What’s So Irregular About A Detective? (And A Little Quiz, Too!) by Jeri Westerson

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Jeri Westerson is one of our faves here at Jungle Red Writers, in part because she has so many toys in her toy box. Medieval noir? Yep. 14th century conman? Uh huh. Romantic urban fantasy? You bet. Victorian steampunk? She's got it. Honestly, that's not even scratching the surface. Suffice to say, whatever genre you like, Jeri has a book for you - she's like a giant heart full of chocolates, except the chocolates are novels and Jeri is not made of shiny red cardboard.

I was so thrilled when she told me about her new series, the Irregular Detective Mysteries, because like a lot of you, I love a good Sherlock Holmes pastiche. Not only is she telling us all about it today, but one lucky reader will get a free copy of The Isolated Séance!

 

 

 

My newest series is a Sherlockian one. But it’s not all about Holmes but somewhat Sherlock adjacent, called An Irregular Detective Mystery. It has nothing to do with one’s fiber intake. It’s about one of Holmes’ former Baker Street Irregulars, Tim Badger, who is now an adult and starting his own detective agency with a friend of his, Ben Watson (no relation to Dr. Watson). Though working under the shadow of Holmes only gets them out-flanked and just a step behind…until they find a case Holmes won’t take. 

 

Dr. Watson describes the original Baker Street Irregulars in A Study in Scarlet as “half a dozen of the dirtiest and most ragged street Arabs that ever I clapped eyes on.” To which Holmes remarked, “There’s more work to be got out of one of those little beggars than out of a dozen of the force.”

And he’s right, of course. He put those fellows to work.

Led by their “dirty little lieutenant” Wiggins, these street kids of all ages, usually under the age of eighteen, could go all over London, unnoticed…unseen…and listen in on the docks, in keyholes, on roof tops—and report back to Holmes. It was good work for a kid from the slums. And likely, the best they might ever have.

In which stories did they appear? Really only three.

 

 

•           A Study in Scarlet –  Written in 1887 but set in 1881, they managed to locate and bring the prime suspect and cabman Jefferson Hope to Baker Street and to Holmes’ clutches.

•           The Sign of Four – Holmes sends them out to find the steamship Aurora for a handsome reward.

•           The Crooked Man – Holmes sends out one Irregular named Simpson, to watch over Henry Wood’s lodgings.

 

And in just three stories, Doyle managed to capture the imagination of readers for decades to come, and have us thinking about these street urchins who are suddenly glad to be appreciated for who they are and what they can achieve with their wits and their knowledge of the lowest places in London. There’s a bit of the Artful Dodger about the Baker Street Irregulars and that’s not accidental. Though this is not Dickens’ London anymore, it’s still the Victorian period (1837 to 1901), and Dickens was published from 1836 to 1870. Sherlock Holmes didn’t appear on the scene till 1887. It’s a different London in many respects…but also the same in many respects. And that comes down to how the poor were treated.

With the creation of the 1834 Poor Law, workhouses were born. The intention was a good one. It was the execution that faltered. It was a way for the government to care for the poor, to give them food and shelter out of the weather, but also to put them to work, because in many ways, the morality of the day was to blame the poor for their lot (is this ringing familiar?) and in order to give them a proper reset, they would work off their debts in the poor house.

Even in Scrooge’s day, the average man knew what a failure the workhouses were to help the poor and treat them humanely. Because if they didn’t find a place in a workhouse, they had few other options.

But one of those options was a Penny Sit-up for the night. No, not doing sit-ups, but for a penny you could actually sit up on a hard wooden bench in a corridor for the night, to try to sleep in that position.  

 

If you had tuppence, that is, two pennies, you could do a Penny Hang-over. Nothing to do with over-indulging with booze, but instead literally hanging over a rope all night to (try) to sleep. One could cram in high numbers of people hanging over a rope instead of allowing them to lie on the floor. And to make sure they didn’t overstay their welcome, the rope would be let down at 5 or 6 am. 

 

However, the Salvation Army had coffins so you could lie on the floor. Not actual coffins, but slender rectangular-shaped boxes (no lids) laid out row on row tight together, and for four to five pennies a night, you’d get to sleep in that with an oil cloth over you, which might even include a cup of tea and a piece of bread. Fancy.  

 

Now, the new series isn’t as dark and dingy as these examples of poverty, but the main characters do have to rise out of their own circumstances—with a little help from the guv’nor—and use their wits and natural cleverness to solve their cases.

And now, a little quiz for you to solve. Let’s see how much you know about the Sherlock Holmes stories. Are you ready for a brief quiz? Answers below the video.

 

1.     What was Doyle’s original name for Sherlock Holmes?

a.      Sorenson Holmes

b.     Sherrinford Holmes

c.      It was always going to be “Sherlock” Holmes

2.     What was Holmes’ dog’s name?

a.      Toby

b.     Betsy

c.      Neither of the above

3.     Holmes’ older brother’s name was

a.      Bycroft

b.     Zoloft

c.      Mycroft

4.     Holmes’ older brother was a member of

a.      The Diogenes Club

b.     The Auto Club

c.      The National Geographic Society

5.     Who was Holmes’ landlady?

a.      Mrs. Tyne

b.     Mrs. Hudson

c.      Mrs. Avon

6.     Who were the only named Baker Street Irregulars?

a.      Fenster and Lewis

b.     Cagney and Lacey

c.      Wiggins and Simpson

 

 

Answers to the quiz.

1.     b. Sherrinford. In the original notes of Doyle’s rough draft of A Study in Scarlet, he toys with the name “Sherrinford Holmes”.

2.     c. Holmes never owned a dog himself. But he did borrow one from time to time. A dog named Toby, owned by a Mr. Sherman in The Sign of Four: The dog was an “ugly long haired, lop-eared creature, half spaniel and half lurcher, brown and white in colour, with a very clumsy waddling gait.”

3.     c. Mycroft

4.     a. Mycroft belonged to the Diogenes club.

5.     b. Though she didn’t have a name in A Study in Scarlet she soon got the name of “Mrs. Hudson.” Extra points for recognizing that the all the names in number five are also river names.

6.     c. Wiggins and Simpson. We don’t know their first names.  

JULIA: What do you love about Holmes pastiches, dear readers? Let us know, and one lucky commentor will win a copy of The Isolated Séance!