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| Vicki Delany |
JENN: When I was asked to read Elementary, She Read for a possible endorsement, I was delighted. Why? Because it's penned by a terrific author, Vicki Delany, and also it's centered around one of my favorite detectives in mystery fiction Sherlock Holmes. It was a wonderful read, and now here is the brilliant author to tell you more about it.
VICKI: There is, as we are always being told in
creative writing classes, no such thing as a new idea. It’s all been done before. Take the story
of an orphaned boy: a lowly (and lonely) childhood; a hidden, ever-watchful
guardian; dangerous times; an eternal enemy; the big reveal of the boy’s true
identity; then, armed with knowledge of his destiny, boy saves world.
It’s been written a hundred times, from the
tales of King Arthur to Star Wars to Harry Potter. (Why it’s always a boy, is a post for another
day.)
The trick is not to come up with an
original idea, because you probably can’t, but to make it your own.
Enter Sherlock Holmes. I don’t have to tell
you how popular Sherlock is right now, from movies to TV (two series!) to more
books than you can count. Colouring books, puzzles, mugs. Old books reissued and re-illustrated, new
ones being written.
Favourite characters reimagined.
Make
it your own, they say.
And so I created Gemma Doyle and the
Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium.
I’m a cozy writer and I’m also a keen
mystery reader. When I was looking for inspiration for a new series, I thought
a bookstore would be fun. The idea
popped into my head: A bookstore dedicated to all things Sherlock Holmes.
When I started to do some research on that,
I quickly discovered it’s not such an unfeasible idea. You could easily stock a store with nothing
but Sherlock. Not only things I
mentioned above but all the stuff that goes with it: playing card sets, tea
towels, games, puzzles, action figures, cardboard cut-out figures. The list is
just about endless. Throw in all the modern pastiche novels, nonfiction works
on Sir Arthur and his contemporaries, maybe a few books set in the “gaslight”
era. And, presto, a fully operational bookstore. What would a bookstore be
without a cat? In this case, one
Moriarty, who has a strange antipathy to Gemma.
I’ve enjoyed stocking my bookstore, and as
befits a book about a bookshop, I drop a lot of names of real books. Many I have read, some I haven’t, but I enjoy
fitting the book to the imaginary character buying it.
Because cozy lovers (and me) love food to
go with their reading, I put Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room next door, run by Gemma’s
best friend Jayne Wilson.
My original intent was that the main
character would be a normal cozy character. A nice young woman who owns an
interesting bookshop, lives in a pleasant community (in this case, on Cape
Cod), and has a circle of friends.
But, by the time I got to page two, Gemma
Doyle had become “Sherlockian”.
And that’s been enormous fun to write.
Gemma has an amazing memory (for things she wants to remember), incredible
observational skills, and a lightning fast mind. She is also, shall we say,
somewhat lacking on occasion in the finer points of social skills. Jayne is
ever-confused, but always loyal.
Like any modern Sherlock, such as Benedict
Cumberbatch’s interpretation, Gemma deciphers cell phone signals and finds
clues on the Internet. Like any Sherlock, her relationship with the local
police is complicated, but in her case it’s because she’s in love with Ryan
Ashburton, the town’s lead detective, and he with her, but they broke up
because he couldn’t be with a woman who sometimes seems to be able to read his
mind.
Detective Louise Estrada (Estrada/Lestrade. Get it?) doesn’t trust her
one bit. But Gemma Doyle investigates nonetheless,
because:
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| Sir Arthur Conan Doyle |
“The world is
full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.”
The Hound of
the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
But sometimes, as Gemma learns, people
don’t like having the obvious pointed out to them:
“It was perfectly obvious,” I said. “I smelled
flour, tea, and sugar the moment we came in. Those are normal scents in
anyone’s house, but tonight they’re of a strength that indicates they’ve been
recently dumped from their containers. Overlaid with the odor of rotting
vegetables, by which I assume the fridge door has been left open. I keep
meaning to eat that kale because it’s supposed to be healthy, but I really
don’t care for it.
“We can also assume that our
intruder is a nonsmoker and doesn’t apply perfume or aftershave regularly.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t rained for several days, although the forecast did
call for some, so they didn’t track mud into the house. The flour! An unforgivable oversight on my part. You will, of course, want to take casts of footprints
that have tracked through the spilled flour and sugar.”
“It didn’t get on the floor,”
Estrada said. “But it’s all over the counter."
“As the front door appears to be
untampered with, and I don’t hand spare keys for my house to all and sundry,
I’ll assume our intruder came in through the back door. Therefore the kitchen
would be the logical first place to search.”
“Enough, Gemma,” Jayne whispered
to me.
“I only want to point out the
obvious facts.” I’ve been told on more than one occasion that some people don’t
understand my attention to detail and thus misunderstand the conclusions I draw
from it. I have tried to stop, but I might as well stop thinking. And this
didn’t seem like a suitable time in which to stop thinking."
“The back door’s been forced
open, yes,” Estrada said. “I’ll admit, that was a good guess.”
I was about to inform her that I
never guess, but Jayne elbowed me in the ribs.
Elementary,
She Read by Vicki Delany
Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, reimagined
as modern young women just trying to get on with life. And solve mysteries. Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and
varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more
than twenty-five books: everything from clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to
gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult
literacy. Her latest is Elementary She Read, the first in
the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series from Crooked Lane Books. The second, Body on Baker Street,
will be released in September.
Vicki is the past-president of Crime
Writers of Canada. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony
Blithe, and the Arthur Ellis Awards.
Tell us, Reds: What’s your favourite
screen or novel interpretation of the Great Detective? If you don’t have one,
because you can’t stand Sherlock or never got into it, tell us that too.
Let’s
let Vicki go first: Jeremy Brett for TV
and the Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King for books. My favourite Holmes
movie is Murder By Decree with
Christopher Plumber as Holmes and James Mason as Dr. Watson. It came out in
1979, and is worth searching for.
