Deadly Antagonist

Oct 19

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KD Sherrinford Author Interview

The Whistle of Revenge finds Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler married and living under assumed identities, fighting to rescue their son who has been kidnapped by their nemesis. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I wanted to write book four of the Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler Mysteries with kidnapping as the premise. Finding a worthy adversary for Holmes was the tricky part.

I enjoyed the shifts in perspective. What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of writing from various characters’ points of view?

After much deliberation, I decided on Jack Stapleton, the deadly antagonist from The Hound of the Baskervilles. Although Jack was presumed dead, meeting an a grisly end on the Great Grimpen Mire, his body was never found. He was such a great character to resurrect. I decided to give him his own POV so readers could get to know a bit more about the celebrated Detective’s old nemesis and discover what he’d been up to for the past seventeen years.

Writing from Jack’s perspective was the most challenging because so little was known about him. I enjoyed developing the character. Some of my readers told me they felt a little sorry for him at times.

How do you balance story development with shocking plot twists? Or can they be the same thing?

It’s tricky to balance the two. I am a panster writer, so plot twists and story development come to me as I go along. However, I did a fair bit of outlining for Whistle, mainly due to the complexity of the story.

Can fans look forward to more from Holmes and Adler? What are you currently working on?

I plan to start book five before the end of this year, which will find Sherlock and Irene in the USA, which will make a nice change from all those tricky Italian translations. It’s going to be another controversial story with a shocking plot twist that readers will not see coming, involving events from Sherlock and Irene’s past, which will have far-reaching consequences for our intrepid duo. I can’t wait to get started.

Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon

Sometimes, our deepest fear is not the darkness but the light that blinds.


If you loved Conan Doyle’s, The Hound of the Baskerville, prepare to be enthralled by KD Sherrinford’s captivating follow-up, The Whistle of Revenge.

The deadly antagonist, Jack Stapleton, makes a spectacular return to the city of Milan in pursuit of his old nemesis, the celebrated Detective Sherlock Holmes.

Adopting the enigmatic persona of Janus, a vengeful Stapleton, along with the Italian mafia, wreak havoc on the Italian horse racing fraternity and fledgling car manufacturing industry, and kidnapping Holmes’s beloved son as part of their evil and well-executed master plan—Operation Whistle.

Will Holmes, Irene Adler, and their trusted ally, Inspector Romano, crack the code, rescue the boy, and unmask the deadly Janus?

Set against the backdrop of modern Milan, mind games and misdeeds of the highest order play out as the story reaches its thrilling and memorable conclusion.

Posted on October 19, 2025, in Interviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.

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