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And another title is “in the can,” as they say. “The Mystery of The Five” is up and available on Amazon.com for your reading pleasure. It will keep you guessing right up to the very last page. Don’t skip ahead to see how it ends, that’s cheating – but I promise, it will be worth it.
This was an entirely enjoyable project to write. I love the whole Sherlock Holmes genre and tried to keep faithful in this to the Arthur Conan Doyle/ Holmes canon. But, at the same time, I included that of Jane Marple and Hercule Poirot, two of Agatha Christie’s most popular detectives and so I dug deep to stay true to their respective canons as well. I also wanted to include Easter eggs from various other classic, period authors and events of the time for a thoroughly entertaining and intellectually titillating romp.
I grew up with Sherlock Holmes, sort of. My mom, Hope Pierce, was an avid fan. I suppose one might even use the word “fanatic” in her particular case. She had numerous of Conan Doyle’s books, of which I have since inherited a few. We never missed a black and white airing of an old Sherlock Holmes movie on one of the New York television stations (long before cable or streaming services). And, although nearly sixty actors have (so far) portrayed Holmes on stage, screen or television, she insisted that the only actor who ever got it right was Basil Rathbone.
But even Rathbone didn’t really get it right. His character was greatly sanitized and almost cartoon-like in comparison to Conan Doyle’s novels. Always in costume with the ever-present deerstalker hat and Meerschaum pipe. Now that she’s passed, I guess it’s now fair to say that — sorry, Mom.
But, to be fair, some of my favorite portrayals have been far from the Conan-Doyle canon as well. Christopher Plummer and David Thewlis, for example, my personal favorites. I loved Ian McKellen’s portrayal of a long-since retired Holmes. The closest that I’ve seen thus far would have to be Robert Downey Jr. I think he did the character the greatest justice.
Growing up in Connecticut, I have visited Gilette Castle on a few occasions. Built by actor William Gilette who was a contemporary of Arthur Conan Doyle and a close friend. He portrayed Holmes in plays written by Conan Doyle both in the U.S. and in Europe. Considering their relationship, I presume that Gilette got it right.
Conan Doyle was investigated by the British government for espionage during the war and Gilette was arrested as a part of the alleged scheme. It was presumed that Gilette was, in fact, Sherlock Holmes in real life and his persona as the actor was a cover for him to move about Europe as a spy. The charges were dropped against both of them but the legend persists (displays in the castle, today a state park, detail this whole mystery).
The Sherlock Holmes in my book is not inspired by any one of these actors’ portrayals, though I have to admit, being a movie guy, a few of them did have some influence. I have tried to portray Holmes with all of his foibles and failings, imagining him in his golden years. He may have seemed super-human to some but he was still a man with passions and feelings, though he kept them well contained within a thick outer shell. He still pines for the one woman that had ever moved his hardened heart, but he vehemently denies that fact, he won’t even speak her name.
Likewise, I depict Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple with as much of a nod to their respective sources, but envisioning them both as being elderly. Marple, of course, had always been depicted by Christie as an older woman, perhaps one might say “elderly,” but Poirot is seen as a mature, vital man, still a few years away from retirement. In my own stage of life, it’s much easier to envision how they’d feel and how they might deal with all that they have to in this adventure as all three are at roughly the same stage of life. Also, how they might relate to Holmes whom Poirot calls “insufferable” on more than one occasion.
Kevin Branaugh, whose commitment to depicting classic literature in film as faithfully as possible, got Poirot down as Christie had written him. With his previous projects including Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” and William Shakespear’s “Richard the Fifth,” his “Murder on the Orient Express” was as perfect as could be done on film. Still however, to me, David Suchet, however, is and forever shall be for all intents and purposes, Hercule Poirot.
Miss Jane Marple has been portrayed by several actresses of note. Not to take anything away from the works by other actors, of which there have been over a dozen to date, but I believe that Helen Hayes really captured the essence of the character. Of course, Angela Lansbury also went on to portray a very similar character on her television show “Murder She Wrote” which was widely popular in its day and continues so to this day in perpetual re-runs.
And our fourth detective, Edgar Allen Poe’s Auguste Dupin, has not had so many depictions in film and none on television to my knowledge. The one stand-out performance was by none other than actor George C. Scott. Poe’s Dupin is considered the pioneer of the private detective genre. Other writers, including Conan Doyle, have given a nod to Poe as being the first of the genre of mystery writers. In my book, the characters pay their respects to Dupin as being their mentor and the one who led the way for their own careers to follow. A fitting homage, I hope.
I’m such a Holmes geek (there, I admitted it) and the thought of bringing him together with other classic detectives along with a few Easter eggs from various other period works — including many of the peripheral characters from each of the three main characters’ own worlds — was a challenging and most enjoyable effort of weaving them together. I tried to imagine how the vaulted egos of Holmes and Poirot might clash. Marple is the consummate diplomat. She is a confident woman of wiles, succeeding in a decidedly man’s world. These three very distinct personalities working together were an inspiring writing adventure.
I wanted to put three vastly different characters together, three well-defined personalities who could only expect to clash with one another, and see how they could all learn to work together for a common goal and, in the end, become friends (at least, at some level).
I really hope you enjoy this story for all the fun and intrigue that it has. I hope, too, that after having read it, you’ll be inspired to reach out to your neighbor with, perhaps, a welcoming smile.
The Mystery of The Five, is available now at Amazon.com.
Welcome to the home of Bob’s Awesome Books where you can find the books of author Bob Pierce and read a bit about them, meet the author and even get in touch if you like. Bob’s books are generally filled with fast-moving action and adventure but each story is filled with human interrelations that can be intimate, inspiring and sometimes even heart-breaking. There are winners and there are losers and the good guys aren’t always all that good and the bad guys maybe not so bad and rarely do the stories end as the reader might think they would…or should.
As you read each book you will find yourself relating to each main character as Bob brings out the depth of each one, layer by layer, until you know each one so intimately that you cannot help but become engaged. You will either love or hate each one in ways that will draw upon your emotions and empathy on a level that might just catch you by surprise.
Under the pull-down menu above are all of the available titles from Amazon. Bob is constantly creating and publishing new ones. So far the creative muse has brought him to Ireland, Russia, Africa, the Civil War, Vietnam, and even Michigan. Many are at least partly centered on the North Country of New England where certain recurring characters call home.
So we invite you to explore the world of Bob’s Awesome Books and lose yourself in a story that might just not leave you until you’ve read it again and again.
