Wednesday, November 09, 2016

Please Welcome Back Author Kim Krisco

Omnimystery News: Guest Post by Kim Krisco

We are delighted to welcome back author Kim Krisco to Omnimystery News.

Kim takes a fascinating look at the Baker Street Irregulars in his new book Irregular Lives (MX Publishing; November 2016 trade paperback) and today he writes about the growing popularity of this unusual group of characters.

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Kim Krisco
Photo provided courtesy of
Kim Krisco

While Sherlock Holmes holds the title as the most portrayed fictional character in history (according to the Guinness), his band of street urchins, known as the Baker Street irregulars, is close behind. The irregulars have been portrayed in most every Holmes series, and have been featured in several movies, and television series of their own.

Within the 60 Holmes stories in the original canon, the urban army known at the Baker Street irregulars appear only three times: In two novels, A Study In Scarlet and The Sign of the Four, and later in The Adventure of the Crooked Man. In these stories, the irregulars were led by a boy called Wiggins, whom Holmes paid a shilling per day plus expenses. It was clear that there were many boys within the irregulars, and possible a girl, but none of the others were distinguished in Doyle's writing. As an emerging Holmes scholar, it seemed likely to me that the irregulars played a larger role in Holmes's investigations and his life — particularly when he and Watson did not share an apartment at 221B Baker Street.

In my new book, Irregular Lives: The Untold Story of Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars, I describe the adventures that Holmes and the irregulars shared over several decades. You will find Wiggins, but also other, previously unnamed street Arabs: Ugly, Snape, Archie, Kate, Ruck, Benjie and Tessa (Wiggins's little sister). This book contains five short stories wrapped within a larger tale that unfolds just after WWI, when Holmes is 65 years old.

Irregular Lives: The Untold Story of Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars not only makes for some exciting mysteries and adventures, but also gives the reader a peak at what was then called "Darkest England" — the one million desperately poor residents of London in 1919. These retched people comprised 15 percent of the city's population. On a side-note, today London's poor make up about the same portion of the populous.

Writing this novel gave me the opportunity to explore the growing gap between rich and poor today's world. My previous novel, Sherlock Holmes—The Golden Years, had a sub-theme of eugenics in all is various forms. Irregular Lives explores the ethics and morality of being well-to-do in a community where there are poorer people. As Holmes says in my newest tale: "We can not only judge ourselves guilty of what we do, but also of what we fail to do."

Creating a realistic series of characters from the poorest neighborhoods in post-WWI London was a challenging and fun task. Of course, historical research was necessary, as I basically write historical novels, but this book also required that I delve into subject matter such as the psychology of poverty, addiction, and charitable organizations that serve the poor. However, beyond this research, the story called upon me to delve deeply into the psyche of Sherlock Holmes.

Holmes's hallmark was his calm, unemotional behavior. However, it seemed likely to me that his tranquil outward demeanor did not reflect his inner life. I say this because he demonstrated, on many occasions, that he was a passionate man, and one with strong convictions and opinions. Within those principles and persuasions we would likely find deep (all be them unexpressed) emotions. In Irregular Lives, I explore Holmes's inner life as it may never have been done before. My readers will tell me if I have done him justice. Sherlock Holmes aficionados love him, and I would not be wise to deviate too far from the stoic detective they know so well. However, I dare to walk a thin line — to reverently place the invincible Sherlock Holmes in new stories and situations while, at the same time, providing deeper insights into fiction's most beloved character.

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Kim Krisco's diverse career created a circuitous route to his becoming a full-time writer. He has taught college; managed instructional media and distance learning programs, written and directed TV and films; and served in corporate communications, human resources and training functions. As he puts it today, "I am being re-educated by Nature." This is his way of saying that he lives in a relative seclusion in an area of the Colorado Rockies, in a straw-bale home he and Sara Rose built themselves.

For more information about the author, please visit his website at Sherlock Holmes: The Golden Years and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook.

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Irregular Lives by Kim Krisco

Irregular Lives by Kim Krisco

The Untold Story of Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars

Publisher: MX Publishing

Amazon.com Print/Kindle Format(s)BN.com Print/Nook Format(s)

Sherlock Holmes's relationship with the band of street Arabs known at the Baker Street Irregulars has largely been untold … until now. Holmes sometimes relied upon a gang of adolescent boys and girls who he recruited from the slums of London. Indeed, some of Sherlock Holmes's most bizarre cases involved the irregulars: a hideous execution of a man who had been strapped to the barrel of cannon, a fiend who hoped he could live forever on the blood of others, and the largest jewel robbery in Britain.

Irregular Lives begins in post WWI London, when Holmes visits a mysterious photography exhibit that has him recall adventures with Wiggins, Ugly, Kate, and other members of his urban army. But, his reminiscences are merely a prelude to a thrilling adventure that begins when a jolly reunion with the irregulars abruptly erupts in a terrible tragedy.

If you were ever curious about how Holmes shaped and changed the lives of the irregulars, and how they transformed his life … then, this is the book for you.

Irregular Lives by Kim Krisco

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