Introducing Isaiah Funderburke

Introducing Isaiah Funderburke

 

From my earlier posts on this blog, you could probably be excused for thinking that I write exclusively about Sherlock Holmes.  But that’s not the case– I have my own series detective, who has appeared in several published short stories over the past couple of years.  His name is Isaiah Funderburke, and he’s a private detective who works for the school Cuthbertson Hall as the Student Advocate.

 

One of my favorite shows growing up was the educational PBS show Square One TV, and my absolute favorite part of the series was the recurring segment Mathnet, a Dragnet parody centered around a couple of detectives who solved cases through mathematics.  In most (though not all) of the episodes, a child or teenager came to the detectives Kate Monday (Pat Tuesday in later seasons) and George Frankly.  I always thought it was great that kids could come to these detectives with a problem and always be taken seriously.  The young people who came to Mathnet were never patronized or belittled, and they could always count on the detectives to devote themselves fully to the case.  In real life, many of my friends complained of lawyers and judges not listening to them during custody hearings, or other adults refused to believe them when they were wrongly accused of misbehaving.  

 

Another major influence on my writing was Roald Dahl’s stories.  His children’s books are full of kids who are oppressed by cruel or negligent grown-ups, though in most of the tales the kids have at least one reliable adult ally who supports and helps them.

 

Growing up, I often thought of creating a detective who was one hundred percent on the side of the students, no matter what problems they faced.  The Funderburke mysteries aren’t always about solving murders or finding the solutions to crimes.  Many of them focus on helping students through personal problems such as their parents’ divorces or other family issues.  Some of the stories are quite dark, others farcical.  Throughout them, there’s a recurring theme: that the world is a difficult place for children in trouble, and they need an adult on their side to help them.  That’s why the young people in my stories have Funderburke.

 

I will talk more about my Funderburke mysteries in future posts.

 

 

 

–Chris Chan

 

 

Chris Chan’s first book, Sherlock & Irene: The Secret Truth Behind “A Scandal in Bohemia” was released on August 27^th 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).  It is also available in a Kindle edition.