Created by John R. Kelly
Pass.
Okay, it was a brazen enough gimmick roping in Chandler, Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner, Raoul Whitfield and various other torch carriers of the Shamus Game as amateur or even professional sleuths, and the results were generally, hit or miss. Now Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, C.S. Lewis and J.R. Tolkien actually form a detective agency in the too-cute-by-half The Inklings Detective Agency (2026).
Even if they do eventually enlist the aid of mystery gals of the era like Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, and the author splashes literary trivia all over the place, cramming the proceedings with a shitload of wink-wink Easter eggs, and cameos by Aleister Crowley and G.K. Chesterton (among others), I just have to wonder… WHY?
Sure, devoted fans of these writers, tea-slurping PBS addicts, BritBox subscribers, and tweedy Anglophiles may all be tempted, although they may be thrown off by some glaring anachronisms and unfortunate Americanisms apparently running rampant in 1930s Britain.
Me? I think I’ll skip this one.
And now that I’ve stuck my neck out, watch — it’ll spawn a long-running series and probably an equally successful television series.
On PBS, of course.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
American author John R. Kelly has studied history and spirituality for most of his life, which led to a career in teaching Church History and Biblical Studies at True North College, including courses on the occult, history of world religions and also the real-life Inklings. He currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and eight children. So far.
NOVELS
- The Inklings Detective Agency (2026) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- Rest in Pieces
The Fictionalized Lives of Private Eye Writers & Other Folks
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
