Alistair Duncan's Blog, page 93

Speaking with babes

Yesterday evening I spoke with the Baker Street Babes for their next podcast (number 13). My contribution to proceedings included the story of how I came to be interested in Sherlock Holmes, how I came to be involved with the Undershaw Preservation Trust and how I came to write my latest book An Entirely New Country.

I was joined in the discussion by Lynn Gale, known to many of you as one of the driving forces of the Undershaw Preservation Trust.

I understand the podcast will be released before the end of November.

Less than three weeks to go...

An Entirely New Country - my new book on the life of Arthur Conan Doyle during the Undershaw years will be available worldwide in just under three weeks time.

Get those pre-orders in. Links can be found at the foot of this blog. Remember that 50% of net royalties will be placed at the disposal of the Undershaw Preservation Trust.

Speaking to the Babes

I hope, this Sunday, to be speaking to the Baker Street Babes for part of a future podcast.


I see that episode 12 is already announced so I guess that I'll be featuring on unlucky number 13. I'm just guessing but there's a fair bet they'll quiz me about Undershaw and my new book.

A wee trip to Hindhead

Yesterday took me to Hindhead to see Lynn Gale and hand over an early copy of An Entirely New Country. It was a suitably foggy day.

We then proceeded to a nearby hostelry where we had a little chat about the book and our hopes for its success. You can help....buy now - links here.

Review - The House of Silk

To put it in a nutshell The House of Silk is not written with hardcore fans of Sherlock Holmes in mind. It shares this in common with the recent Warner Bros. film. Both are commercial ventures and therefore both need to appeal widely (i.e. beyond the core Holmes fan base).


As with the film, you only require a basic knowledge of Holmes's world to get on with this book and, if you have limited knowledge of the original stories, or you are capable of forgetting the details, you can lose yourself in the book and it will be an entertaining read.

Proof that you require limited knowledge lies in the preface where Horowitz hastily attempts to give as much back story as possible. He explains the series of steps by which Holmes and Watson meet although strangely, and to no apparent purpose, he changes it.

The preface is also home to a number of other peculiarities. Watson tells us that the manuscript is to be sealed for 100 years. Assuming 2011 to be that anniversary it means it was "written" in 1911. So far – fair enough. However, Watson goes on to describe Holmes as having died the previous year. So if Holmes died in 1910 how did he and Watson later appear in the story His Last Bow which was set in 1914 on the eve of the first world war? For someone who has been described as a Holmes fan, this was a careless error on Horowitz's part.

Watson also tells us of the threat the story poses to the fabric of society and explains that, at a time of war in particular, it should not be told. This begs the question – which war? If the tale in question was written down in 1911 there was no obvious war. The only way you can make it work is to say that the war in question was the First World War. This would then allow Watson's remark about a war to make sense and remove the problems in relation to His Last Bow. However if we do that it means that we are seeing Watson's manuscript published before his 100 year restriction has expired.

Messy, Mr Horowitz, messy.

Moving on to the main story – we have two plots which are woven together. One concerns an art theft in America and its consequences for the British based dealer concerned in the sale of said art. The second concerns the mysterious organisation called The House of Silk. It is difficult to say too much about the plots without spoiling the read but I can say that, in an apparent attempt to make the story as canonical as possible, Horowitz packs it with all the ingredients of a Holmes story at once. As a result we have the irregulars, Mycroft, Lestrade, Professor Moriarty and a conspiracy at the highest levels of government. Not even Conan Doyle put all these elements into a single story.

Having Watson meet Moriarty was bizarre as was Moriarty's insistence that Watson keep the meeting a secret from Holmes. Watson does not have a good record in the original stories of keeping things from Holmes so the idea that he could keep his prior knowledge of Moriarty secret is, to my mind, nonsense.

The other problem is that the conclusion of the story is something that Conan Doyle could never have written about in his day without offending society and possibly facing consequences. I'm not saying that the plot is unacceptable and, of course, today's standards are different from those of Victorian times, but it takes away the authentic Doylean feel to have a story presented to us that Conan Doyle would not have been able to write.

In conclusion I have to say that, despite many peculiarities, this book is better than many that have been written. It comes quite close to Conan Doyle's style but it has been let down by little errors and its own publicity which leads you to expect something outstanding but gives you something that is acceptable but not going to set the world alight.

One sneaked out

A certain lucky(?) individual received a copy of my book from Amazon.com yesterday. Thanks to a small oversight on Amazon's part they released a copy (at least one that we know of) before the official date. A few words in the right ear and this has been halted.

Just goes to show that automated systems are not a substitute for a good old fashioned human being.

The debate draws near

The Great Sherlock Holmes Debate draws near. Yesterday I put together my thoughts for team three and submitted them for inclusion in the team's slides.

At this stage I don't know whether or not I shall be logging on for the debate. Due to personal commitments I may, at best, log in for an hour or two and then log out again. However I am sure my team will hold their own.

My fear for The House of Silk

There has been much raving in the press about the new Sherlock Holmes story The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz. Journalists seem to be lining up to report that it is excellent. They also seem to be saying that Horowitz writes in the style of Conan Doyle which begs the question - are they qualified to judge that? To my mind, the individual reader will decide that for themselves and the opinions are bound to be wide ranging.


I am still waiting for my copy to arrive but a day does not seem to go by where I don't see a sign proclaiming it to be Holmes's darkest case and so on.






I fear that these adverts are raising my expectations to a level where it may not be possible for the book to reach. Much is also being made of this being the first Conan Doyle Estate sanctioned book. Why? Is it a guarantee of quality? What level of input did the estate have?

Please don't get me wrong. I am not condemning the book. That would be daft as I am yet to read it. My fear is that the publicity surrounding it will do more harm than good.

Have you read it? Does it live up to the hype? Please let me know - just don't write any spoilers.

Happy birthday Mr Brett

As you will have read elsewhere today is Jeremy Brett's birthday. For my generation this great man IS Sherlock Holmes and no one has come close to matching him. Older generations may adore Douglas Wilmer or Basil Rathbone - younger generations love Benedict Cumberbatch but, for me and countless others, Brett is best (although the others are good).


As I've stated elsewhere, it was Basil Rathbone that first got me interested in Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle but it was Jeremy Brett that made me stay the course. It was Brett who ultimately caused me to be sat here writing this blog entry with nearly three decades of fandom and four books behind me.

For that, and so much more, my thanks sir. May you rest in peace - that peace is richly deserved.

More can be read here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Brett

Look what has just arrived

The 'author copies' have arrived.
[image error]
Sorry folks they are all taken.