Eastbourne Is the Setting for New Sherlock Holmes Novel

Eastbourne and the South Downs village of East Dean, have become the setting for the latest instalment of Sherlock Holmes, as the fictional detective uncovers a mystery near Beachy Head in a brand new book, on sale this week!

Written by the New York Times bestselling author James Lovegrove, his second Sherlock Holmes novel ‘Gods of War’ is released on 27 June, after his highly acclaimed first instalment was released to rave reviews last year.

Set in 1913, with the threat of World War One hanging over England, the story begins with Dr Watson visiting his friend Holmes at his cottage in East Dean.  As the body of a young man is discovered by the cliffs of nearby Beachy Head, the duo begin to investigate, uncovering a sinister conspiracy of shocking ramifications.

We asked James a few questions about the book.........

After your highly acclaimed and New York Times best selling Pantheon series of science fiction books, what took you in the direction of writing the next Sherlock Holmes series?

"I started reading the Sherlock Holmes stories when I was about 11, and since then I’ve always had a hankering to write some myself.  It only took 35 years to realise that ambition!  I’d become aware that Titan Books were reprinting Holmes pastiches dating from the early 1980s, when the character first fell out of copyright, and then learned that they were publishing brand-new pastiches as well, most of them with an SF or fantasy angle.  This seemed like an ideal opportunity, so I pitched a couple of ideas for novels to the commissioning editor.  Both were accepted, and here I am."

·         How do you prepare to take on such a huge literary character and adapt it from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle series?

"I do my best not to think too hard about the huge legacy Sir Arthur Conan Doyle left or the long shadow that Sherlock Holmes casts over crime fiction and the entire literary landscape.  All I try to do is provide good, solid Holmes stories that are true to the character and his world and that fit tidily into the continuity of the four novels and fifty-six stories Doyle wrote about him.  I’ve chosen to write them in a style which mimics the great author’s own but not too slavishly, allowing it to merge slightly with my own style.  The main thing, I’ve found, is getting the relationship between Holmes and Watson just right.  It’s a little combative, at times tetchy, like that between two brothers, but there is no mistaking the deep undercurrent of friendship and trust that they share."

·         Your previous Holmes novel was set in the hustle and bustle of London, what appealed to you about focussing Gods of War in Eastbourne and Sussex?

"It always appealed to me that Doyle had Holmes retire to the Sussex coast near Eastbourne.  I was born and raised in Lewes, and I know this area very well.  I liked the idea that the Great Detective chose our neck of the woods to spend his twilight years in.  It seemed a natural idea to write a tale about him during this period, when he had supposedly left his life as a sleuth behind him and was seeing out his days keeping bees on a small farm.  I always imagined he would get bored from time to time and feel the need to recapture some of the old excitement.  Even if he didn’t go looking for them, mysteries would find him, demanding to be solved.  I reckoned I would use my deep personal knowledge of the local area to add a unique flavour to the novel, making Edwardian Eastbourne and its surroundings as essential to it as Victorian London is to the majority of Doyle’s stories."

·         What do you think appealed to Holmes when he chose to retire to East Dean in the Conan Doyle books?

"I think he was looking for the quiet life, an antidote to the years of danger and struggle he had experienced before then.  This part of Sussex was still relatively remote at the turn of the last century, not the wild country but certainly not a place you would just pop down to from London on a whim.  Maybe there’s also the allure of the sea, which is terribly attractive to retirees – those long, contemplative vistas.  There are some who reckon Holmes didn’t actually live in East Dean, despite the blue plaque on a certain cottage on the village green.  There’s a reasonable argument for saying, based on the scant evidence Doyle provides, that Holmes’s retirement house was in fact Hodcombe Farm on Beachy Head Road.  For the purposes of my novel I needed him to live somewhere a little less remote, so East Dean was it."

·         What local landmarks or Sussex stories can we expect to see in the book? And will we see them in a different light?

"I’ve used as much local lore and tradition in the book as I could fit in.  For instance, Holmes and Watson encounter members of the fisher-folk community that once lived in shacks just below the cliffs at Beachy Head, and Watson is seen walking along the Eastbourne promenade and taking a turn around the pier.  The Long Man of Wilmington features, and I delve into regional dialect and myths.  At one point a thick sea mist serves much the same function as a London pea-souper, helping to create a sinister atmosphere.  This is an Eastbourne that has both light and shade, a tourist town where dark dealings are afoot."

·         We would love to see Gods of War made into a film – which actor would make a good Sherlock do you think?

"A good fit for a retired Sherlock Holmes would be someone like Hugh Laurie, with Stephen Fry as Watson – or perhaps the other way round.  It’d be nice to see those two sharing the screen together again.  Holmes was only in his early fifties when he left London, after all, so they’d both be about the right age.  I think Gary Oldman might do a good job, too."

·         So what’s next for Holmes and Watson in your next novel?

"In The Thinking Engine, Holmes and Watson travel to Oxford to confront an early computer whose inventor claims is as smart as any man, even as smart as Sherlock Holmes himself.  This embroils them in a chain of crimes which seem unconnected to one another but form part of a competition between man and machine.  It’s set in 1895, when Holmes is at the height of his powers but getting somewhat egotistical and overconfident.  The Thinking Engine takes him down a peg or two, triggering a crisis of self-doubt.  Oxford, where I went to university, seemed like an interesting setting – all those great brains and ancient buildings – and I’ve slotted the novel in around one of the Doyle stories, “The Three Students”."

·         East Dean is a popular spot for day visitors, what do you think Sherlock’s perfect day out would be?

"Since Holmes tended to avoid crowds and fuss, he would probably be at his happiest strolling along the clifftop paths (as he does in “The Lion’s Mane”) or enjoying a ramble along the beach, studying rock pools."

·         Do you have a favourite line from the book you would be happy to share with us?

"I quite like this exchange of dialogue between Holmes and Watson near the beginning, after Watson has just stepped off the train down from London.  Watson is a little peeved that Holmes, who has just got wind of a robbery at a jewellers in town, is too excited about that to observe the basic pleasantries, so he demands, “And how was my journey?”

“Are you wanting me to tell you or entreating me to enquire?”

“The latter, although I've no doubt, you being you, you could manage the former.”

“Then how was it?” 

I thought that nailed their relationship pretty neatly in just a couple of lines."

We really enjoyed speaking to James and hope the book goes well. We at visiteastbourne are giving away a copy of the fantastic book! Find us on Facebook, like us and share the photo for a chance to win!