Moonraker Posted 23 December , 2012 Share Posted 23 December , 2012 Actually the title of this book is Dead Man's Land by Robert Ryan, to be published by Simon & Schuster on January 3. The author has a two-page article in today's Sunday Times' Culture in which he describes how he wrote the book about Dr Watson re-joining the Colours in 1914 as a temporary major. Keenly interested in blood transfusion, he's given permission to try the new technique at a Casualty Clearing Station, When a patient dies, Watson is convinced that it wasn't because of his methodology but rather a case of murder - which he investigates, In the article Ryan gives a bit of background about Watson, deduced from the Holmes stories - which, overall, are a bit confused as to how many wives he had (and I believe that though Conan Doyle usually gave his first name as John he once rendered it as James). He is thought to have been born in 1853 or 1854, which would make him rather old to serve in France, but our very own Sue Light told Ryan that some doctors with particular skills were enlisted in the RAMC "at a reasonably advanced age". Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 23 December , 2012 Share Posted 23 December , 2012 Presumably he re joined after he and Holmes dealt with a German spy in the last of Conan Doyle's stories Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dale Posted 23 December , 2012 Share Posted 23 December , 2012 Which if I recollect correctly, immediately predates the outbreak of war - "an east wind coming ... such a wind as never blew on England yet. It will be cold and bitter, Watson, and a good many of us may wither before its blast". Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 24 December , 2012 Share Posted 24 December , 2012 , which would make him rather old to serve in France, but our very own Sue Light told Ryan that some doctors with particular skills were enlisted in the RAMC "at a reasonably advanced age". Moonraker "Weary" Dunlop was serving as Team Leader in the Australian Surgical Team in in Vietnam at this age, and older, IIRC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 24 December , 2012 Share Posted 24 December , 2012 If we are diverting into the world of fiction - In his preface to The House of Silk ("edited" by Anthony Horowitz) Dr Watson informs us that he was Assistant Surgeon to the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers and that his career in Medicine and other areas was sufficiently distinguished for him to be awarded the Order of Merit in 1908 (Later in the book he informs us that Lestrade achieved the rank of Assistant Commissioner before retiring and Mycroft after retiring from the Civil Service became the Master of an Oxbridge College and survived Sherlock who was found dead in his Sussex retirement home sometime during WW1) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 24 December , 2012 Author Share Posted 24 December , 2012 Ever since I started this thread we have been in the world of fiction, though I suppose there are at least two levels, that of Conan Doyle and that of people who have taken his characters and extrapolated on how their lives might have been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 24 December , 2012 Share Posted 24 December , 2012 Ever since I started this thread we have been in the world of fiction, That's what I meant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 25 December , 2012 Share Posted 25 December , 2012 He received his medical degree in 1878 so the assumption he was born around 1856 give or take a couple of years is probably correct, a quick look at the list of Medical officers In the British Army suggests this would make him around 15 years older than the oldest regular RAMC medical officer during WW1 but that doesn't mean a lot there were other volunteer doctors who who served in their late 50's, so if he was fit, a gammy leg wouldn't rule him out, he had the necessary skills and surgeons were in demand (an expertise in blood transfusions would I'm sure make him a man of interest to the army) there is no reason why he couldn't have served. So I believe every word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 25 December , 2012 Author Share Posted 25 December , 2012 And of course he had excellent connections in high places because of the very important people that Holmes had had as clients. Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John(txic) Posted 25 December , 2012 Share Posted 25 December , 2012 I'm intrigued - I've just reserved a copy at my local library! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 26 December , 2012 Share Posted 26 December , 2012 He received his medical degree in 1878 so the assumption he was born around 1856 give or take a couple of years is probably correct, a quick look at the list of Medical officers In the British Army suggests this would make him around 15 years older than the oldest regular RAMC medical officer during WW1 but that doesn't mean a lot there were other volunteer doctors who who served in their late 50's, so if he was fit, a gammy leg wouldn't rule him out, he had the necessary skills and surgeons were in demand (an expertise in blood transfusions would I'm sure make him a man of interest to the army) there is no reason why he couldn't have served. So I believe every word. I can certainly recommend The House of Silk which I've just finished. It was commissioned by the Doyle estate and written to 10 strict rules to preserve style and continuity with the rest of the canon. It is set just eight weeks after the events in The League of Red Headed Men (the winter of 1890) but is narrated in 1916 after Holmes' death and his memorial service at Westminster Abbey (so the war is mentioned). Watson states that his old wound is causing him considerable difficulty. In a section at the back of the book Horowitz (the author of Foyles War) describes how it came to be written and the ten rules followed. He makes a point about Watson's wound which in the original Holmes canon was originally in the arm mysteriously only migrating to the leg in the later stories. AFAIK the only previous Holmes book "authorised" by the Doyle estate was The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes by Adrian Conan Doyle and John Dickenson Carr which covered those cases mention by Watson in passing in the original stories. It too retained the flavour and style of the originals. There have of course been many other attempts to produce 'new' Holmes stories (with varying degrees of success) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 2 December , 2013 Author Share Posted 2 December , 2013 Well, I've finished it, and along the way I've posted elsewhere in the Forum on a couple of interesting points it raises. When it comes to "detective stories set in the Front Line", it's better than the Ben Elton one that was reviewed here back in 2005-06. (I can't believe it was that long ago, and none of us seems to have noted its title.) And it's obviously been very well researched, especially when it comes to military medical matters of a hundred years ago. (Well done, Sue.) I had a little trouble identifying the Dr Watson of Robert Ryan with that of Conan Doyle: enduring rather more than his fair share of hardship close to the Front Line - and, indeed, in No Man's Land - than a medical man of around 60 might expect, even having returned to the Colours. But then tens of thousands of men men of various ages swapped the comfort and gentility of Britain (and elsewhere) for the rigours of combat. And I felt that the plot was not 100% convincing; indeed there appeared to be a couple of chinks in it, even after I'd gone back to passages that might have provided a couple of answers. (I can't go into details without giving too much away.) But then many detective stories do not bear very close examination. But Dead Man's Land was well written, with lots of details about the war, and I enjoyed reading it. Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John(txic) Posted 2 December , 2013 Share Posted 2 December , 2013 The Ben Elton one was not as bad as I thought it was going to be... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 2 December , 2013 Author Share Posted 2 December , 2013 But what was its title? Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 2 December , 2013 Share Posted 2 December , 2013 For my part, I absolutely LOVED "The house of Silk" ... But then I do like the Horowitz books in general, having devoured the Alex Rider series at the speed of publishing. - yes, I know they're kid books... Going to look for Dead Man's Land at the Library... sounds exciting!! But what was its title? Moonraker The First Casualty ... title having not much to do with the content of the book ... found it OK, but no more !! MM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 2 December , 2013 Share Posted 2 December , 2013 PS ... is it the same author that wrote "Night Crossing"??? That's from WWII... they have that one in the Library, but not Dead Man's Land... MM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Light Posted 2 December , 2013 Share Posted 2 December , 2013 Marilyne Yes, that's one of his - more here: Robert Ryan books Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trotter1587 Posted 6 December , 2013 Share Posted 6 December , 2013 With reference back to Robert Ryan's Dead Man's Land I found the reason the author gave for why Holmes and Watson were split up (i.e. Holmes didn't agree with there being a war) somewhat puzzling. And that for Watson to serve he must have been 60-something to be a Major.. But other than that I found it a gripping read! Would reccomend and might have hope another Ryan Watson/Holmes is in the pipeline. Trotter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Light Posted 6 December , 2013 Share Posted 6 December , 2013 Yes, 'The Dead Can Wait' due out on 2nd January 2014. Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 6 December , 2013 Author Share Posted 6 December , 2013 ... I found the reason the author gave for why Holmes and Watson were split up (i.e. Holmes didn't agree with there being a war) somewhat puzzling... The way I interpreted it was that Holmes was concerned that Watson was too old for active service - he even threatened to write to a senior person at the War Office to block him. He was acting out of affection, but gave way to the pique of us old men when Watson refused to be swayed. I was less convinced about the coded letter Holmes sent to Watson in France. Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 6 December , 2013 Share Posted 6 December , 2013 Does a novel about the war apply to my rule of "no WWI books until I've finished the rest?" Probably... OK... have to bribe sister to buy it for me as Christmas gift... MM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanCurragh Posted 9 December , 2013 Share Posted 9 December , 2013 Dead Man's Land is today's Kindle Daily Deal - 99p from Amazon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 5 January , 2014 Share Posted 5 January , 2014 Just finished "Night Crossing"... if the Holmes books are half as good as this one... they're bound to be a treat!! MM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraint Posted 25 March , 2014 Share Posted 25 March , 2014 More or less finishing Dead Man's Land and I must absolutely concur with Moonraker's comment in post #12. It's excellently researched and well written - but the plot and some characters are thin at times. Miss Pippery's death for example, as well as the suffragette connotations. but I did enjoy the Watson character and found him to be most plausible as an elderly doctor in the front line. John Anderson, a GP from this home town was 60 when he was KIA and a Captain Simpson in the Vet Corps, also from this town, was 67 when he died of illness serving in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnMcD Posted 26 March , 2014 Share Posted 26 March , 2014 I've just started reading Dead Man's Land and am up to page 57. I'm probably nit-picking but officers in the British Army didn't have numbers did they? Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps - surely he means QA's Imperial Military Nursing Service. Am I going to be reading with pencil poised for the rest of the book? Ann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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