So, the U.S. election was always going to overshadow this release, and now Biden’s victory has been called?! Historic. Show-stopping.
Good golly, there could hardly be a worse day for this, lol.
But my best friend and partner-in-crime’s new book is finally available! You can order The Hunting of the Nark: Sherlock Holmes Through the Looking-Glass from MX Publishing and I strongly recommend you do so!
I mean, sure, this is my best friend’s book. Also, I got to illustrate it, and that was two months of hard work to craft a set of images Claire and I both liked. So, you know, I hold personal stakes in this, sure.
But, in all seriousness? This book is so good.
The first part is poetry. It’s a lot of poems, all riffing on Lewis Carroll originals, from the legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles to Professor Moriarty developing his criminal empire to a rare conversation between Mycroft Holmes and Mrs. Hudson! The big poems especially are so much fun, although Claire does show how punchy she can get in just four lines in the short ones!
And then there’s the short story, or novella, rather. Claire retells “The Mugrave Ritual” as “The Adventure of the Twinkling Hat,” including Watson in the adventure and pushing him and Holmes through that looking-glass. And when the story truly diverges, I can’t even talk about that because, boy, spoilers, sweetie! But all throughout, Claire, who has always done excellently in writing Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, is at the top of her game with them.
A good Sherlockian pastiche is a romp with the characters you know and love. A great pastiche is one that delves into those characters and has something to say about them, and “The Twinkling Hat” really delivers.
I want so badly to tell you more about why you should read this story, but I can’t! You really have to read the book and come back and chat with me about it because I will be down for that.
So please, go buy! 😄
A Study in Imagination 