G. K. Chesterton and Sherlock Holmes: Two great minds

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was one of those larger than life persons whom you cannot pigeonhole. While it may seem proper to call him a writer, that description sells him short. He was more than a mere wordsmith, because of what he wrote about. The subjects of his writing were what distinguished him as one of the great minds of the 20th century.

Chesterton considered himself to be a journalist, I supposed because he spent most of his life writing for newspapers. He wrote over 4000 newspaper essays for the Illustrated London News, and 13 years of columns for the Daily News. That’s the equivalent of writing an essay a day, every day, for twelve years. He was considered absent-minded, but that was likely the result of his mind being almost continuously consumed with some new thought that was gestating and finding its way into the next day’s newspaper column or story.

Chesterton took on most of the intellectuals of his time: George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells, Bertrand Russell, and Clarence Darrow.  He tackled what might be called the “big isms” of life: materialism, determinism, moral relativism, socialism, classism, and capitalism. He honored the “common man” and common sense. But what is just as amazing, he did this in a manner that made you chuckle or laugh.

Despite his monumental body of work, Chesterton is often neglected in classrooms, and his work is unknown by many who consider themselves “well educated.” I suppose, that is why he was introduced in a fictional story, “The Curse of the Black Feather,” which is one of the five tales in the collection Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years by Kim H Krisco. In this tale, G. K. Chesterton brings a curious case to the great detective that sends Holmes and Watson on a series of madcap adventures that reach into the underground labyrinth beneath London, and across the Atlantic to America, as the infamous duo pursue one of the most diabolical villains Holmes has ever encountered.

Hopefully, this brief introduction to Gilbert Keith Chesterton might serve to open the door to the works of this literary giant who deserves to come out of the shadows. For, Chesterton ideas and words are as relevant today as they were 100 years ago. That is something he shares with the most popular fictional character of all time – Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Like Chesterton’s, Holmes’s original stories are also 100 years old, and they too have as much relevance and appeal today, as they did when they were first published.

Keeping the spirit of Sherlock Holmes and G. K. Chesterton alive!

Check out Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years – at AMAZON, andevery good bookstore.

Sherlock Holmes Himself Interviews His Newest Chronicler

 

OMNIMYSTERY NEWS, a great resource for mystery aficionados worldwide, recently published an interview conducted by Sherlock Holmes himself. Holmes interviewed author Kim Krisco, who recently released – Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years - five new adventures of the master detective. Here is an excerpt from this interview:

Holmes: I was challenged and exhilarated by all the adventures you created for me — although I came much to close to death in a couple of them. The Cure the Kills … The Kongo Nkisi Spirit Train, among others, allowed me to exercise my singular skills to the maximum.

Krisco: Yes, my stories brought you to the mountains of Scotland, racing across America, and trekking into the jungles of the Belgian Congo. You also "shared the stage" with some turn-of-the-century celebrities: G.K. Chesterton, Leander Starr Jameson, Emmeline Pankhurst, Harry Houdini, and President Theodore Roosevelt, to name a few.

 Holmes: Yes, I will admit that I found the circumstances you put me in both exciting and harrowing … including my reunion with "the woman."

Krisco: Thank you. Yes, I wanted to create a rich "reader experience." I did this in a number of ways: I created detailed historical backgrounds, but I also introduced a bit more action and suspense than one might find in a typical short story from the Doyle canon.

Holmes: I think you succeeded there … and I have the scars and bruises to prove it. However, I shall not complain. You know, I abhor boredom.

Krisco: And, I would not want you to seek relief by way of unnatural drugs.

Holmes: I low blow, sir. And you haling from Colorado that has just legalized marijuana?

Krisco: Touché, sir. Yes, "the high street" can have a different meaning here in Trinidad, Colorado.

To read the COMPLETE OMNIMYSTERY INTERVIEW - CLICK HERE.

Omnimystery News Interview about New Holmes Collection!

 

OMNIMYSTERY NEWS, a great resource for mystery aficionados worldwide, recently interviewed the author of – Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years, Kim H Krisco.  Below is an excerpt from this interview:

OMN: From a genre perspective, are these stories comparable to those of the original canon?

KHK: At one level, Sherlock Holmes — The Golden Years may seem easy to categorize because it is a series of Sherlock Holmes detective mysteries. But, I wanted to create an even richer "reader experience." I did this in a number of ways: I created detailed historical backgrounds, but I also added more action and suspense than one might find in a typical short story from the Doyle canon. And, I suppose you could say that I even dabbled in the paranormal a bit, especially in my last tale: "The Kongo Nkisi Spirit Train". I dipped into the supernatural realm a little as a way to explore the perplexing incongruity between the highly rational Sherlock Holmes and his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. You may know that Doyle spent the latter part of his life advocating for Spiritualism — the belief that we can commune with the spirits of people who have died. So, it's appropriate to label Sherlock Holmes — The Golden Years as a collection of Sherlock Holmes mysteries … but they are a bit "juicer" than most readers might expect.

OMN: Tell us something about the book that isn't mentioned in the publisher's synopsis.

KHK: The book sheds new light on the real relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler — something that intrigues most fans. These revelations will tug at your heartstrings.

Click here to see the whole interview.

Sherlock Holmes Interviews Kim Krisco – Part 3

 

Mr. Sherlock Holmes conducts a three part interview with Sherlock Holmes author Kim Krisco, who has just released Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years.  This is the last part – part 3.

Holmes:  I was challenged and exhilarated by all the adventures you created for me . . . including my reunion with “the woman.” I have the scars and bruises to prove it. However, I shall not complain. You know, I abhor boredom.

Krisco:  And, I would not want you to seek relief by way of unnatural drugs.

Holmes: I low blow, sir. And you haling from Colorado that has just legalized marijuana?

Krisco: Tuché, sir. Yes, “the high street” can have a different meaning here in Trinidad, Colorado.

Holmes: I will be merciful sir, to both of us, and change the subject. There is one more thing I wished to ask you before we end this interview: Why did you bring “the woman” into my life again?

Krisco:  I will answer that question as best I can without divulging the details. After all, we don’t wish to blemish the reader’s experience. Let me simply say that I believe Irene Adler, although she might have been reported as dead by some, was, in a manner of speaking, always alive and well within your daily existence. You secreted a portrait of her in your desk drawer, and you carry a gold sovereign on your watch chain that she gave to you as an unwitting witness at her wedding to Godfrey Norton in the church of Saint Monica. Irene Adler has been in your thoughts since you met her. And, as readers will learn, in The Curse of the Black Feather, you have been in her thoughts as well. Your reunion was inevitable.

Holmes:  Even the most disciplined mind may be subject to assault by fantastic notions. In most cases, these pass quickly. The best course of action is to expose these delusions to the cold light of reality, whereupon they will probably wither away.

Krisco:  Once again, you take the words from my mouth . . . I should say off the page of the story The Curse of the Black Feather. As I recall, Watson’s response was similar to what mine is at this moment. With apologies to the Bard and Queen Gertrude,“Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much.”

Holmes: Well sir, with that I think our interview is at an end.

Krisco: But, not your stories. They are just beginning in Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years. (Available everywhere.)

Sherlock Holmes Interviews Kim Krisco – Part 2

 

Mr. Sherlock Holmes conducts a three part interview with Sherlock Holmes author Kim Krisco, who has just released Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years.  This is part two.

Holmes:            Philip K. Jones, a noted Sherlockian scholar, in a recent review, said that your collection . . . I quote: “is one of the finest sets of Sherlockian fiction I have seen.  The author has a good grasp of Nineteenth Century British politics and thought . . .” How were you able to accomplish this . . . especially given you are an American?

Krisco:            The same way you are able to meet and overcome challenges – relentless dedication, hard work, the required confidence to seek help when I need it. I read all your stories of course . . . indeed all of Conan Doyle’s works to better capture his style and voice. I did meticulous and deep research in libraries, the internet and, as I noted earlier, on site visits. Also, as I began writing, I engaged a “special editor” to help me – a fellow named Joe Revill in the UK. His job was, primarily, to help me with my language. He assisted in other areas as well, but he helped me write and think like a Brit – a one hundred year old Brit at that.

Holmes:            All well and good. You do seem to be giving due diligence to your craft and “The Canon,” as it is called. And, I must give you even more credit for the stories themselves. I was challenged and exhilarated by all the adventures you created for me – although I came much to close to death in a couple of them. The Cure the Kills . . . The Kongo Nkisi Spirit Train, among others, allowed me to exercise my singular skills to the maximum.

Krisco:            Yes my stories brought you to the mountains of Scotland, racing across America, and trekking into the jungles of the Belgian Congo. You also “shared the stage” with some turn-of-the-century celebrities: G.K. Chesterton, Leander Starr Jameson, Emmeline Pankhurst, Harry Houdini, and President Theodore Roosevelt, to name a few.

Holmes:            Yes, I will admit that I found the circumstances you put me in both exciting and harrowing . . . including my reunion with “the woman.”

Krisco:            Thank you. Yes, I wanted to create a rich “reader experience.”  I did this in a number of ways:  I created detailed historical backgrounds, but I also introduced a bit more action and suspense than one might find in a typical short story from the Doyle canon.

Holmes: Well sir, with that I think part two of our interview is at an end.

Krisco: But, not your stories. They are just beginning in Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years. (Available everywhere.)

End of Part 2

Sherlock Holmes Interviews Kim Krisco – Part 1

Mr. Sherlock Holmes conducts a three part interview with Sherlock Holmes author Kim Krisco, who has just released Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years.  This is part one,

Holmes:            Thank you for agreeing to this interview Mr. Krisco.

Krisco:             I was surprised by your invitation . . . especially given that you’re the fellow who seems to know all the answers.

Holmes:             A misnomer, I fear. I do not know all the answers, but I do know all the questions . . . which is the next best thing. So, let me begin with this question:

Why on earth did you not let me retire in peace?

Krisco:            You yourself said that you thought retirement would elude you. I don’t think anyone who knows you would believe that you would be content to raise bees, interesting as they are, on the Sussex seashore. But you must understand that it is not merely me who impinges upon your “golden years,” but your fans who are begging you to come out of retirement. One hundred years ago, your fans wouldn’t let Conan Doyle kill you off, and today your fans want the master detective in action once again.

Holmes:            So be it. But why you . . . an American?  Don’t get me wrong, I love America and Americans, but I might have thought you ill-prepared for the challenge.

Krisco:            Right to the point Mr. Holmes. Let me say that I am an ardent fan, and a writer by trade. But, I didn’t start out to write stories about you. I was initially planning a series of mysteries based upon British mythology. I traveled to the UK and Scotland in May of 2013. One of my research treks brought me to Ben MacDhui Mountain in Aviemore Scotland, to research the Legend of the Grey Man of Ben MacDhui. There I heard about a creature known locally as 'Fear Liath Mor'. Over the centuries dozens of sighting have amalgamated into an image of a humanoid about ten feet tall, covered in hair, and having long arms. I even uncovered a report, written in 1891, where a climber reported finding large footprints measuring over 14 inches and stride over 5 feet long. When I spoke with locals about this malign creature, one person remarked, “It’s a mystery that only Sherlock Holmes can solve.” That gave me the idea to change the entire series of mysteries into a series featuring you.

Holmes:            Knowing how our turbulent world needs reason more than ever, I am mystified by your pandering to the gullible masses . . . the Grey Man . . . really!

Krisco:            Funny . . . that’s exactly what you said in the first story in my collection – A Bonnie Bag of Bones.

Holmes: Well sir, with that part one of our interview is at an end.

Krisco: But, not your stories. They are just beginning in Sherlock Holmes – The Golden Years. (Available everywhere.)

End of Part 1

Suffragettes Marching Near Baker Street!

Sherlock Holmes’s made a good attempt at going into retirement in Sussex Downs around 1905. He traded his lodgings at 221B Baker Street for a traditional thatched-roof stone cottage, and took up bee keeping. Indeed, he wrote a book on apiculture entitled: A Practical Handbook of Bee Culture with Some Observations Upon Segregation of the Queen. Most appropriate, as Holmes was an expert at keeping himself personally “segregated” from women – as it were. However, in his trips to the city, he could not help but confront some formidable ladies in the streets, as the suffrage movement was in full swing by 1905.

While the women’s suffrage movement in the United Kingdom began about 1872, with the formation of the National Society for Women’s Suffrage, it didn’t make the daily headlines until the early 1900’s when the movement became more militant and violent.

WWI caused a temporary halt to suffrage activity and, in 1918, the Representation of the Peoples Act granted women limited voting rights. However, it wasn’t until 1928 when all women in Britain gained full voting rights.

One of the key figures in the suffrage movement was Emmeline Pankhurst, who is one of several infamous historical characters that can be found in the newest collection of Sherlock Holmes adventures – Sherlock Holmes-The Golden Years by Kim Krisco.

In the Curse of the Black Feather, Holmes and Watson meet Emmeline Pankhurst at a party where Watson has the dubious honour of escorting her to dinner.  Holmes, however, had a much more fascinating dinner partner that evening – Irene Adler, “the woman” who mysteriously reappears his life and haunts him in all five of the stories in this remarkable 345-page collection.

In Sherlock Holmes-The Golden Years the reader gets all the mystery and magic of Holmes at his best, interesting real-life historical characters, and a rich and highly accurate historical background, all of which adds great depth to the stories.

You can order Sherlock Holmes-The Golden Years, as a book or E-book,  at:

Amazon

Amazon UK

 

The BookDepository.com

Barnes & Nobles