Order it here: Amazon UK and is already available on Amazon US
And a look at a work in progress now: Sherlock Holmes and the Scarborough Affair. A tale of strong women, chambermaids, spies, murder and cricket.. It is a collaboration between myself and Gill Stammers. A quick peek:
Miss
Poole turned to face me and for the first time during the interview, she showed
surprise. I was a little abashed as I
realised immediately that I had been somewhat curt, having berated Holmes for
his own rudeness earlier.
“Ah, you and I have come between Dr
Watson and his supper, Miss Poole. A
very unwise course of action, of which I have been guilty many a time and
should know better. Liberate our food
from beneath its cloche, Watson and we will all partake of the meal. Perhaps, then, we can continue our discussion
in a less formal manner and Miss Poole may consider us as colleagues rather
than foe.”
Although I found Holmes’s choice of
words unexpected, I wasted no time wondering about them and gave my full
attention to removing the covers. I was
delighted to see, not only the fare that lay beneath, but also that the food
was still warm. I barely registered Miss
Poole’s response.
“Colleague, Mr Holmes?”
I busied myself with creating space
for our plates. The chef had prepared a
luxurious selection of the finest fish, meats and an array of English
vegetables, transformed with Gallic flare, to create a merger of the two
culinary cultures. The Beaune had been opened by the sommelier before being despatched to the
room to allow it to breathe. I decided
it had breathed long enough.
“Miss Poole, may I pour you a glass
of wine to apologise for my former manner?”
“Thank you, I accept your apology,
but there is no need to give up your wine.
It is a vintage for gentlemen, not housemaids. Besides, I observe there are only two
glasses.”
I looked at her with some scrutiny
to see if she was mocking me. Holmes
chuckled.
“Even with your experience of women
on three continents, Watson, on occasion, you are still able to be silenced by
them. I will forgo the wine.”
Chastened, I set about dividing the
food and despite Miss Poole’s protestations, I poured her a little of the wine
to see if indeed it was acceptable to a housemaid. She, at first declined the food, declaring
that it may be too rich for her. I
persuaded her to take a small amount of fish.
“Fish is excellent food for the
brain, Miss Poole.”
“Thank you Dr Watson, I will be sure
to eat as much fish as possible in future. It is fortunate that it is in ready
supply in Scarborough.
“May I repeat my query, Mr
Holmes? You said ‘colleague’.”
“Your self-proclaimed attention to
detail suggests to me two occupations, neither of which is housemaid. The first, although I have discounted it, is
that you are a writer, following in your father’s footsteps.”
“That must be it, Holmes! Miss Poole is writing detective fiction. No doubt, we are to be rewritten as
characters in her book and the setting is The Grand Hotel,” I exclaimed with
excitement as it seemed to fit her actions.
“You must have blessed your fortune to be able, not only to observe, but
discourse with the great Sherlock Holmes.”
“Watson, you have overlooked the
fact that I have discounted the theory that she is an author, using the hotel
and ourselves for material in a penny-dreadful, for housemaids by a
housemaid. I believe Miss Poole, that
you consider yourself to be an amateur detective.”
“How are you able to arrive at that
theory, Holmes?” I said, somewhat disappointed.
I had envisaged Miss Poole entreating me for advice, being a published
author myself.
“The answer is, as always, simple,
Watson. Had Miss Poole been immersed in
a plot for her own novel, she would have been unable to keep it to herself when
she spoke of her father’s work. In my
experience, writers are not known for hiding their profession modestly under a
bushel. Self-promotion is key to success
and ego.”
I felt I had been admonished; my
character tainted.
“Come, come, Watson, grant me a
little amusement at your expense. You
are aware that I suffer your writings of my exploits with forbearance.
“So, Miss Poole, am I correct in my
reasoning or is Watson going to spirit you away to discuss villains and
nefarious deeds?”
“My half-sister, Elizabeth and I are
in the process of establishing our own two-woman detective agency,” she
announced. I was pleased to observe that she did not pander to
Holmes’s vanity by exclaiming his genius at discovering her secret.
“I am, as I explained earlier, a
housemaid and have been since my arrival in May. My intention was to join my sister in
Scarborough at the beginning of the summer to work as a means to an end in
supporting myself whilst my sister takes care of the arrangements in setting up
our agency.”
“What nature of cases do you intend
to investigate? Whom do you expect to
use your services? It is an unusual
occupation for young women and I am intrigued.”
“We are ambitious, Dr Watson and
hope that our business is not restricted to finding lost cats for wealthy
women, although I suspect there may be many of those.”
“Do you not see, Watson, a detective
agency run by women is a capital idea.
Surveillance by a woman would be so unlikely as to go entirely
unnoticed. Baskets of shopping, waving
parasols, taking tea, gossiping on street corners in various apparel; hiding in
plain sight; it is the perfect cover.
Sisters going about their daily routine, uncovering crime; who would
suspect them?”
“That was precisely our conclusion,
Mr Holmes and of course, we could keep a look out for lost cats at the same
time.”
“So, as I have said, we are
colleagues, Miss Poole. I assume you
stumbled on this case quite by chance.”
“I may be working here to make ends
meet, but I keep my eyes and ears open at all times. I have watched the events of the last two
days unfold and not only do I know that there is a jewel thief in the hotel,
but I also know his identity.”
Holmes leant forward on his elbows,
his eyes shining, “So, Miss Poole, perhaps you would care to enlighten us,
although I have my own suspect in mind.
Are they one and the same?”
“Perhaps, if you had enlightened us
at the beginning of the interview, I could have been enjoying an evening in the
ballroom,” I muttered.
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