Brantford author pens new novel about famed sleuth

Lauren Baron
BRANT NEWS

Fred Thursfield doesn’t just write his characters, he lives them.

“The people in my stories are real, I can see them, I can interact with them, I can identify with them and I think that makes the story,” the local author said. “The characters set the story and they set the dialogue. Sometimes I sit back and let them. I only hope I can type fast to keep up with them.”

Thursfield will release his first novel, Sherlock Holmes and the Discarded Cigarette, through MX Publishing UK on Monday, Feb. 13.

Set in 1895, the novel mixes real historical figures with fiction as it follows the continuing adventures of Holmes and his assistant, Dr. Watson. While attending a lecture given by real-life author H.G. Wells on his novel The Time Machine, the detective stumbles upon a mystery that only he can solve.

“It’s very much a ‘what if’ story,” Thursfield said. “What if H.G. Wells had the plans to build a time machine and what if someone took those plans and built a time machine? What would have happened? How would history have changed?”

Since Thursfield visualizes his characters so clearly, he said he makes sure to use vivid description on the page to ensure the characters and scenes come to life for readers, as well.

“I write graphic because I see the images in my mind and I write what I see in my mind and you basically get a movie on paper,” Thursfield said. “I want people to experience what I experience when I write a story. I want you to go into almost like a virtual theatre, sit down with your popcorn and a pop and when the curtain pulls back you see the scenery, the sights, the smells.”

Thursfield’s goal with his writing is to be as realistic as possible.

“I balance historical fact with historical fiction and I take the two and seamlessly stitch them together so you can’t tell the difference,” he said.

Thursfield has been an avid Sherlock Holmes fan since watching Jeremy Brett play the famous detective in the BBC television series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

“I like that Holmes has a mind to see things and clues that other people might miss,” he said. “That’s the basis of my first story. It is a clue that is very much overlooked and very much dismissed.”

Thursfield’s second Sherlock Holmes novel, Sherlock Holmes and the Terrible Secret, is currently in the works. He plans to publish it in August.

Sherlock Holmes and the Discarded Cigarette will be available for purchase at www.amazon.ca beginning Feb. 13.