A Huddersfield author is following in the footsteps of the crime-writing greats after being invited to join the ranks of an exclusive literary club.
Sherlock Holmes expert David Stuart Davies says he was “incredibly proud and honoured” to receive an invitation to join The Detection Club, an exclusive body whose membership is made up of detective story writers.
Formed in 1930 by writers including GK Chesterton and Dorothy L. Sayers, The Detection Club is, says Davies, “essentially a social club” for British writers that meets three times a year at London’s Garrick Club or the Dorchester Hotel on Park Lane.
Other high-profile members have included Agatha Christie. The current membership boasts John Le Carre, Colin Dexter, Antonia Fraser and Ian Rankin.
Davies, who lives near Greenhead Park , says news of his involvement in the club came as a great surprise.
“I got a letter inviting me to accept membership. I was thrilled. New members have to be proposed and seconded and once that happened I went to London for the initiation ceremony, which took place at the Dorchester.
“The chairman wears the robe that was worn by GK Chesterton in the early days. There are four black candles and a skull. Initiates stroke the skull and swear a motto. I chose some lines from The Hound of the Baskervilles. Then you are a member.
“It sounds sinister but it’s all very tongue-in-cheek. Once you join you find that these famous people are very normal and friendly. Wine flows freely and everyone has a good time.”
The Detection Club is to publish an anthology of short stories, for which Davies has contributed a Sherlock Holmes tale. Its first chairman was to have been Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who died the year it was created.
A Sherlockian expert, playwright, short story writer and novelist, Davies’ books include studies of Sherlock Holmes in the movies, a biography of actor Jeremy Brett, two stage plays about the Great Detective and books set in World War Two featuring one-eyed detective Johnny Hawke.
He is also the author of the Paul Snow series of books, focusing on a Huddersfield detective. He has written a trilogy of novels beginning with Brothers in Blood in 2013 and followed by Innocent Blood last year. The finale, Blood Rites, will be published in 2017.
“Those books are all set in Huddersfield in the 1980s, and the town is very recognisable,” says Davies. “Some locations are slightly disguised but locals will always spot giveaway clues.”
