We are delighted to welcome author Vasudev Murthy to Omnimystery News today.
Vasudev's new book is Sherlock Holmes, The Missing Years: Japan (Poisoned Pen Press; March 2015 hardcover, trade paperback and ebook formats), the first of a new series that follows Holmes and Dr. Watson in the period after the events that took place at Reichenbach Falls.
We recently had the opportunity to spend some time with Vasudev to talk about the book.
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Omnimystery News: Holmes and Watson are such well-known characters in literature. Setting aside the intriguing premise of your series for the moment, how do you expect to develop them over the course of several books?
Photo provided courtesy of
Vasudev Murthy
Vasudev Murthy: I don't have a clever and snappy answer. The fact is that using a recurring character helps me because I have a picture of him in my mind and it's helpful to work off that. Readers are also used to the character and identify with him. I certainly experiment and take chances and am prepared to take the risk of surprising the reader.
OMN: In general, how do you go about categorizing your work?
VM: My books have already been classified (no one asked me!). Yes, classifications are helpful to the reader but bother me a bit. That's because I like to write across a spectrum of subjects — crime, history, management, humor, music and so on — and weave them all together. Is "Bizarre, Baffling and Chaotic" a genre? Then that's where my books could be placed.
OMN: Give us a summary of Japan in a tweet.
VM: Sherlock Holmes worked for Japanese intelligence when he was "missing"! Espionage, music, Yakuza, travel, humor, history, romance, Watson.
OMN: How much of your own personal or professional experience have you included in the book?
VM: Yes, of course real events and people inspire my writing. First, the very idea for the book came on a trip to Cambodia. My visits to Japan also provided inspiration. And as far as characters are concerned, yes, there are quite a number. For example, the musicians are certainly based on people I know.
OMN: Tell us about your writing process.
VM: I'm afraid my answer will be rather disappointing. The story develops as I write for the most part, though I do have a dozen key points that I know I need to integrate or touch upon. But this works for me because the writing process results in new ideas emerging. Which means the expected cast of characters potentially expands.
However, I am personally dissatisfied. I think I should be more disciplined. I have written many books and am improving, but not fast enough.
OMN: How do you go about researching the plot points of your stories?
VM: There is extensive research, which is something every writer must go through. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I'm hoping there's a reader out there who knows precisely what I'm talking about when I make a reference to something in, say, Cambodia, Japan, Russia, India or elsewhere. How do you weave elements of history during the same time window to make it authentic? That takes patience, but then when you write, it's very satisfying.
What I find really challenging is different alphabets and the nuances of languages. In the upcoming book, I have had to learn, at least at a basic level, two unusual languages from Africa. That's the only way to make the material seem authentic. In the Sherlock Holmes in Japan story, I had to research the Kanji script. Further, I have to be careful not to let my personal preferences or prejudices impact my story.
OMN: You have already traveled widely, but if we could send you anywhere in the world to research the setting for a story, where would it be?
VM: I am presently deep into my next book, Sherlock Holmes, the Missing Years: Timbuktu. I'd love to travel to Morocco, Mali, Algeria, Chad and Sudan to check out a few points.
OMN: Have any of your outside interests found their way into your books?
VM: Yes, an author has to draw on aspects of his identity to create something. So travel, music and animal rights certainly find their way into my books.
OMN: Tell us how you came up with the idea for the series? And were you involved with the cover design of this first book in it?
VM: I was minding my own business in Angkor Vat, Cambodia when the thought passed through my mind that Sherlock Holmes would have been quite delighted to have visited the place. It would perhaps have been enroute to Japan, I thought. The book developed on its own from there. The cover design of the book as edited and produced by Poisoned Pen Press came after a number of iterations. Japan had to come through and so did Sherlock Holmes. I think the temple and the flowers look ethereal and Japanese.
OMN: What kind of feedback have you received from readers?
VM: There are number of Sherlock Holmes fans who are hard-core and swear by what they call the "canon." They want the adventures of someone who never existed to be absolutely "true" and don't like characterizations which do not seem true to form. It's something I have to live with. On the other hand, some people have liked the travels and the liberties I have taken with both Holmes and Watson. You can't please everyone.
OMN: What kinds of books did you read when you were young? And do you think any of these influenced how and what you write today?
VM: Humor, tales of WWII, detective novels. No, there was no predominant influence; I write across multiple genres. But obviously what one picks up or is inspired by are the writing styles of favorite authors.
OMN: And who might those authors be?
VM: Yukio Mishima, R K Narayan, P G Wodehouse and Edgar Allan Poe. And of course, A C Doyle!
OMN: Create a Top 5 list for us on any topic.
VM: Top 5 places I need to visit:
• Morocco;
• Timbuktu;
• Southern Algeria;
• Northern Chad; and
• The Fourth cataract of the Nile.
OMN: Wnat's next for you?
VM: The Timbuktu book and the planning for a book on classical music. Some serious music practice. Some specific animal welfare matters. World Peace.
I've written a satire on literary festivals. It sneers very cruelly at authors, poets, editors and publishers. I want to find a publisher who has a sense of humour. Please let me know if you bump into one.
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Vasudev Murthy was born in Delhi and has meandered around the world with lengthy stopovers in Tallahassee and Dallas. His books span a variety of interests, from Indian classical music to crime fiction, humor, and business management. A violinist and animal rights activist, Vasudev lives with his family and five snoring dogs in Bangalore, India where he runs a consulting firm.
For more information about the author, please visit his website and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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Sherlock Holmes, The Missing Years: Japan by Vasudev Murthy
The Missing Years Series
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
It's 1893. King Kamehameha III of Hawaii declares Sovereignty Restoration Day … Tension grows between China and Japan over Korea … The Bengal Famine worsens … A brilliant scientist in Calcutta challenges the system … The senior priest at Kyoto's Kinkaku-ji temple is found dead in mysterious circumstances.
Dr John H. Watson receives a strange letter from Yokohama. Then the quiet, distinguished Mr. Hashimoto is murdered inside a closed room on a voyage from Liverpool to Bombay. In the opium dens of Shanghai and in the back alleys of Tokyo, sinister men hatch evil plots. Professor Moriarty stalks the world, drawing up a map for worldwide dominion. Only one man can outwit the diabolical Professor Moriarty. Only one man can save the world. Has Sherlock Holmes survived the Reichenbach Falls?
In a seriocomic novel that radically ups the ante, Sherlock Holmes and Watson find their match in more than one man (or indeed, woman) as a clock inexorably ticks. History, mystery, romance, conspiracies, knife-edge tension; a train in Russia, roadside crime in Alexandria, an upset stomach in Bombay, careening through Cambodia, nasty people in China, monks in Japan — here's a thrilling global chase that will leave you breathless (occasionally with laughter) as the Sherlock Holmes: The Missing Years series begins.
— Sherlock Holmes, The Missing Years: Japan by Vasudev Murthy
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