Dinner with the Sherlockians - and the Gladstones

If, twenty years ago, you'd have told me that one day I'd not only be asked to deliver an after-dinner speech, but would accept the invitation and enjoy the experience. I wouldn't have believed you. For many years, I was a very reluctant public speaker, and although I did a lot of advocacy and gave quite a few legal lectures, public speaking was something I went to some lengths to avoid. I have always felt more comfortable away from the public eye, writing rather than talking. But times change, and life as an author has made me - gradually - increasingly confident about my public speaking. I'm still not a natural, but I cherish some of the kind speaker testimonials that I've put on my website, because this is a skill I've learned slowly and with some trepidation over a long period.

Quite out of the blue, the Sherlock Holmes Society of London approached me earlier this year. They were holding their annual conference in the North West, based at Gladstone's Library, and asked me to give the main speech. After a bit of hesitation, I said yes and started thinking about how to tackle the task. I decided to include in the speech a jokey pastiche of a Sherlock Holmes story, set at the Library and featuring William Ewart Gladstone himself. I ran it by a Sherlockian expert once I'd written it, but when I learned, a few days before the event, that the guests of honour were Sir William and Lady Gladstone, members of the great man's family who are still based at Hawarden Castle, I was a bit daunted!

I did feel a bit nervous, but the evening proved very enjoyable and I met some delightful people, including the Gladstones. And it's abundantly clear that Sherlock is as popular as ever. This Society alone (and there are others) has 1400 members, and the success of the recent films and Benedict Cumberbatch show has boosted numbers. Sherlockians are apparently very active on Twitter and I learned a great deal in pleasant company.

I've always been a Sherlock fan, but this experience has strengthened my enthusiasm especially since by coincidence, I've recently been commissioned to write an essay about Conan Doyle for  a literary book to be published in the near future. I may well write another Sherlockian pastiche before long, time permitting, using an idea that came to me when I visitied a museum in Prague lsat year. And on the subject of speaking, the after dinner speech has led to another speaking invitation, this time to one of the Oxford University Societies. Again, something I never would have imagined, twenty or so years ago.

The Coming of Spring

It’s been a long, hard and at times horrible winter, and even this morning, on the last day of March, the headlines in Britain are about heavy snow and ‘traffic chaos’. The brighter days can’t come soon enough.

So I thought I’d indulge myself with a few photographs taken on Sunday, when the sun made an appearance. On my visit to St Deiniol’s Library in Hawarden, to launch The Serpent Pool last month, I became aware of the 18th century ‘new’ Hawarden Castle, once home to William Ewart Gladstone, the Prime Minister who founded the Library, and now home to his descendants. In the grounds are the ruins of a much older castle, built around the 13th century, but with Iron Age origins.

Because I love history, I love castles. Kendal Castle features in a scene in The Cipher Garden, and I like writing about Daniel Kind’s passion for history as a subject which does require many of the skills of a detective. I also love attractive gardens (I admit to preferring to visit them than to doing my own gardening!) and again this is reflected in The Cipher Garden. So when I heard that Hawarden Castle would open its gardens last Sunday, I seized the moment – and was rewarded with a thoroughly enjoyable trip to another country (well, Wales) that was only 35 minutes from home. A beautiful place.

The St Deiniol's Launch

I had a wonderful time on Thursday evening launching The Serpent Pool at St Deiniol’s Residential Library in Hawarden, North Wales. For a variety of unfortunate reasons, I’ve had to cancel a number of events lately, as well as a planned trip to the US to promote the book and attend Left Coast Crime, which has been disappointing. But the launch audience was extremely friendly and enthusiastic and I had the pleasure of signing plenty of books.

I must say that I’ve been thrilled by the response to The Serpent Pool. Already there have been some really wonderful reviews, for which I’m most grateful, as well as reactions from readers (both those who have read my books in the past and those who have not). I’ve collected extracts from the reviews here.

St Deiniol’s Library was founded, as I’ve mentioned previously, by William Ewart Gladstone, four times Prime Minister, whose descendants still live in Hawarden. The launch took place in the Gladstone Room, and it was possible to forget this long, miserable winter when warmed by a splendid open fire and the spirit of good fellowship that pervades the place.

For me, it was a special treat not only to dine at St Deiniol’s, but to stay overnight in the library’s very well appointed residential accommodation. Last summer, I was told about St Deiniol’s by a fellow crime writer who has stayed there a good many times, and who finds the unique atmosphere highly conducive to both reading and writing. Now that I have sampled the St Deiniol’s experience, I can see exactly what she meant. The library is fantastic, and there is a separate, smallish but interesting collection of modern fiction first editions (which, I noticed, includes a first edition of Colin Dexter’s debut novel…) If you ever want to stay somewhere in the North West that is modestly priced yet quite delightful, checking out St Deiniol’s should be a priority.

The launch was organised by Annette Lewis, the St Deiniol’s Development Officer, who made sure everything went with a swing. There will almost certainly be a Lake District residential library in my next novel. But despite the inspiration that I’ve found in Hawarden, my fictional library will be very different – St Deiniol’s is a place to be cherished, and also one that you really couldn’t make up.

A Book Lover's Paradise

I’ve been aware that St Deiniol’s Library is something special for many years, but a conversation in Ludlow during the summer set me thinking. A fellow writer who lives in the South of England told me that she’d spent time there working on her novel, and she’d found it a wonderful ‘get away from it all’ place where she could write and research. Given that St Deiniol’s is quite a journey from her home, it was clear that the place must exert a strong pull.

When I was playing about with ideas for my next novel, it struck me that somewhere like St Deiniol’s might provide a good background.for a few scenes. So it was about time I had a look at the place, even if I meant to transplant a fictionalised version of it to the Lake District. And I’m very glad I did.

Let me explain. St Deiniol’s Library is tucked away in the small Welsh town of Hawarden, not far from the border with my home county, Cheshire. It was founded in 1889 by William Ewart Gladstone, the legendary politician who served as Prime Minister no fewer than four times. Gladstone came from Hawarden and he donated his own massive book collection to get it off the ground, though he didn’t live to see the project completed.

It’s now a remarkable – I’m tempted to say, unique - place, with a wonderful book collection that has an emphasis on scholarship and religious studies. The interior of the library is marvellously atmospheric, but there is more - you can actually stay there overnight! For St Deiniol’s is a residential library which accommodates visitors at a remarkably modest price. There’s not only a pleasant restaurant but a lovely drawing room where you can read to your heart’s content in peace and quiet. Conferences take place regularly – one on creative writing next spring, I noticed - and there are plans to build an Islamic studies reading room.

I only had time for a short visit to St Deiniol’s, but I was seriously impressed. I will be back, for sure.