Story Profile: “The Adventure of the Villainous Victim”
Many casual readers have misconceptions about Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson. In large swaths of the public imagination, they’re seen as stolid, middle-aged figures. Yet at the time of their first meeting, in A Study in Scarlet, they’re both in their mid-twenties. Interestingly, the Canon tells us very little about the first years of their partnership, as there’s a gap of almost three years between the events of A Study in Scarlet and the first chronologically-dated story, “The Speckled Band.”
What happened during that time? Nobody knows for sure, but writers of pastiches can explore their pet theories. When Belanger Books announced calls for submissions for their anthology series “Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Early Adventures” (which would turn out to be a three-volume set), I decided to contribute.
I did some digging, having an idea about basing a case on a real-life crime from the past. I soon discovered the case of the murder of Issac Gold, from 1881, a particularly shocking death that took place on a railway. When I learned that a detective named Holmes played a pivotal role in the case, I knew that I had the makings of a historical mystery. I kept the basic details of the facts of the story, and added Holmes and Watson. The result was “The Adventure of the Villainous Victim.”
–Chris Chan
Chris Chan’s first book, Sherlock & Irene: The Secret Truth Behind “A Scandal in Bohemia” will be released on August 27th from MX Publishing, and is available for sale at Amazon.com and the MX Publishing website, as well as at Book Depository (with free worldwide shipping there).
“The Chapel of the Holy Blood” can be found in Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Early Adventures Volume I, and is available from Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle editions.
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