Rafe McGregor is the author of the successful Architect of Murder - he is also a renowned Sherlock Holmes fan and the Archive caught up with him for a Q&A session.
TA- As a Holmes fan you must have been delighted when a reviewer said of you - Conan Doyle is alive and well and writing under your name?
RM -I was delighted that Tess Gerritsen enjoyed the novel, and it was very kind of her to make such a flattering comparison. I think the actual style is probably closer to John Buchan than Conan Doyle, but there are certainly elements which will appeal to Doyle fans.
TA-What is it, do you think, that makes Holmes such a popular character with generation after generation?
RM- It’s difficult to pinpoint a single – or even several – features of the character or the stories to account for Holmes’ enduring appeal. And perhaps that’s an answer in itself, that the fifty-six short stories and four novellas have provided something for everyone in the last hundred and twenty-seven years. I’ve always been particularly surprised at the strong crossover of Holmes and Star Trek fans, and Holmes and Christians, where neither science fiction nor religion come into the stories. Perhaps, however, the answer is more prosaic and Holmes is still with us because of his status as a cultural icon, which is largely due to his proliferation on screen.
TA-Doyle's Valley of Fear is to be published soon by HARD CASE CRIME. What do you think of this? Will the perceived gentle crime of Holmes appeal to hardboiled fans
?
RM -I think it’s great and I exchanged a couple of congratulatory with Charles Ardai on his choice.
Many of the stories are restrained and almost cosy; but many – especially those written during the war and after – include aspects common to hardboiled and even noir fiction: mutilation, drug addiction, organised crime, racism, and some violent (and quite gripping) action sequences.
Like A Study in Scarlet, The Valley of Fear combines two stories in one; where the former fails, however, the latter succeeds, providing an English murder mystery and American crime thriller in a single volume. So…I think the experiment will be a success and most Hard Case Crime readers will enjoy the novella.
TA -I'm not sure but I think Holmes is the most filmed character, next to Dracula (will have to check that out). Out of all of the screen Holmes who have you particularly liked?
RM -I believe Holmes is the most filmed character, real or fictional, but the figures I saw were a couple of years out of date. I’m not a great fan of the film or television adaptations, but one stands out for me. Despite the dreadful plot (an evil twin brother – come on), and the fact that I’m no Rupert Everett fan, I thought he perfectly captured the combination of arrogance, genius, and compassion – in addition to the physical presence – of Holmes in Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking (2004). Similarly, Ian Hart made an excellent Watson, portraying him as the man of action and intellect true to Doyle, but overlooked in most films.
TA- Conan Doyle has always seemed a paradox to me - on one hand he was a rational man who believed in the sciences and yet on the other hand he allowed his spiritual leanings and belief in the paranormal to lead him to be fooled by those Fairy pictures. The creator of Holmes fooled by schoolgirls. What are your thoughts on this?
RM-I’m not sure I’m qualified to answer this with any authority, but my thoughts, for what they’re worth, begin with an observation by a friend of mine, author Paul M Chapman. He claims that Doyle’s early rejection of his Catholic upbringing left a spiritual void in him, and that he spent the rest of his life trying to fill it, eventually settling on Spiritualism. I think this is pretty accurate, and I also believe he was greatly affected by the war, in which he lost a son and a brother. His first wife also died at an early age and I have an idea of Doyle turning his great talents (and some would argue all his energies and resources) into a pathetic and futile attempt to connect with those he’d lost.
TA- So which of the Holmes canon would you recommend to newcomers?
RM -Definitely not A Study in Scarlet, the first publication! I began with it and almost didn’t read any further. The novella is appalling: fully half of it is (dull) back-story and there are some truly embarrassing plot holes.
Forget about chronology (Doyle did), and either begin with The Hound of the Baskervilles (or the Hard Case Crime The Valley of Fear), or one of these stories: ‘Silver Blaze’, ‘The Problem of Thor Bridge’, ‘The Adventure of the Speckled Band’, ‘The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot’, ‘The Red-Headed League’…or, ‘The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle’ if you fancy a genuine Christmas mystery.
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