A NEW Sherlock Holmes thriller has West Cork connections – and even a reference to its largest weekly newspaper.
221B: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is the new novel by Leap resident Mark D Ellis, who is best known as a popular writer of action-adventure, primarily under the pen name of James Axler.
The author of over 50 books and many graphic novels, Mark describes himself as a Sherlock Holmes aficionado (a ‘Holmesian’) since he was gifted a Golden Pictures Classics edition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories on his sixth birthday.
He decided to contribute to the Holmes mythology when he remembered the detective’s brief mention of Skibbereen in the story His Final Bow.
‘The project percolated for a couple of years, partly due to seeking a fresh approach, but also wanting to set a substantial part of it in West Cork, since it is a fascinating, beautiful area,’ explained Mark.
Drawing upon his background as an adventure writer, he decided to blend elements of Ian Fleming with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Victorian era fiction by Jules Verne and HG Wells.
‘What if they were joined by another partner...crime fiction’s first female professional private investigator, Miss Loveday Brooke?,’ he teased.
Loveday Brooke is the first one created by a woman author, Catherine Louisa Pirkis. Her stories were very popular in the 1890s and in Drawn Daggers, the mystery is solved due to Loveday’s familarity with the Cork accent.
‘West Cork locales are featured prominently,’ said Mark.
‘From Glandore to Drombeg to Skibbereen. Although somewhat fictionalised for the sake of the story, real events, places and people are referenced, including The Southern Star which had just begun publishing at the time of the story.’
He added: ‘I was very respectful of all the main characters, particularly Holmes, Watson and Mycroft. I hope readers enjoy meeting Loveday Brooke, as well. For myself, I very much enjoyed crafting my affectionate homage to the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jules Verne and Ian Fleming.’
The book, released by MX Publishing in the UK, is available for preorder through the publisher and will be on sale at bookshops worldwide on September 23.
