HELLO...
and welcome to the
What's New Blog
of
David Stuart Davies
Here you can read of all DSD's various publications and ventures - so read on
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30 March 2009
I was determined to complete this blog before April 1st … or you wouldn’t have believed a word of it!
At the moment I am ploughing through the proofs of Requiem for a Dummy, the fourth Johnny One Eye novel. I choose the word ‘ploughing’ deliberately. There is nothing worse for a writer (well for me anyway) than returning to a novel you finished six months ago. The ground is so well trodden and familiar that visiting it again induces tedium on a grand scale. Still it has to be done.
I’ve just finished the Introduction to a three Gothic novel special for Wordsworth. The volume contains The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, Vathek by William Beckford and Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock. This collection is particularly interesting because it runs the gamut of the Gothic genre. Walpole’s piece set the template and created the interest in the Gothic ideas in fiction in the first place; Beckford’s opulent novel, imbued with Orientalism as well as the staple Gothic fare, has been described as a European copy of the Arabian Nights; and Peacock’s fanciful and whimsical dark tale parodies the genre with great aplomb. It was good fun to work on this set.
Last week I went down to London to a meeting of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London at the Savage Club near the Embankment. Douglas Wilmer, the great TV Sherlock Holmes of the 1960s was there launching his autobiography, Stage Whispers. It was a lively evening with Douglas being interviewed by Nick Utechin (ex Editor of the SH Journal). The book is a fascinating read, not just because of Douglas’s Sherlock memories, but as a young actor he mixed with such stars as Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton, Kenneth Williams, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Charlton Heston. It’s a well written and wonderfully gossipy book.
Regarding the Wordsworth series of Mystery & Supernatural… if you have a book or author you would like to see published in this collection, let me know. Remember, the book must be out of copyright which means that the author has to have died seventy of more years ago. At present we are up to 1939!
19 March 2009
I’m Back
Apologies for the long gap. It was due to a combination of things and I promise that it will not happen again.
Just to keep you in the picture, here is a quick itemised survey of what has happened regarding yours truly in the last six months or so – and also what is just around the corner.
A CATCH UP
Wordsworth Publications
I am still acting as series editor on the Mystery & Supernatural series for Wordsworth and the volumes that I have been directly responsible for – i.e. those I collected, edited and wrote the Introduction for – since my last entry include:
The Witch of Prague & Other Stories
F. Marion Crawford
Night Shivers
The Ghost Stories of J. H. Riddell
The Temple of Death
The Ghost Stories of A.C. & R.H. Benson
The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton
Tales of Mystery & the Macabre
Elizabeth Gaskell
Collected Ghost Stories of M. R. James
(There others in the pipeline)
I was also involved in the publication of
The Casebook of Sexton Blake
which contains a collection of rare and vintage detective yarns.
Collectors’ Library
Recent volumes to which I’ve penned an Afterword include:
The Best of Saki
Hector Hugh Munro
Hard Times
Charles Dickens
Cranford
Elizabeth Gaskell
The Thirty-Nine Steps
John Buchan
Far From The Madding Crowd
Thomas Hardy
And watch out for The Best of Sherlock Holmes which is due any day now.
Other Activities
In December 2008 I recorded a contribution to a radio documentary for Radio Four hosted by Giles Brandereth about the group of Victorian writers who all knew each other: Doyle, Stoker, Stevenson and Wilde.
In January 2009 I was one of the guest speakers at the Annual Dinner of the Baker Street Irregulars where I performed a one man spoof on the Rathbone/Bruce radio shows sponsored by the immortal Petri Wine company. The story in question was The Red-Headed League.
In February 2009 I was a guest lecturer on the Cunard liner Queen Mary 2. During the voyage from Los Angeles to Sydney I gave seven lectures (their word - I prefer the term ‘presentations’ because I read extracts and dramatised moments during the course of my time on stage).
The topics were:
Mr Holmes & Dr Doyle
The Films of Sherlock Holmes
Theydunnit: a history of crime fiction
The Life & Crimes of Agatha Christie
Bloody Dracula
The Art of Raising Goose pimples – the ghost stories of Charles Dickens & M. R. James
Introducing The Brontes
The Mystery Men
My cohort, Matthew Booth and I have performed several times in the last six months at venues including Middlesbrough, Manchester and Gainsborough. The latter venue responded with this review from the fellow who booked us: ‘An enjoyable event that comprehensively details the character and development of Holmes and Watson, and the life of their creator, in just one hour. Highly recommended.’
Sherlock Holmes…The Life & Death
My second play, notice the subtle change of title, still continues to tour with Roger Llewellyn giving a rousing performance as Holmes, Doyle, Lestrade, Moriarty and others. For the dates of future appearances, check out Roger’s website: www.rogerllewellyn.co.uk
FUTURE ACTIVITIES
I will be attending the CWA conference in Lincoln in April (17 -19) catching up on the gossip.
I will also be attending Crimefest in Bristol (14 -17 May) where I’ll be moderating one panel, subjecting myself to a crime fiction Mastermind presented by Maxim Jakubowski and giving a presentation at the final dinner on the Sunday.
Johnny One Eye
The new novel featuring my forties detective Johnny Hawke will be out later this year from Hale. It is called Requiem for a Dummy. The blurb runs like this:
London 1943. Successful ventriloquist Raymond Carter begins receiving death threats over the telephone. What unnerves him all the more is that these threats are made in the voice of his dummy, Charlie Dokes. Carter calls on the services of private detective Johnny Hawke to get to the bottom of this bizarre case. When one of the cast of Carter’s radio show is brutally murdered, the ventriloquist becomes a suspect and the investigation begins to take a dark and surreal path, which not only places Johnny in danger but also those who are close to him. There are many surprising twists and turns before this affair reaches its gripping and shocking climax.
This complex mystery thriller, the fourth in the Johnny One Eye series and set against the grim backdrop of war-torn London, is told with wit, humour and page-turning excitement.
Sherlock Holmes
For Titan Books I have been acting as a consultant for a new series of reprints of Holmes pastiches which will begin to be published in the early autumn, just prior to the release of the new Guy Ritchie/Robert Downey Jnr Sherlock Holmes film. I am pleased to report that my 2004 novel, The Veiled Detective, which is a re-imagining of Holmes’ early career up to Reichenbach, will be one of the lead titles.
Other Titles in the Pipeline
For Wordsworth:
The Beast With Five Fingers
W.F. Harvey
Three Gothic Novels: The Castle of Otranto, Vathek & Nightmare Abbey
For Collectors’ Library:
The Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens
The Best of Sherlock Holmes
The Jungle Book – Rudyard Kipling
Plus a few other projects which I want to keep under wraps for the moment.
Watch This Space!
1 July 2008
Oooh I've been away far too long. Sorry folks, I've been busy and lazy by turns. What's happened in the interim? Well, Roger Llewellyn performed the latest Holmes play to a packed house at the Jermyn Street Theatre in London for the Sherlock Holmes Society of London on 25 May. It went down very well and it is hoped that it will be presented in New York in January to the BSI. Watch this space.
Requiem for a Dummy, Johnny Hawke's latest, is now on the launching pad but I'll have to wait a little because I need to find myself a new agent. Sadly my old agent died in the Spring and so I am adrift again - but I'm working on it.
13 May 2008
Just returned from a splendid weekend in Tavistock attending the first Festival of Dartmoor Literature where I was the guest speaker on the Saturday night. I gave my presentation 'An Evening with Sherlock Holmes & Conan Doyle'. I revised the standard presentation to place extra emphasis on Dartmoor through the stories of 'Silver Blaze' and The Hound of the Baskervilles. The event went off well and there was a lively question and answer session afterwards. Thanks to the organiser Tom Greeves and to fellow scribe Mike Jecks for inviting me.
On Thursday (15th) I'll be travelling to Scarborough to see my play The Death and Life of Sherlock Holmes at the Ayckborn Theatre. Now that it's been on the road for some weeks, it will be interesting to see how it has 'bedded in'. I know some of the lighting and certain moves have been changed. In discussion with Roger Llewellyn, we have decided to change the name of the play slightly. Some time soon it will we known as SHERLOCK HOLMES... THE DEATH AND LIFE. It seems that placing the name Sherlock Holmes first (rather than The Death!) is likely to attract more people. It also ties in with my other Holmes play - SHERLOCK HOLMES...THE LAST ACT.
If you are in Scarborough on Thursday, do come up and say hello.
13 April 2008
What a week this has been. On Tuesday I finished the first draft of the new Johnny One Eye novel - the fourth. This is always a very satisfying moment. Although the beast is in a fairly rough state at present, I now can hone and refine the whole until I'm satisfied with it. Another month or six weeks and I should have a version ready to send off to my agent. Oh, the title? REQUIEM FOR A DUMMY.
On Wednesday, Matthew Booth and I visted the Wirral in our guise as Mystery Men and performed our BLOODY DRACULA show to a capacity crowd - over fifty - in Heswall Library. It seemed to go down well and we both received some very pleasing comments.
Also this week, I received the following reviews:
Tangled Web UK Review April 2008
Sherlock Holmes: The Games Afoot (Mystery & Supernatural)
by David Stuart Davies
pbk out March 08 (Wordsworth) at £2.99
What the world needs now is love, sweet love, or so the song goes. Does it really need any more Sherlock Holmes pastiches? Nobody can out-do the originals by Conan Doyle and there have been countless attempts to follow in his footsteps, for over a century. Well, in my opinion, the answer to the question is yes. Even if Sir Arthur’s masterpieces are unsurpassable, there is pleasure to be gained from writing and reading Holmes pastiches, and I enjoy doing both. Here we have a collection edited by a leading Sherlockian, who is also a novelist and playwright. Davies is the author of ‘The Adventure of the Whitrow Inheritance’, which is the shortest story in the book, but it is a neatly wrought tale, and a good example of what can be done with such an enticing detective as Holmes, even when writing economically. The other contributors include eminent figures such as June Thomson (author of some of the finest Holmes pastiches ever written, as well as a biography of Holmes and Watson), and experienced Sherlockians like John Hall. But it is the presence in this book of stories by younger writers such as Rafe McGregor, Matthew Booth and M.J. Elliott, that is the best evidence of the timeless appeal of Sherlock. Each generation falls in love with him, and there is no sign that this will cease in the foreseeable future.
Martin Edward
Without Conscience by David Stuart Davies, published by Robert Hale, 224pp, hbk £18.99
Without Conscience is the third in the series about one-eyed private detective Johnny Hawke, Sherlockian expert David Stuart Davies' own creation. Johnny Hawke having previously appeared in Forests of the Night and Comes the Dark.
As with the other two in the series the novel is set in wartime London in 1942, and as usual Johnny is battling with several evolving plot lines at once, including a psychopathic killer, who, there is no doubt, is ‘without conscience’. There is the welcome return of the believable characters of young orphan, Peter, who once more finds himself on the streets of London, as well as Johnny’s two friends David Llewellyn of Scotland Yard and Benny, the Jewish cafe owner. However to say more will give away too much of the gripping plot which begins on page one, and as I hate spoilers will not become one myself.
David uses an interesting plot device of combining first person and third person narrative that worked well. This means that the reader is able to know Johnny’s innermost thoughts but the tension and horror of some scenes is not lost by having to wait for a third person to report events to Johnny, when he was not present.
Johnny Hawke is not a stereotypical gumshoe but a complex, sometime sentimental man of few friends, with his own moral code. I have enjoyed all three novels but think that this is the best yet, which is rare as sequels so often do not live up to the original. There is depth of character and realistic settings within the dark streets of war torn London. The novel is a page turner with some frightening scenes that should not be read late at night before the light is turned out.
Anne Jordan - The Scion newsletter
8 April 2008
Roger Llewellyn sent me this review of the new Holmes play which played in Swansea a few weeks ago:
The Death and Life of Sherlock Holmes
Depot Studio, Arts Wing, Swansea Grand Theatre
Friday, March 28
It has been six long years since actor Roger Llewellyn visitedSwansea's Taliesin Arts Centre with his superlative one-man show, Sherlock Holmes... The Last Act. This new production, written by David Stuart Davies and directed by Gareth Armstrong, sees Llewellyn once again taking on the mantle of the world's most famous "consulting detective" - a role which he could well have been born to play - in the intimate performance space at the Grand's Arts Wing. Llewellyn's performance here was luminous, intense and a masterclass in the art of holding an audience spellbound as he breathed life not only into the characters of Holmes and Watson but also the other figures who inhabit the world of the Baker Street sleuth, including Inspector Lestrade,housekeeper Mrs Hudson and arch-enemy Professor Moriarty.The theme this time around revolved around Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's frustration with the fictional character who had brought him world acclaim: the death of Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls at the hands of Moriarty prompted a public outcry and Conan Doyle's publishers demanded that the character be resurrected. This was a focused, insightful and intelligent piece of theatre which demonstrated that minimalistic, small-scale works can carry one heck of a punch if performed with the right degreeof passion and conviction.
Graham Williams
3 April 2008
And here's another review....
David Stuart Davies 
Without Conscience Published March 2008 by Hale at £18.99 ISBN: 0709084943
See Review by Rafe McGregor
In London 1942, Rachel Howells, in the capital for the first time, is trapped in a web of violence with army deserter Harryboy Jenkins, who will stop at nothing - not even murder - to enjoy his illicit freedom.Meanwhile private detective Johnny Hawke is involved in the bizarre murder of one of his clients, while trying to find Peter, the runaway boy he had befriended in an earlier case. Inexorably the divergent paths of Harryboy and Johnny grow closer together until they collide with frightening consequences. Harryboy has a tortured past and is without conscience. How far will he go?This complex thriller, the third in the "Johnny One Eye" series and set against the grim backdrop of war-torn London, is told with wit, humour and page-turning excitement.
(From The Tangled Web)
2 April 2008
The newsletter of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, The District Messenger, edited by Roger Johnson, arrived today. It contained two excellent reviews. One for Without Conscience; and one for The Games's Afoot. See below:
In Without Conscience, the third Johnny One Eye novel by David Stuart Davies (Robert Hale, Clerkenwell House, 45-47 Clerkenwell Green,London EC1R 0HT; £18.99), Johnny Hawke’s investigation of a philandering husband takes him beyond sexual intrigue to murder —and dirty work at the War Office. Meanwhile he becomes entangled inthe search for a psychopathic killer, on the loose in wartime London.Time, place and character all ring true, and the wartime atmosphere is cunningly evoked. Isn’t it time that the Johnny One Eye novels were published in paperback?
David Stuart Davies has also edited The Game's Afoot, an anthology of new Sherlock Holmes stories, published by Wordsworth Editions (8BEast Street, Ware, Herts. SG12 9HJ) at just £2.99 — a remarkable pricefor 400 pages. The writers are all familiar names: June Thomson, DenisO Smith, M J Elliott, John Hall, Matthew Booth, Mark Valentine,Christopher Sequeira, Rafe McGregor, Alan Stockwell, John Howard,and David Stuart Davies himself. And there isn’t a dud among their twenty offerings. Holmes and Watson were always at their best in the shorter format, and this is one of the best collections I’ve encountered.
17 March 2008
Just arrived today, the new edition of The Phantom of the Opera in Wordsworth's Mystery & Supernatural series. I've written the Introduction to this smart volume and at £2.99 it is a steal.
Also available now in the same series is The Game's Afoot, a collection of new Sherlock Holmes stories edited and introduced by DSD. There are some smashing new yarns in this volume from the likes of Denis O. Smith, June Thomson, Mark Valentine, Matthew Elliott, M. J. Elliott, John Hall, Rafe McGregor, Alan Stockwell, Christopher Sequeria and old DSD himself.
16 March 2008
Here's a review of my new novel taken from SHOTS magazine
WITHOUT CONSCIENCE
A Johnny One Eye Novel
David Stuart Davies
Robert Hale, £18.99 Hbk
February 2008
Review by Amy Myers
|
Without Conscience is the third in the series about private detective Johnny Hawke, in which David Stuart Davies strides forward into the Second World War from the Sherlockian times with which his name is so strongly linked.
The atmospheric setting of his new novel is the seamy side of wartime London in 1942, and as usual Johnny is battling with several evolving plot lines. At first, the case seems simple enough – dogging the footsteps of an unfaithful husband. Not so simple, however, because the femme fatale in the case is not all she seems. Murder follows and Johnny’s friend David Llewellyn of Scotland Yard is speedily on his doorstep. What follows next draws Johnny inexorably into the terrifying path of violent army deserter Harryboy Jenkins and his victim young Rachel Howells. There’s one more irresistible factor for Johnny One Eye fans: Peter, the young boy who appeared in one of his earlier cases, is back on the scene and standing right in the way of Harryboy’s rampage of violence and murder in the dark streets.
The seamy night life of London, with its pubs, smoke, drink and taut edge of fear and menace, is excellently evoked, the pace is fast, the style is elegant, and they merge to forge a gripping tale. Long may the series continue.
|
14 March
The book launch for Without Conscience took place in Huddersfield last night at Waterstone's Bookshop, New Street. Many thanks to all those who came along.
6 March
The Death and Life of Sherlock Holmes, my new play, premiered at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guilford before beginning a nationwide tour. This play is a surreal examination of Conan Doyle's desire to rid himself of Sherlock Holmes and the Great Detective's growing awareness of the nature of his immortality. Once again it features Roger Llewellyn, the star of Sherlock Holmes - The Last Act.
The first review of the play reads as follows:
The Death and Life of Sherlock Holmes at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
Just as you thought nothing could ever improve upon Basil Rathbone or Jeremy Brett, this exciting and inspired new Sherlock Holmes production will thrill and delight even the most committed sceptic.
It was written by David Stuart Davies especially for Roger Llewellyn (Sherlock), who has played Holmes on many occasions. He seems born to play the part, commanding the stage alone while playing to the audience and unseen characters with humour and panache.
The plot goes like this: Holmes' literary creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, has grown tired of his famous sleuth, who has now become an imposition on his life - forever taking up his time to be written about for Victorian publications such as The Strand. Rebelling against emotional and financial constraints and the advice of his family, Doyle throws caution to the wind and hires the services of arch villain Moriarty to dispose of him. Throughout there are brief vignettes making witty observations to certain Holmes tales - references to ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles' cues dramatic off-stage howling, of course.
Llewellyn plays several characters in one night - Doyle, Holmes, Moriety and Doyle's father, who is committed to a lunatic asylum with alcoholism. He metamophosises from character to character like a lizard shedding its skin - one moment he is the reflective and thoughtful Holmes, the next - his face changes and resembles something else entirely, and snaps into villainous Moriety, almost possessed by the part. It's very Jekyll and Hyde.
Conan Doyle was also obsessed with spiritualism and the occult, a popular Victorian pastime. The scenes involving a séance may make hairs on the back of your neck stand up, they may not - those who are easily offended should probably look away at this point.
In the finale, Llewellyn shows Sherlock Holmes Frankenstein-like finally triumphing over his creator's grave: "You tried to dispose of me, who brought you fame..."
"It's not just that I believe in such things.... it's that I know," says Doyle. And know that this play is a class act, and one very hard to follow.
Review by Anya Hastwell - Surrey Life
The Life & Death of Sherlock Holmes
Tour dates - 2008
Thur 24th April
NEWBURY, Arlington Arts Centre
www.maryhare.org.uk 01635 244 246
Sat 26th April
NEW MILTON, Forest Arts Centre
www.forest-arts.co.uk 01425 612 393
Wed 30th April
MIDDLESBROUGH, The Theatre
www.middlesbrough.gov.uk 01642 815 181
Fri 2nd May
ALNWICK, Playhouse
www.alnwickplayhouse.co.uk 01665 510 785
Wed 14th & Thur 15th May
SCARBOROUGH, The McCarthy Studio at the Stephen Joseph Theatre
www.sjt.uk.com 01723 370 541
Sat 17th May
PERSHORE, Number 8
www.number8.org 01386 555 488
Wed 21st & Thur 22nd May
BRIGHTON, Nightingale Theatre
www.nightingaletheatre.co.uk 01273 709 709
Tue 27th May
CHELMSFORD, Cramphorn Theatre
www.chelmsford.gov.uk/theatres 01245 606 505
Thur 12th June
FAREHAM, Ashcroft Arts Centre
www.ashcroft.org.uk 01329 223 100
Thur 19th June
LONDON, Artsdepot
www.artsdepot.co.uk 0208 369 5454
Tue 15th July
MARLBOROUGH, Summer School at Marlborough College
DERBY, Guildhall
www.assemblyrooms-derby.co.uk 01332 255 800
CHIPPING NORTON, The Theatre
www.chippingnortontheatre.co.uk 01608 642 350
29 February
Look out! My latest Johnny One Eye novel - the third in the series, escaped from the Robert Hale camp. Without Conscience is perhaps the darkest and most exciting of them all:
London 1942. Rachel Howells, in the capital for the first time, is trapped in a web of violence with army deserter Harryboy Jenkins, who will stop at nothing - not even murder - to enjoy his illicit freedom. Meanwhile private detective Johnny Hawke is involved in the bizarre murder of one of his clients, while trying to find Peter, the runaway boy he had befriended in an earlier case. Inexorably the divergent paths of Harryboy and Johnny grow closer together until they collide with frightening consequences. Harryboy has a tortured past and is without conscience. How far will he go? This complex thriller, the third in the ‘Johnny One Eye' series and set against the grim backdrop of war-torn London, is told with wit, humour and page-turning excitement.
That's it for now folks! 