Reimagining Sherlock Holmes Mysteries with KD Sherrinford
Exploring Love, Revenge And Mystery Through Classic Characters
KD Sherrinford discusses her acclaimed Sherlock Holmes-inspired series, blending historical fiction and mystery with fresh narratives, reimagined relationships, and personal influences from her fascinating career and lifelong passion for storytelling.
Blending her lifelong love for Conan Doyle’s works with a vivid imagination, KD Sherrinford has created a fresh narrative for Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler. From working with thoroughbreds and racing greyhounds to earning accolades like the Chanticleer International Book Awards, Sherrinford’s journey to becoming a celebrated author is as intriguing as her novels.
Her debut, Song for Someone, introduced readers to a reimagined Holmes-Adler dynamic, earning critical acclaim and inspiring sequels, including Christmas at The Saporis and The Whistle of Revenge. In this interview, Sherrinford shares her influences, the challenges of honoring Doyle’s legacy, and how her rich life experiences shape her storytelling. Her passion proves it’s never too late to bring a dream to life.
Your debut novel, Song for Someone, has been praised as an evocative masterpiece and was a finalist at the Chanticleer International Book Awards. What inspired you to write this story, and how did it feel to receive such recognition so early in your writing career?
I always had a penchant for mystery writers, Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie were amongst my favourites growing up. I read the entire Doyle Canon by age 13.
I was fascinated by the iconic character Irene Adler (The Woman). I was disappointed when she failed to appear in any further Doyle stories after “ A Scandal in Bohemia”.
I waited years for someone to write a pastiche about the acclaimed contralto and the brooding detective Sherlock Holmes. The ones that did merely skirted around the subject without exploring its depths and endless possibilities.
It was only after encouragement from my daughter Katie during an impromptu visit to the London Sherlock Holmes Museum in 2019 that I decided to start work on my adaptation.
I didn’t write with an award in mind. So I was staggered when my debut novel “ Song for Someone” garnered Five-Star editorial reviews from the likes of Literary Titan, Book Viral, Readers Favorite and Dee Marley from The Historical Fiction Company.
My development editor Tony Waslin-Ashbridge suggested I send the manuscript to Chanticleer which I did, but it wasn’t with any particular expectations on my part. I was amazed to see the book creeping up the rankings throughout various stages of the competition.With thousands of entries from thirty six countries being pulled from the slush pile to the Long List was pretty cool, before finally reaching the dizzy heights of the Finals.
On April 5th I was fortunate to attend this year’s Chanticleer International Awards Ceremony in beautiful Bellingham, Washington USA, accompanied by my daughter Katie who flew in to join me from Taiwan. “ Christmas at The Saporis” Book 2 of the Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler Mysteries was awarded First Place, and Best in Category. It was a surreal moment having your name called out at such a prestigious gathering, along with the great and the good. I feel honoured, humbled and truly blessed that my books and characters touched so many lives.
In The Whistle of Revenge, you reintroduce Jack Stapleton from The Hound of the Baskervilles. What drew you to revisit this character, and how did you approach expanding his role within your narrative?
Before I began my latest novel “ The Whistle of Revenge” I spent ages deliberating who would make a worthy adversary for Sherlock Holmes. I wanted a strong character readers would instantly recognise. Tony and I eventually agreed on Jack Stapleton, such a formidable and intriguing character from Doyle’s “ Hound of The Baskervilles”.
In “ The Whistle of Revenge” Jack makes a spectacular return from his watery grave on The Great Grimpen Mire, and along with The Italian Mafia wreak havoc on the city of Milan, kidnapping Holme’s beloved son as part of their wicked and vengeful master-plan Operation Whistle.
I thought it was important to give Stapleton a voice to allow readers to get to know him, for instance where had he been for the past seventeen years? and why choose this particular time to exact his revenge on the world-famous detective. Of course all these questions and more will be revealed as readers delve further into the story which is told from five POV’S, Irene Adler, Sherlock Holmes, their son Nicco Sapori, (the kidnap victim who proves to be a real chip off the old block), Inspector Salvatore Romano, an Italian law enforcer and loyal friend of the Sapori family, and of course Jack Stapleton Aka Robert (Bob) Barrett.
You’ve had a fascinating career working with thoroughbred horses and greyhounds, including winning the Blackpool Greyhound Derby. How have these unique life experiences influenced your storytelling, especially when crafting scenes filled with tension or movement?
I think it’s fair to say that my early career working with thoroughbred horses and racing greyhounds and the amazing people I met along the way had a significant impact on my writing and character development.
When I first started out, I was advised to write what I knew about, things that interested me, to create something I would want to read myself. The idea is that if you can do that then there’s every chance that others will too. It was good advice.
Some characters in my stories are loosely based on people I knew back in the day. In particular two of the gang members in “ Song for Someone” Ernie and Ron were actually real life people and friends from the old Preston Greyhound Stadium. I could write a book about the intriguing characters I met during that time. The stadium was bulldozed back in the nineties to make room for a housing estate, and most of the people are sadly long gone, but, those wonderful memories will forever remain indelibly on my mind. As for Ernie and Ron I’m sure they would have been delighted to get a mention.
Music plays a significant role in your life and writing, with classical composers like Beethoven and Wagner influencing your work. How do you weave musical themes into your stories, and what do they add to the emotional landscape of your novels?
There are many historical and musical nuances throughout my novels. Irene Adler was a renowned opera singer, and this had to be incorporated into the narrative.
The scenes in “ Song for Someone” where Holmes and Adler meet again seven years after their adventures in “ A Scandal in Bohemia” takes place in The Green Room at La Scala, after Adler makes a guest appearance during the World Premier of Pietro Mascagni’s opera Sylvano, which was actually performed at the great house in March 1895.
I really enjoyed interacting the real life characters such as Arturo Toscanini, Rodolfo Ferrari and Mascagni with fictional ones. I am very proud of those scenes. The historical research that went into the book and bringing those wonderful character to life was quite a challenge for me as a debut author.
Your series explores a reimagined relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler, offering a fresh dynamic to well-loved characters. What were the challenges in developing their connection while staying faithful to the spirit of Conan Doyle’s original works?
Staying as close to the Canon as possible was very important to me and imperative to the story. I wanted to give Holmes Adler, and other characters from the Canon the respect they deserved, which proved tricky at times trying to establish a credible connection between Sherlock and Irene.
The celebrated detective does not instantly spring to mind as a strong romantic lead. Although “ Song for Someone” is predominately an enduring love story, I wasn’t looking to recreate a Mills and Boon type love story. I wanted to explore the slow burn enemies to lovers relationship between the main protagonists, warts and all. The two have a remarkable story to tell, both tortured by demons from the past. Something, that they come to recognise in each other.
After an attempt in made on Adler’s life, she and Holmes flee Milan together pursued by a deadly antagonist who is not quite who he appears to be.
Posing under disguise of a married couple the intrepid pair find refuge on a farm in Fiesole, “ Le Sole”, this is the place Holmes first stayed four years earlier after his deadly altercation with Professor Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls.
Stuck together in semi-isolation, and although grateful to him for protecting her, Adler does not much care for Holmes, finding his brusque, aloof and surly.
Having always found most women inscrutable the great detective is ill at ease in the new surroundings, and being forced to live under the same roof as Adler.
After several heated altercations, things come to a head, and during a series of meaningful conversations a tentative friendship is formed based on trust, admiration and mutual respect.
I consider chapter twenty-seven from “ Song for Someone” to be one of the best things I have every written. In pivotal scenes changing the dynamics of their relationship, the two discuss Adler’s early life leading the conversation to the true nature of relationships. Can and man and a woman every really be happy together?
Being a two-time finalist at the Chanticleer International Book Awards is no small feat. How has this recognition shaped your journey as an author, and what advice would you offer to other writers aspiring to achieve similar success?
Being a two-time Chanticleer Finalist, and subsequent winner has been a wonderful rewarding experience. The competition has given me an identity in the literary world and recognition as an author of merit. But, much more than that is the amazing people I have met along the way in my journey as an author, including fellow writers and friends I am still in touch with.
A strange thing happened shortly after “ Song for Someone” published in November 2022. I received an email out of the blue from Peter E Blau, introducing himself as Head of The Red Circle of Washington Sherlock Holmes Society.
A friend of Peter’s recommended my book and he said he wanted to read my debut novel and subsequently leave a review in the Scuttlebutt Spermanti Press Magazine he produces each month for the Sherlockians.
That was quite a moment for me. In his nineties now and still going strong, Peter is current reading “ The Whistle of Revenge” I hope he likes it. The great man is considered a legend in the Sherlock Holmes world, Lesley Klinger wrote a book about him.
I plan to enter “ The Whistle of Revenge” for The Chanticleer Clue Awards, another tough category. Critics describe Whistle as the best of the series so far. So I hope they are right, only time will tell.
