films and even James Bond. But they minute they say, “That’s not right,” it’s over. So while we’re telling tall tales, they must still be grounded in reality – and facts matter.
As a result, I am constantly checking to see when a word first appears in English. I’m also constantly making certain that no Americanisms creep into Holmes’s or Watson’s speech. For example, Holmes might say, “That’s not going to happen” but he would never utter the phrase, “Not happening.”
In that same vein, how you spoke often identified the class to which you belonged in the Victorian era. My Holmes and Watson speak very formally, they seldom use contractions or slang. The also speak using proper English grammar. After all, they are gentlemen, in the truest sense of the word.
Now apply the few points I’ve made about Victorian life to every aspect of existence – attire, cuisine, and current events, to name just a few – and you begin to see that researching what you write is crucial to crafting a story that will stand up to scrutiny. Many readers take it for granted that the author is correct in what he or she tells us. However, when they suddenly say, “Wait a minute,” you know you have a problem.
The bottom line, for me anyway, is that I spend as much time researching my subjects as I do writing the novel. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy the latter and not think twice about the former.
About the Book
Three May Keep a Secret
A Sherlock Holmes Adventure
by Richard T. Ryan
Published 19 September 2021
MX Publishing
Genre: Mystery
Page Count: 264
When a meeting with a client goes disastrously wrong, Sherlock Holmes soon finds himself involved in a case of murder with two dead bodies and too few clues.
From some clear pieces of glass and a raven’s feather, the Great Detective must divine exactly who the client was and what prompted him to seek assistance at 221B. Fortunately, Holmes has a number of experts upon whom he can rely as well as his own vast store of esoteric knowledge.
Treading a twisted path, Holmes soon finds himself matching wits with an unseen criminal, who appears to be the equal of the late Professor Moriarty. At the same time, he is tasked with sparing the monarchy any possible embarrassment that may stem from the investigation.
It’s a deadly game of cat-and-mouse that finds Holmes and Watson attending underground auctions, using rare and priceless artifacts as bait and holding a late night vigil in anticipation of deterring a theft, all the while trying to understand how a priceless antiquity fits into their investigation.
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About the Author
A lifelong Sherlockian, Richard Ryan is the author of “The Vatican Cameos: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure,” “The Stone of Destiny,” “The Druid of Death” and “The Merchant of Menace,” and “Through a Glass Starkly,” all from MX Publishing. “Three May Keep a Secret” is his sixth Holmes pastiche, and he is currently at work on his seventh.
He has also written “B Is for Baker Street (My First Sherlock Holmes Book),” an alphabet book he penned for his grandchildren.
Among his other credits are “The Official Sherlock Holmes Trivia Book,” a book on Agatha Christie trivia and the well-received murder mystery “Deadly Relations” that has been produced twice off-Broadway.
He pursued his graduate studies at the University of Notre Dame, where he majored in medieval literature. To this day, he remains a die-hard fan of the Fighting Irish.
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Giveaway Alert!
Enter to win a signed hardcopy copy of Three May Keep a Secret: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure (GRAND PRIZE) (one winner/USA only) or ebook copy Three May Keep a Secret. (5 runner-up winners) (ends Dec 24)
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