Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Demon: New Excerpt by James Lovegrove
By James Lovegrove
October 22, 2019
Our train rattled out of King’s Cross shortly after ten the next day, bearing us northward to York. Overnight, clouds had set in over London and the Midlands and yet again snow had begun to fall heavily. Fat flakes flurried past the carriage windows, mingling with the smoke from the locomotive’s funnel to create a flickering, chiaroscuro whirl of white and grey outside.
Some thirty minutes into the journey Holmes remarked that we were making good time, in spite of the conditions. “We are travelling at a mean speed of sixty-eight miles an hour,” he said.
“How on earth can you tell?” I asked.
He put away his half hunter, which he had been consulting. “Simple. The standard length of a piece of rail track on the Great Northern Railway is sixty feet precisely. The wheels beneath us make a distinct clack every time they cross the join between one rail and the next. The clacks are occurring at a rate of approximately a hundred per minute. The rest is pure arithmetic. One may make a similar calculation using the trackside telegraph poles, but at night, or on a day like today when visibility is so poor, the rail-length method is more practical.”
Having changed at York for the Scarborough line, we pulled in at Bridlington station some three quarters of an hour later. A brougham awaited us out front, along with a taciturn coachman who, in a thick Yorkshire brogue, ventured the following greeting: “Mr ’olmes and Dr Watson? Miss Eve has sent me ter tek thee ter Fellscar. Put thah bags on’t back, gentlemen, and ’op in. Thah’ll find blankets on the seats ter wrap thissen in.”
The snow had by now stopped falling but lay thick all around. The brougham trundled through white-blanketed countryside, its wheels and the horse’s hooves making scarcely a sound on the road. The gently undulating landscape was parcelled up by drystone walls, which were mostly buried under snowdrifts. Here and there a tree strained upward from the ground, seeming to claw the overcast sky with its bare branches. We passed the occasional mean-looking, half-derelict dwelling – a croft, a smallholding – which if not for the skein of smoke rising from its chimney would have appeared uninhabited.
Then the road dipped down through a valley. At a junction, I spied a fingerpost pointing to Yardley Cross, but we took a different, unmarked route along a narrow track, and presently, as the brougham crested the brow of a hill, Holmes and I gained our first glimpse of Fellscar Keep.
I cannot say I was filled with any great joy, for the castle, huge as it was, seemed eminently forbidding. I had had little idea what to expect, but it surely was not this rambling agglomeration of black stone topped by an equally black slate-tiled roof. The edifice, built in the Gothic Revival style, had neither symmetry nor elegance. The windows were small and mean, and the battlements lofty and teeming, topped with toothsome crenellations. Wing abutted against wing, showing, to my mind, no obvious plan – a collision of irregular geometric shapes such as a child might make with wooden building blocks.
In all, the castle looked not to have been constructed so much as to have grown, coral-like, from the lake island upon which it perched and whose surface it fully covered. Ribbons of snow lying atop lintels, eaves, copings and buttresses did something to soften the stark cheerlessness of it all, but not much.
The track wound downward through woodland, emerging from which we had a much better view of the castle. Nearer to, however, Fellscar Keep was only the more oppressive-seeming. It loomed gracelessly against the glowering sky, as though its architect desired any who came before it to feel small. Its overall demeanour was that of a brooding, hulking thug challenging all comers to engage in fisticuffs.
As the brougham approached the gateway that afforded access to the causeway connecting the castle to land, a gunshot resounded from close by. Our horse, startled, bucked within the traces, and the coachman cried out, “Whoa there!” and was obliged to steady the beast with a tug on the reins and a tap of the whip.
A second gunshot followed, louder than the first, and the anxious nag came to a complete halt, whinnying.
As Holmes and I peered out of the cab windows, we saw a pair of men stride out from the woods to the left of us. Each was dressed in tweeds and bore a double-barrelled 12-gauge shotgun – a Purdey, if I did not miss my guess. Neither, I noted, was carrying his weapon broken as he ought.
They walked towards the four-wheeler with a purposeful air, and I, overcome by a growing unease, wished that my service revolver was immediately to hand, rather than outside the brougham, packed in my holdall on the back. Holmes, sensing my agitation, patted my arm.
“We are in no imminent danger,” said he. “Do you not recall Miss Allerthorpe telling us that her father and uncle go out shooting together? These two, I am certain, are they, indulging in that very pastime. Their age and dress marks them out as wealthy landowners, while their self-confident bearing announces that they are masters of their domain, with every right to be here.”
“Yet they fired their guns, when they must surely have seen us coming,” I said. “They knowingly frightened the horse. That bespeaks hostile intent, does it not?”
He shook his head. “A certain casual meanness, perhaps. I believe that you and I are being greeted in a manner meant to intimidate. Let us not give these fellows the satisfaction of thinking they have succeeded.”
Copyright © 2019 James Lovegrove
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Comments
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I would enjoy reading this.
Our attention was captured almost immediately. The description of the castle made us wish we had the ability to travel to places far and wide, if for no other reason, then to be able to smell the winter air. We can’t wait read it.
What a festive and demonic cover!
I’m so ready to read this, count me in please.
I would love to read this ‘new’ author thanks
Longtime fan of both Holmes pastiches and Lovegrove’s work. What’s not to like?
Literally just finished Lovegrove’s Cthulhu Casebooks last night. I’ve been a fan of his Holmes stories since I first read The Thinking Engine. Excited to see there is a brand new book available!
Look forward to adding this to my TBR shelf!
I enjoyed the excerpt and would love to read the rest.
Just started reading it. It’s wonderful.
This looks great
Anything with Sherlock has to be a wonderful read.
Looking forward to reading
I would love to read !
Would love to win.
Just reading the excerpt has already drawn me in…look forward to reading the book.
This book sounds amazing! I would love to win a paperback copy to read the rest. I’ve never read any of your books but this one would be a start
Sounds interesting!
Sounds like an interesting read. I will put this on my to be read list.
Im in, my kinda reading enjoyment
I haven’t read anything by James Lovegrove but I love Sherlock Holmes stories.
Will be sure to suggest to the local library’s purchasing dept.
I love James Lovegrove’s Sherlock series. Fingers crossed!
Ready to read for Christmas!
I need a good Sherlock Holmes story..this book may be it!
E
Intriguing opening would enjoy reading it.
Love Mr. Holmes
Very interesting has captured my interest!
Looks like an enjoyable read. Great setup!
Anything with Holmes and Watson is worth reading! And a Christmas setting is a nice bonus.
Lovely cover, great Sherlock, new-to-me author!
Christmas with Holmes and Watson? Nothing better than that!
Yes please ☺
Sherlock is absolutely my favorite fictional character of all time! My son even named his pet mouse Sherlock. Unfortunately he was murdered, we solved this crime quickly…the dachshund did it!
Looks great! Would love to win.
Thank you for the opportunity
Love the writing and the descriptions. Look forward to reading this new Holmes novel.
Sherlock HOlmes is always worth reading!
Captivating and fascinating. Sherlock Holmes is always riveting.
Vivid descriptions and unique feature. Thanks.
Count me in, please!
This sounds like a great read
This excerpt has me wanting to read the rest of the book! Absolutely love Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.
Cannot wait to read this new take on Sherlock!
“The game is afoot!” By all means include me in the chance to win this book!
Wow! Sherlock for Christmas. After reading this tiny snippet ican hardly wait for the whole package.
Ok I am going read it
Love Sherlock.
Hi guys! Just love the Criminal Element newsletter and would love to read this take on Sherlock Holmes!
From the first few sentences I could tell that this would be a great read.
It’s on my “to read” list!
It’s all there. Remarkable calculations of travel time based on ‘data’ which others would never notice. Broughams, mysterious gunshots, and strange relations all meld together to make this a real want-to-read Sherlockian true book! The Game’s Afoot!
Ooh, this sounds like a great one! Fingers crossed
I’d love to win this title.
Yes, please enter me in this sweepstakes.
Thanks!
I loved James Lovegrove’s Firefly book and I would definitely love to read his take on Sherlock Holmes.
I’m definitely interested. Very captivating.
So captivating! Very interested in reading this one
Oh I’m totally intrigued! Thank-you for this excerpt!
Very evocative. Got shivers up my spine!
cool
I Love Sherlock Holmes mysteries. I would love to be able to win this to read. Thank you for the chance.
I just love a Christmas mystery. Sherlock Holmes has always been my favorite sleuth. Thrilling indeed.
I’ve been a Sherlock Holmes fan ever since I was a teen. I’m always up for a new Sherlock story.
Holmes sounds like a good Christmas guest
Our book club is always looking for a good Christmas book. This sounds perfect. The excerpt catches your attention right away; we can’t wait to read the rest.
I do love a good Sherlockian mystery and James Lovegood is the man for the job! I have a few of his books and enjoy them immensely. Looking forward to this one!
I was sucked in from the very beginning. I love Sherlock mysteries and can’t wait to find out more.
Would definitely like to read this.
Love Sherlock Holmes mysteries, love Christmas season, so this book would be the perfect combination!
I love this cover! Thanks for the chance!
I’ve always loved Sherlock and Christmas! The two together is amazing. Would be a perfect read for the holiday.
Sherlock Holmes–one of the first introductions to me along with Christie and Poe stories.
It sounds like a really interesting book. Thank you for the chance.
You had me at “Sherlock”….
Love Sherlock Holmes. This looks like it might be a good one!
Seems like a interesting Sherlocking style story.
Would love to read/win, sounds intriguing, thank you.
I’ll have to read this!
Sherlock Holmes!! BEST detective….and Christmas…well count me in for a good read!!
I’m always up for a new Sherlock novel. Thank you for the review and giveaway!
Look forward to reading this new Sherlock Holmes story. A Sherlock Holmes Christmas is better than a Hallmark Christmas!
Interesting excerpt, would like to read to see how this visit turns out.
Oh how I would love to be able to curl up with this book during the upcoming Christmas holiday, next to the fireplace with my coffee while the wind howls & the snow swirls outside.
One can never have too much Sherlock Holmes.
Intriguing excerpt!
Looking forward to the sequel in the Cthulhu Casebook series!
Can’t wait to read the rest! Intriguing.
Have never read Lovegrove. This sounds like a great one to start with. Perfect for a winter read.
I love a good Sherlock Holmes mystery. Thanks for the opportunity to win a copy of “Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Demon”.
I thoroughly enjoyed this excerpt and would enjoy reading this book.
I love sherlock homes always a mystery can’t wait to read this book.
I can’t wait to read this.
Sherlock lives on!! Looks intriguing.
Ah, to tuck one’s legs up on the sofa, sip the cider and get lost in Holmes’ doings – yes, count me in.
Any chance to spend an evening reading a Sherlock Holmes tale is a treasure.
Sherlock, I’m in
In my “Word if the Day” email I just learned what crennalations are. How fortuitous.
I love everything Sherlock Holmes! Thanks for the chance =)
“Sherlock Holmes”, you say? count me in!!