Story Profile – “The Search for Mycroft’s Successor”
“The Search for Mycroft’s Successor” is a story of mine published in the Belanger Books collection After the East Wind Blows: WWI and Roaring Twenties Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Vol. II: Aftermath (1919-1920). This is a trilogy of Sherlock Holmes adventures set during WWI, the first couple of years of peacetime, and the 1920’s.
My story is based on a question I’ve had for years. Mycroft Holmes’s role in the British government is so indispensable, it is said that at times, he is the British government. This leads to a critical question. Mycroft cannot live forever. If he were to die, or even retire, then there would be a gaping hole in England’s civil service. Surely a man as perceptive and far-seeing as Mycroft would know that his absence would rock the stability of the nation. What steps would he take to avoid disaster? Would he train a successor? Would he simply hope that a worthy replacement would be found somewhere amongst the younger generation? And would selfish people in the government, jealous of Mycroft’s power and prestige, short-sightedly attempt to block a new version of the indispensable man, hoping to co-opt his position for their own, even though they lacked his vision and skill?
I addressed these questions in my story, which is not a traditional mystery investigating a crime, but instead is a search, as Holmes and Watson look for a potential successor for Mycroft, and find three viable candidates in a most unexpected family…
–Chris Chan
Chris Chan’s first novel, Sherlock’s Secretary, will be released on November 5th. His book Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter was published by Level Best Books on September 7th. His first non-fiction book, Sherlock & Irene: The Secret Truth Behind “A Scandal in Bohemia” 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.
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