Sherlock Holmes and the mystery of Haut-Koenigsbourg

Genre(s):

• Detective fiction
• Sherlock Holmes pastiche

Keywords:

• Sherlock Holmes
• Investigations
• Victorian Era
• Wilhelm II
• The Holy Lance

Audience: suitable for all audiences; fans of historical fiction, investigations, and Sherlock Holmes pastiche.

Right sold abroad: /

Concept

Five years before the Great War, Sherlock Holmes is sent to Continental Europe to thwart the plot of England’s future enemy: Wilhelm II.

Universe and references

• In the great tradition of detective fiction (Sherlock Holmes, Arsène Lupin, Hercule Poirot…)
• Film Sherlock Holmes – A Game of Shadows (Guy Ritchie)
• Belle-époque, Victorian Era
• The first volume of a successful series of investigations by Jacques Fortier (The Adventures of Jules Meyer)
• This novel has been adapted into a comic published by Verger
• The Haut-Koenigsbourg castle, a popular tourist site

Pitch

1909. France has lost the War of 1870 and Alsace-Lorraine is now part of the Second Reich. Its new leader, Wilhelm II, is investing his energy and precious goldmarks in the reconstruction of the Haut-Koenigsbourg castle. But since the site was inaugurated, why has he been secretly receiving his military staff there?

Ever since his victory over Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes has distanced himself from crime and his investigations, but this case of espionage will force him to go back on the job…

Author

Jacques Fortier is a journalist at Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace in Strasbourg and a correspondant for Le Monde. He wrote this novel to pay homage to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) for the 150th birthday anniversary of the man who would bring the great detective to life.

At a glance

• Novel
• Word count: 276,000 characters including spaces
• Available material in English: this presentation (including an overview of the work’s characteristics) and a translated excerpt