David Ruffle's Sherlock Holmes/Lyme Regis Blog: June 2013

What can you find here? Reviews of new and not quite so new Sherlock Holmes novels and collections. Interviews with authors, link to blogs worth following, links to where you can purchase my books and some reviews of my work garnered from Amazon sites. Plus a few scary pics of me and a link to various Lyme Regis videos on YouTube...see what we do here and how....and indeed why!!! Next to the Lyme Regis Video Bar is a Jeremy Brett as Holmes Video Bar and now a Ross K Video Bar. And stories and poems galore in the archives.

Friday, 14 June 2013

THE AMATEUR EXECUTIONER

'The Amateur Executioner' is a collaboration between two noted Holmes writers, Dan Andriacco and Kieran McMullen. I am never quite sure how these collaborations work, but I suspect they weren't thrown into a locked room together and told not to come out until they had completed the book. I am involved in a collaboration myself (the ever impending 'Scarborough Affair') which chiefly consists of me sitting quietly as my partner does all the writing, but I digress.

Enoch Hale, a Boston bred reporter is one of the first on the scene of an apparent suicide, but things

are not what they seem. This is the latest in a series of murders and as the dogged Hale sets out to both cover these crimes and uncover the killer he gets a little help along the way from an assortment of well known folk; Alfred Hitchcock, WB Yeats, TS Eliot etc.....and Sherlock Holmes! The blending of real characters, real history with fictional characters and fictional history is very well accomplished and at no time does the insertion of these 'guest stars' overshadow the very well thought out and exciting plot. There may not be a major part for Holmes to play, but his 'fingerprints' are all over the plot and you do gain the impression that this novel could only have been written by a Holmesian, or in this case, two Holmesians. It is a very enjoyable read, fast paced and undoubtedly fun. You see, collaborations can work. And work well.

The Amateur Executioner is available from all good bookstores including in the USA Amazon, Barnes and Noble, in the UK Amazon, Waterstones, and for everywhere else Book Depository who offer free worldwide delivery. In ebook format there is Kindle, iPad and Kobo

Dan Andriacco discovered Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original Sherlock Holmes stories at about the age of nine. Not long after, he became acquainted with such greats of the Golden Age of detective fiction as Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Rex Stout, John Dickson Carr, Erle Stanley Gardner, and many more. He has been a member of the Tankerville Club, a Cincinnati-based scion society of the Baker Street Irregulars, since 1981. That connection is reflected in many ways in his book Baker Street Beat: An Eclectic Collection of Sherlockian Scribblings. Andriacco, known to friends as "Doctor Dan," holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Columbia Theological Seminary in Georgia. He was born in 1952 in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he lives with his wife, Ann. They have three adult children and four grandchildren. http://bakerstreetbeat.blogspot.co.uk/

Kieran on himself: I have been a lifelong Holmes fan, a competitive shooter and a Civil War cannon enthusiast. We’ve raised horses and Irish Wolfhounds and lived on a small farm in Rush Springs, Oklahoma for 29 years. Rush Springs is the Watermelon Capital (at least of Oklahoma) and has about the finest people you want to meet. Helen (his wife who he met in 1982) and I spent 20 years on the Acme Fire Department (Yes, like where Wylee Coyote gets his dynamite) and were in law enforcement for about 12 years. I’m now able to follow my other passions, Irish History and the Holmes Stories as well as participate in a number of civic organizations. For many years I was on the Board of Directors of the US Field Artillery Association, and ran live fire Civil War Cannon competitions at the home of the Field Artillery, Fort Sill, Oklahoma. I am currently active with the Knights of Columbus (surprise!), The local VFW and the American Legion where we now live, just north of Darien, Georgia. At some point in all this I love to find time to write. http://kieranmcmullen.com/

Thursday, 13 June 2013

Nice

Picked up a nice review of Holmes and Watson: End Peace from very well respected Holmes author, Hugh Ashton. Quite a rarity really for he tends not to review other author's works. Thanks, Hugh!

'I don't read Sherlock Holmes pastiches - I write them, and I avoid reading pastiches on the whole, for fear I will inadvertently copy someone else's ideas. But having read about End Peace, I thought I
could risk this work. It's a fascinating concept in the technical sense - a book that is all dialogue with no description at all. To describe it as a "novel" is perhaps a mistake. It's a work of Holmesian

scholarship, examining the details of one of the most famous fictional relationships in English literature. Both Holmes and Watson talk freely about their experiences, their relationship, and their lives before they met each other. Each reveals secrets which he has kept hidden from the other, and which help to explain the seeming contradictions in Watson's work (Ruffle plays The Game wonderfully - even leading Holmes and Watson to ask if in the future they might possibly be regarded as fictional characters). The interchange is set in a delicate and moving framework which contains a mystery in itself. Indeed, the setting is so moving that I was almost in tears at the end of the book. For anyone who has read the canon, and wishes to know more about the characters, this is a good starting point. Maybe none of Ruffle's ideas is stunningly original (a point he admits in his introduction), but each is beautifully introduced, explained and presented.'

Holmes and Watson End Peace is available from bookstores including in the USA Barnes and Noble and Amazon, in the UK Waterstones, Amazon and Book Depository (free worldwide delivery).

And further links to where you can find my other works:

Sherlock Holmes and The Lyme Regis Horror is available from all good bookstores worldwide including in the USA Amazon and Barnes and Noble, in the UK Amazon, Waterstones . Fans outside the US and UK can get free delivery from Book Depository. In ebook format it is in Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Nook and Apple iBooks(iPad/iPhone).

Sherlock Holmes and The Lyme Regis Legacy is available from all good bookstores worldwide including in the USA Amazon, Classic Specialities and Barnes and Noble, in the UK Amazon and Waterstones, elsewhere Book Depository offer free worldwide delivery - and in all electronic formats including Amazon Kindle, Nook, Kobo and Apple iBooks (iPad/iPhone).

Sherlock Holmes and The Lyme Regis Trials is available from all good bookstores worldwide including in the USA Amazon and Barnes and Noble, in the UK Amazon, Waterstones . Fans outside the US and UK can get free worldwide delivery from Book Depository - and in all electronic formats including Amazon Kindle, Kobo and Apple iBooks (iPad/iPhone).

Sherlock Holmes and The Missing Snowman is available from all good bookshops including in the USA Barnes and Noble and Amazon , in the UK Amazon and Waterstones. For elsewhere Book Depository who offer free delivery worldwide. In ebook format it is in Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iPad.

And a link to Hugh Ashton's website: http://221beanbakerstreet.info/author.html

Friday, 7 June 2013

Holmes and Watson: The War Years....a review.

It was the time of Queen Victoria's "Little Wars" and the "War to End All Wars". It was also the time of Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson. Watson, the man, would be formed by his experiences in the British "Second Afghan War", before he ever met Sherlock Holmes in an adventure, he would record this experience as Watson's Afghan Adventure, a tale of war and mystery. Later, Holmes and Watson would go on to not only share the problems of crime solving, Watson's three marriages, a purported tragedy at Reichenbach, and Holmes's return from the dead; they would also share two more wartime experiences. In Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Boer Wagon, they are called on by Mycroft Holmes and the British government to go to the battleground of South Africa. Their mission is to stop the flow of army secrets to the Boers and try to recover a King's ransom in gold. By the time of their third great wartime adventure the two friends are retired, but Mycroft, and the government, need them once more as they are called on in Sherlock Holmes and the Irish Rebels. Holmes and Watson had already foiled the plans of a German espionage ring at the start of the Great War in the tale Watson called "His Last Bow." But it was not, in reality, Holmes's last bow. Holmes and Watson are sent now to the little war within a war, the killing fields of Dublin in 1916 and the Irish Rebellion. Can they stop it? And can they stop the plans of a renegade member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police? . A special hardback edition including all three bestselling Sherlock Holmes novels from Kieran McMullen.

This hardback edition of Kieran McMullen's three Holmes novels looks very handsome indeed and the content no less so. The author is an ex-Army man and this shows itself in the details of Army life which we can be confident has been checked and double checked. These details however do not in any way overshadow the action or get in the way of a good story (which these are). Watson's Afghan Adventure fills in all the details of Watson's campaign in Afghanistan and gives us the Doctor Watson that we know....courageous, loyal and far from stupid. It is at time harrowing although not without humour and the author paints a very vivid picture of camp life with an array of characters all finely drawn. 'The Mystery of the Boer Wagon' is my own particular favourite. A tale with Holmes, Watson and Conan Doyle acting together to seek out a leak of military information and a no small matter or recovering stolen gold. A rollicking adventure, it fairly rattles along and introduces us to some great characters along the way including a young, very young Basil Rathbone! A hugely enjoyable read which amply rewards the time spent in reading it. Highly recommended. 'Sherlock Holmes and the Irish Rebels' is a different kettle of fish. The mood is downbeat, although no less exciting than the previous two novels. This is 1916 and the time of the Easter uprising in Ireland and Holmes and Watson find themselves catapulted into the action. One gets the impression that neither man had any stomach for what they have been asked to do. It was a desperately sad time for all concerned and it is impossible to stand outside the GPO in Dublin and not think of the cruel fate in store for the ringleaders. Not England's finest hour and we get the mood of this from the final chapter. Not an easy read then, but a very good one.

Here is where to go to get the hardback edition of all three of Holmes’ and Watson’s wartime adventures. Follow their courageous actions and mystery solving as they fight through the great wars of their time: The Second Afghan War, the Second Boer War and the Irish Rebellion of 1916. http://www.amazon.com/Holmes-Watson-The-War-Years/dp/1780923155/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367595198&sr=8-1&keywords=holmes+ahttp://kieranmcmullen.wordpress.com/wp-admin/media-upload.php?post_id=792&type=image&TB_iframe=1nd+Watson%3A+The+War+Years http://www.amazon.co.uk/books/dp/1780923155 http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Holmes-Watson-War-Years-Kieran-McMullen/9781780923154

Some Reviews

For 'Lyme Regis Trials'.
I shall miss reading of the adventures and mysteries that both Holmes and Watson encounter in Lyme Regis. It has been a joy to read them. The Lyme Regis Trilogy has its spot on my bookshelf and justly deserves the praise it has received. Lyme Regis also now has a special place amongst the many stories written of Sherlock Holmes. It would not surprise me if it were mentioned in another Sherlock Holmes story. However I hope that it will not be the last of the Sherlock Holmes stories we are gifted with from David Ruffle. I hope there will be tales to come! Until then the Game will always remain afoot.
David Ruffle completes his `Lyme Regis trilogy' with "Sherlock Holmes and the Lyme Regis Trials". The title refers in part to the difficulties overcome by the pioneer palaeontologist Mary Anning, a poorly educated woman in a world dominated by men, but principally to top-secret naval trials, which lead to espionage and murder. This pleasant volume is completed by a distinctly off-beat account of the case of the Grosvenor Square furniture van.
This is reportedly the last in this series of Sherlock Holmes tales set in Lyme Regis. The plot, such as it is, is in many ways secondary to the author's love for his characters, most of whom we have encountered before. Watson is now married to Mrs Heidler and Holmes is newly retired, but they congregate in Lyme once more, for different reasons. Submarines, shaggy dogs, a ghost, an unprovoked attack, naval secrets all play their part in this entertaining tale and the dialogue, particularly between Holmes and Watson, is authentic sounding with no wrong notes. The novella is followed by a short piece based on five words written by Watson: 'the Grosvenor Square furniture van'. From this the author has created a minor classic, a story of haunting and possession. It's a pity if it really is the end of this series, I will miss those Lyme locals and Lyme Regis itself.
For 'Sherlock Holmes and the Missing Snowman'.
Move over adult Sherlock Holmes fans, the younger set now get their own version of our favourite intrepid detective, Sherlock Holmes. Written in a gentle yet classical Holmes style, Holmes does what he does best, solve a mystery for a young girl whose snowman has mysteriously vanished. Would definitely recommend this book for children of Sherlock Holmes fans as it's bound to be a classic. The manner in which Holmes solves the mystery should spark the imagination of a younger reader and lead to thoughtful discussion. Just how did Holmes solve the mystery? Discover it yourself in the pages of this well written book. Lovely illustrations much in keeping with the gentle style of the story round out the book nicely.
This richly-illustrated children's book is a delightful story of a little girl who had lost her snowman. Naturally, she and her mother visit the famous detective Mr Sherlock Holmes at his lodgings at 221b Baker Street.
This is a wonderful book that a parent and child can read together and is just long enough for a bedtime story.It is well written and beautifully illustrated and would be a perfect entry level to further adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
For 'End Peace':
The interchange is set in a delicate and moving framework which contains a mystery in itself. Indeed, the setting is so moving that I was almost in tears at the end of the book. For anyone who has read the canon, and wishes to know more about the characters, this is a good starting point. Maybe none of Ruffle's ideas is stunningly original (a point he admits in his introduction), but each is beautifully introduced, explained and presented.
Yes, in Holmes and Watson End Peace, the book is only dialogue. Do I believe Mr. Ruffle was able to pull of a book in just that fashion? Most certainly. I feel he did a fantastic job in just the right amount of conversation between Holmes, Watson, and the nurses. I feel that the pacing of when he would switch between the scenes was also just the right amount of time.
This book is well worth its weight in gold. It is fun, mysterious, emotionally captivating, full of twists and did I mention it's 100% dialogue! No filler, no fluff, just the words of our beloved Sherlock Holmes and Doctor John Watson. Well done Mr. Ruffle, well done...
Overall I give this book 5/5 stars. It is original without breaking from the original feel of the characters. David Ruffle did an amazing job of showing these two characters that I have come to love so much. I definitely will be reading more of his books. Like I said before if you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes I would highly recommend this book to you, you will not be sorry you read it. Great job David, I look forward to reading more of your works in the future!! :)
Firstly, it's a short novel,a novella really and as has been intimated in previous reviews consists entirely of dialogue; between Holmes and Watson and further exhanges between the nursing staff who come alive in spite of the brevity of their appearances. The dialogue has to stand on its own and it does......it's authentic sounding and not forced in any way. Our two old friends discuss the past and the future with one or two relevations saved up for the end. Nothing is out of place or out of character and full marks to the author for coming away from the Lyme Regis pastiche series and doing something different and something which few have attempted, presenting a Holmesian novella stripped down to dialogue only.
David Ruffle follows his entertaining volumes "Sherlock Holmes & the Lyme Regis Horror" and "Sherlock Holmes & the Lyme Regis Legacy" with this sweet, sad novella called "Holmes & Watson: End Peace" - the punning title doesn't really do it justice. Nearly fifteen years after his "last quiet talk" with Sherlock Holmes, Dr Watson lies motionless in a hospital bed, conversing with a visitor only he can sense. The narrative consists entirely of dialogue - a bold and remarkably successful choice.
For 'Legacy':
Once again Holmes and Watson head to the lovely Lyme Regis, which John shows a particular affection for. Here they become intrigued by recent murders which show a remarkable resemblance to their previous cases. One of my favourite Holmes mysteries "The Hound of the Baskervilles" takes the limelight with a fantastic new spin. Inspector Lestrade joins them and the case, which also features Mycoft, is a story of danger, suspense and romance, with no small amount of humour. The novella was my favourite but oddly I also enjoyed the vision of Lyme Regis so wonderfully painted and laced with historical facts and figures. It's a great read.
Sherlock Holmes and the Lyme Regis Legacy is well conceived by a man who clearly loves both Sherlock Holmes and the town of Lyme Regis. In its pages, we encounter once again the voice of the Watson we know and love.
David Ruffle has done a superb job of setting the atmosphere for this most exciting Sherlock Holmes adventure. The atmosphere shifts from sunny Lyme Regis and it's history to a stormy cliffhanging conclusion. The Legacy holds close to the Doyle Canon but the atmospheric passages are Ruffle's own. Gosh, I liked this one! In addition, there are a number of shorter pieces ranging from the nonsensical to the quietly somber, very nice indeed.
The title story is quite interesting and draws its villain from deep in Holmes' past. Mycroft and Inspector Lestrade put in appearances and Dr. Watson pursues his second (or is she his third?) wife. Other old acquaintances make appearances, if only fleeting ones and Lyme Regis provides a colorful and interesting background. This is an interesting collection of stories, constructed around a colorful and interesting place. It is well worth the time it takes to read and it evokes pictures of times long past and people worth knowing. The collection ends with "A Brief History of Lyme Regis" and a pair of laudatory poems.
For 'Horror'
Suspense and creepy moments, cool deductions and the supernatural, friendship and love, humour and deep thoughts -
A lovely little pastiche with heart and humour. It also benefits from an excellent Watsonian voice. A familiar subject for pastiches but none the less enjoyable for that. An excellent novella.
This is a wonderful story, written with care and love for Holmes and Watson. It's only a short novella and I polished it off in two evenings but if left me wanted more. Hopefully there will be more stories to come. Holmes and Watson live on...
This is a gem of a book. It keeps faithfully to the spirit of Doyle's stories and to the style of Watson. It also highlights the eccentricity of behavior that so characterizes Holmes, replete with his odd sleuthing habits, his mystery he likes to keep about how his deductions are evolving, his odd social mannerisms; and highlights Watson's complementary personality found in his down-to-earth demeanor, social politeness, and overt humanity. The way Watson and Holmes interact also stays true to the vein of Doyle, and shows them as true loyal friends respectful of each other's qualities brought to a case. The romance stirred is very realistic adds a great extra dimension. This book is highly recommended, it's an addictive story with a charming locale, supernatural tinges, and gives us just one more taste of that Sherlockian flavor so missed once the canon is exhausted. Loved it!