Author Interview with Richard T. Ryan on his Latest Sherlock Holmes Novel, The Stone of Destiny

Belanger Books will continue to showcase author interviews as part of our blog, and today we have an excellent author interview with Richard T. Ryan on his latest book The Stone of Destiny: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure. A lifelong Sherlockian, Richard Ryan is the author of The Official Sherlock Holmes Trivia Book as well as a book on Agatha Christie trivia. His first novel, The Vatican Cameos: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure, is available from MX Publishing, London. It was recently announced that Mr. Ryan has accepted the position of MX Publishing's full time editor.  We interviewed Mr. Ryan on his latest novel The Stone of Destiny: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure which is released from MX Publishing today.

Belanger Books (BB): Tell us a little bit about your latest Holmes book The Stone of Destiny? Will readers get a traditional Sherlock Holmes adventure?


Richard T. Ryan (RR): The Stone of Destiny finds Holmes and Watson trying to recover the Coronation Stone after a group of Irish separatists steal it from Westminster Abbey on the day of Queen Victoria’s funeral. After the theft, the Crown contacts Mycroft, and he turns the case over his brother. As a result, Holmes and Watson must travel to Ireland in disguise where they must locate the proverbial needle in a haystack as they attempt to ascertain where the Irish Republican Brotherhood, a real-life precursor of the Irish Republican Army, has hidden the stone.

Like The Hound of the Baskervilles, the story is linear, and Watson serves as the narrator.

I think it’s also a traditional Holmes adventure because of the length. At 53,000 words, it sits right between Doyle’s shorter novels -- “A Study in Scarlet” and “The Sign of the Four” -- which run 43,000 words each and the longest one he wrote, “The Hound,” at 59,000 words.


BB: Both of your Holmes books take place in 1901. Is this a coincidence because of research, or is there something about that time period in the life of Holmes which interested you?


RR: The Stone had to take place in 1901 because that was the year that Queen Victoria died, and her passing and burial at Windsor Castle are integral elements of the plot.

The Vatican Cameos plays with time a little more freely. The reference to the Vatican Cameos can be found in The Hound, which was written in 1901, appeared in monthly installments in the Strand Magazine between August 1901 and April 1902. In book form, The Hound, with illustrations by Sidney Paget, was published in London in March 1902. However, The Hound is set in 1889, so I needed to shift time a bit to make it coincide with certain events and figures in the history of Italy. I also wanted the adventure to take place after the death of Moriarty who is mentioned on a few occasions.


BB: About that research. Your books are grounded in history. How much of your books are fact and how much fiction?


RR: I start with a premise, and then – and I have been extremely fortunate here – I try to bolster that jumping-off point with historical facts. Fortunately, for me, the facts in both books just happened to neatly coincide with the plots. For example, why steal the Stone in 1901? In addition to the death of Queen Victoria, it was also the centenary of the Act of Union between England and Ireland – a century of servitude that galled every freedom-loving Irishman. So now, we have an obvious motive for the theft. Then I look for historical figures that might have played a role in such events. In The Stone, we encounter a very young Michael Collins, who would go on to play a prominent role in Irish history and a rather mature John Theodore Tussaud. Worth mentioning is that several of the names of the Brotherhood members are the names of men who really belonged to that group.


BB: What are your upcoming projects?


RR: At the moment, I’m just beginning my third Holmes novel. This plot has been kicking around in my head for more than 30 years, and I finally think that I can develop it into a rather suitable challenge for Holmes and Watson. Although I never discuss what I am writing about with anyone – not even my wife – until it is finished, I will tell you this: At the moment, the story is not set in 1901.


BB: Any last thoughts?


RR: I would like to thank everyone who has encouraged me from family members to friends to my fellow Sherlockians and the folks at MX. While personally satisfying, I am just glad that my Holmesian efforts have brought some small measure of joy to other fans of the Great Detective.

For more on Richard T. Ryan visit his MX Page or his Amazon Page.

Belanger Books is a small press owned by artist Brian Belanger and author Derrick Belanger specializing in new Sherlock Holmes books, Children's books, Steampunk, and genre specific anthologies.  Some of our books have been #1 bestsellers in their categories on Amazon.