Sherlock Holmes & the Red-Headed League: A Guest Post by K.B. Owen
K.B. Owen taught college English at universities in Connecticut and Washington, DC and holds a doctorate in 19th century British literature. A long-time mystery lover, she drew upon her teaching experiences to create her amateur sleuth, Professor Concordia Wells.
Unseemly Pursuits is the second book of the series. The first book, Dangerous and Unseemly, was published in early 2013.
K.B. currently lives in Virginia with her husband and sons, and is busily planning the lady professor’s next adventure.
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Many fans of the Sherlock Holmes stories consider “The Red-Headed League” to be one of their favorites. The story was published in The Strand Magazine’s August 1891 issue, and later collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892).
Illustrated by Sidney Paget, 1891. Wikimedia Commons.
A brief synopsis:
A red-haired businessman, Jabez Wilson, consults Holmes about a curious incident. There had been an advertisement in the paper by an organization calling itself the “Red-Headed League” looking for red-headed male candidates to fill a well-paying position with light work. Wilson had won the job, and began earning a handsome salary for basically “busy” work, copying the encyclopedia during daytime hours. Since Wilson’s own shop mostly operated in the evenings, with his assistant on hand to take care of anything that came up while Wilson was gone, the red-headed man considered it a happy arrangement. But abruptly one morning, Wilson found a sign stating that the League was “dissolved.” Reluctant to let go of a good thing, Wilson comes to Holmes to solve the mystery.
Holmes and Watson are amused, and Holmes’ curiosity is piqued. He agrees to investigate.
*SPOILER ALERT*
Holmes eventually deduces that Wilson’s assistant, John Clay, has been digging through the basement wall of Wilson’s shop into the bank vault next door. Clay had thought up the “red-headed league” scheme as a way to keep Wilson away during the day while he and his cohorts did their digging. When the work was completed and they were making final preparations to break into the vault, Clay dissolved the league. Holmes, Watson, Wilson and the police wait in the bank vault for the criminals, and nab them when they come through.
Illustrated by Sidney Paget, 1891. Wikimedia Commons.
If you’d like to read this story online for free through Project Gutenberg, click on the link below and scroll down to the middle of the page to “Adventure II.”
An outlandish story, yes? Ah, but wait: in 1874 (15 years before Doyle’s story was published), a New York bank experienced a similar incident – without the red-headed part – where crooks attempted to tunnel into the vault. Below is an excerpted account from the New York Times, regarding the scheme of bank robber John Clare (very close to the name Doyle selected for his criminal) and the sharp policemen who thwarted him:
For the rest of the article on the sentencing, and how Clare was eventually captured, click here: New York Times
In my searches, I have yet to find evidence that Conan Doyle based “The Red-Headed League” on any bank robbery incident, but the coincidence is interesting nonetheless.
Are you a Sherlock Holmes fan? If so, what is your favorite story?
Jess, thanks so much for having me! It was really fun. 😉
Thanks for teaching us about the Red-Headed League! Maybe I’ll start one of my own…
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Now the for book info!
A deadly secret that won’t stay buried…
It is the fall of 1896, and Miss Concordia Wells is hip-deep in the usual tumult of a lady professor’s life: classes, clubs, student pranks, and the unending drama generated by the girls she lives with on campus. Complicating this normality is the new Lady Principal, whom the students have nicknamed “the Ogre.” The woman seems bent on making Concordia’s life miserable.
And then there’s the exotic spirit medium, Madame Durand, who has befriended Concordia’s mother and has started a “Spirit Club” on campus. Madame’s prognostications of doom are at first only mildly irritating – until events take a sobering turn. An ancient Egyptian amulet donated to the college mysteriously disappears, the donor is found murdered, and his daughter – Concordia’s best friend – confesses to killing him.
Desperate for answers, Concordia unravels a 20-year-old secret, closely guarded by men now dead. But such secrets can be dangerous for the daughters left behind, including Concordia herself. Can she make sense of the mystery that has bound together their fates, before it’s too late?
Where to buy Unseemly Pursuits:
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Unseemly-Pursuits-Concordia-Wells-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00H3JVSYI
Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Unseemly-Pursuits-Concordia-Mystery-Volume/dp/0991236807/
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unseemly-pursuits-k-b-owen-kb-owen/1117562781
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/384345
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/unseemly-pursuits
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/unseemly-pursuits-concordia/id775422084?mt=11&uo=4
I so want to read this book!
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During K.B.’s Unseemly Pursuits book tour, which goes through the first week of March, there’s a giveaway at each blog stop (including here!). The winner, randomly drawn from the commenters at each stop, will get a free ebook copy of Unseemly Pursuits. At the end of the tour, she’ll hold another random drawing from among the ebook winners for the final prize: a special Concordia Wells series swag package! It includes customized mug, keychain, JellyBelly mini-tin, and signed paperback copies of the first two mysteries: Dangerous and Unseemly and Unseemly Pursuits. You can read, sip your coffee, and snack on candy in unseemly style. Check the sidebar on the home page of kbowenmysteries.com for the full tour schedule and other info.
Guest Post by CJ West: His 10 Chocolate Guilty Pleasures
And we’re back! This past Tuesday, I had thriller writer, CJ West over talking about his new short, Thugbook! Today, CJ’s back at the Happiness Project reminiscing about his 10 untouchable guilty pleasures, and they all have to do with chocolate! You see, CJ is working out for his upcoming debut on MANday, but a guy can be guilty once in awhile. Check out his faves!
My Ten Chocolate Indulgences
I’ve been a chocoholic since birth so my ten indulgences had to be chocolate flavored. For those of you who follow me, you know I’m working out hard to get ready for the MANday wager I’ve got going on with Jillian Dodd. We have a bet that I can get in good enough shape to show off my abs on her blog in July.
Needless to say, I’m not eating a lot of chocolate right now. At least I can share my love in pictures. Drool with me.
#1 Chocolate Ice Cream
Before MANday, chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips and chocolate sauce was a regular treat. No special occasion required. Just open the freezer and there it is waiting for you to dig in. Everyone has a little stress, right?
#2 Hershey’s Special Dark
At some point in my chocolate loving life, I moved on from milk chocolate to dark chocolate and I never looked back. Hershey’s makes this giant bar that is way too much for one person to eat in one sitting, but when you sit in front of the computer for hours typing away, it is quite possible to eat the entire bar without realizing.
#3 Nestle’s Toll House Morsels
Once upon a time I always had a bag of these in the house, not the little bag, but the giant bag. Okay, I admit it, I usually had two or three. They are great kept in the freezer. They don’t stick to your hands that way. You can carry them around for 5 minutes or so before they are all gone. If chocolate was a vegetable, there would be no need to stock other foods.
When these are in the house I eat way too many so I had to stop stocking them.
#4 Lindt Dark Chocolate Truffles
I discovered these about two years ago. Delicious. They melt in your mouth the way harder chocolates can’t. A great indulgence, but not a diet staple.
#5 Entenmann’s Chocolate Donuts
I did a horrible thing to my ex-wife. I introduced her to Entenmann’s Chocolate Donuts for breakfast back when I got tons of exercise and was young enough to burn off the extra calories. DO NOT start eating these for breakfast. They are like crack. Not as bad for you, but they are every bit as hard to give up. Just say no!
#6 Toll House Cookie Dough
In my mind there isn’t another kind of cookie. I judged a baking contest last year and tasted some great cookies. The winner was an amazing combination of nuts and cranberries and dark chocolate. Still, if it was up to me, I’d pick a basic Toll House Cookie any time. And before you can get to the cookie, you have to eat some dough. Could you really bake cookies without eating at least one spoonful?
#7 Toll House Cookies
Yes, I do bake some of that dough! In my younger days we didn’t get sweets unless we baked them ourselves. I can remember my brother and I, we were teens, eating an entire batch before they cooled!
#8 Devil Dogs
One of the few store bought treats we got as kids. Mom got them from the thrift store and froze them so they wouldn’t go bad (like that would happen). We never waited for them to thaw before eating them and to this day I prefer them frozen. If you live in a place where they don’t have these, get in your car now.
#9 Peanut Butter squares
In tenth grade a friend’s mother gave me a recipe to make these. They are similar to a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup minus the preservatives and salt. To this day I can recite the recipe and whip them together in 15 minutes. If there was a number 11 on this list, it would be a peanut butter square sundae with chocolate ice cream, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream. Pure Heaven!
#10 Brownie Sundae
My ideal dessert wouldn’t look exactly like this one, but I chose the image because the brownies have chocolate chips! A must when you make brownies. I’d switch to chocolate ice cream and add a generous layer of whipped cream. Ahh.
Thanks for joining me in this virtual orgasm of chocolate goodness!
Thanks CJ for sharing your guilty pleasure list with us! I had no idea what loving chocolate was like as I only eat 1-10 of those. 😉
Your turn! What guilty pleasures sneak their way into YOUR cupboards?
Author Interview with CJ West: Why He Might Be Dexter Morgan’s Best Friend
Welcome to the Kickoff of June’s Featured Writer posts! Every Tuesday I’ll be hosting a different author where they gush the gory details on writing and life.
CJ West
It’s a double dose of CJ West this week, whom many of you may know from the twitter #MANday challenge that’s been tweeting around. CJ recently released his new digital short, Thugbook; his seventh publication. He writes thrillers, and his blog is captioned Suspense. Creativity. Action. You can also find him at his website or doing author interviews on his Blog Talk Radio Show. But today, he’s here with us, answering my questions about the writing life. And, he’ll back this Friday, sharing his guilty pleasures right here on The Happiness Project!
CJ Answers Questions About CJ:
JW: You have led a diverse pathway of careers. You wrote your first book while still in school, pursued your love of golf and considered going pro, then got your degree in Business Management and made a living helping companies with computer networking, and then went back to writing. What has each of these roles taught you about life?
CJW: In each of these things I was following a passion and I have been very fortunate thus far to work at things I love doing. My greatest lesson learned is to seek good advice. I grew up in an environment that highly valued independence. My life’s journey would have been vastly different if I had embraced the advice of knowledgeable people early in my life. I have worked very hard at each of my passions and with sound advice I could have achieved much more with all that effort.
CJW: The big moment for me was when Sin & Vengeance was optioned for film. The offer came out of the blue and when it did, I began to believe I could entertain readers well enough to make a living writing books. The writing life for me is still a constant struggle. I don’t believe I’ve made it yet, but I have had the great pleasure of entertaining many readers and I’m thankful that I wake up and write every day.
CJW: Tim Hallinan was a wonderful guest and became a good friend after doing the show. Many of the authors really appreciated the time I put into preparation and enjoyed having their work highlighted that way.
CJW: I was invited to take part in a murder mystery show by a friend. I was hesitant to get up on stage as many authors are, but I discovered after about 5 shows that I really enjoy acting. I’m getting a bit better at being in front of a crowd and the great thing about the shows I’ve been involved in is that they are very interactive. The crowd gets involved and it is a great time playing a role and getting to know people.
CJW: I have put on dozens of fun events for readers. We’ve done everything from Advanced Driving Classes, Firearms training, Murder Mysteries, Poker Lessons, and of course I’ve been to most of the big conventions to speak to readers. I’ve hosted many online events and parties including an online murder mystery. Right now I’m getting in shape for a MANday challenge. If I lose, I’ll have to post pictures of myself half naked – a scary prospect for a writer!
JW: You recently celebrated your birthday! May 23rd you launched a twitter party and giveaway in honor of your new digital short, Thugbook! Tell us about your book.CJW: Thugbook is the story of a social network gone wrong. Thugbook (a practical idea, I think) is a site where citizens post photos of criminals. The site soars in popularity and at the same time is engulfed in controversy. Criminals are turning up dead and the blame lays squarely on Thugbook. It’s an exploration of greed, revenge, and the power of technology to shape our society.
CJW: That’s a lot of parts! I think it certainly fits in there somewhere.
CJW: Dexter would love Thugbook. It would be the ideal research tool for him to plan murders!
JW: The head honcho of Thugbook is a young CEO named Blaine. He’s not very likeable when we start out. What helped you create his character?
CJW: People are motivated by different things and power changes people sometimes. Blaine started Thugbook to avenge the rape and murder of his sister. Along the way Fame and Fortune come to Blaine and the trappings of success change him. I wanted to contrast this with Jones who is true to his mission to repay the criminals who have caused him harm. The men accomplish great things, but their methods and the way they deal with success are very different.
CJW: I really enjoy plotting novels and my plots evolve with each new work. I think it is important for plot to grow out of character and if you start with interesting and motivated characters in conflict, good things will happen.
CJW: Get good advice. I also heard a great commencement speech by Neil Gaiman and his words of advice were, “Make Good Art.” That really hit me and I think it is what we all need to focus on.
CJ Answers Nonsense, But Fun, Questions:
JW: We writers work hard, and often alone, describe your perfect day off.
CJW: I must admit that I rarely take a day off. Maybe two or three a year.
An ideal day off would be a day on the water with my kids catching blue crabs.
JW: What last words of advice do you have to share with our readers?
CJW: Enjoy every moment of life’s journey. Drink in the wonders of nature and the complexities in the hearts and minds of the people you meet.
Thank you, CJ, for taking time to chat today and for sharing your new short, Thugbook, with us!
What other questions do you have for CJ? What do you think of the idea of Thugbook?
And, don’t forget, learn more about CJ’s guilty pleasures this Friday!
Jess Witkins' Happiness Project 