Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: The Irregular
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S): Lyle, Ben
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY: London
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: British
http://www.shotsmag.co.uk/interview_view.aspx?interview_id=302
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in London, England; children: twin daughters.
EDUCATION:University of East Anglia, M.A., Ph.D.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Feature film development, screenwriter, teacher, novelist. Working Title Films and the Film Council, screenplay development executive.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
South London screenwriter and novelist H.B. Lyle has worked in feature film development. He earned an M.A. in creative writing and a Ph.D. from University of East Anglia, which he credits for inspiring his debut novel, The Irregular: A Different Class of Spy. Lyle was also a screenplay development executive for Working Title Films and the Film Council, and currently teaches undergraduates.
In 2017, Lyle published The Irregular. Set in 1909 London, the book reimagines the establishment of the British Secret Service, forerunner of MI5 and MI6. Vernon Kell is head of counterintelligence at the war office in London. He wants to set up a new agency that will covertly gather intelligence domestically and abroad to thwart threats to the British Empire. His knows that he won’t get clearance unless he proves there is an actual threat. He enlists the help of debt collector and ex-soldier Wiggins, who as a street urchin was trained by none other than Sherlock Holmes and led the Baker Street Irregulars gang of children. Wiggins first refuses to join Kell, but after his best friend, a constable, is killed by Russian anarchists, he readily agrees to root out the Russian gang responsible. Lyle also delves into pre-World War I espionage by the Germans, and gives Winston Churchill a cameo role. “The author captures the atmosphere of 1909 London with sharp observations and dialogue. We look forward to its sequel with great anticipation,” noted Theodore Feit in MBR Bookwatch.
In an interview with Mike Stotter online at Shots, Lyle explained how he incorporated real people, like Churchill and Kell, into his story: “The use of real historical figures is always a delicate balance to strike. You want to write interesting, surprising and engaging characters—traits that the original people might not have. So while I’ve tried to be reasonably responsible with my depiction of these people, I’ve had some fun with them too.”
A Publishers Weekly reviewer noted the fresh angle to the Sherlock Holmes spin-off and the historical setting, and the nod to James Bond fans by giving Wiggins the code name “double 0.” Nevertheless, the reviewer also said: “Others may have a problem with Wiggins’s underdeveloped character and a plot that doesn’t realize its potential.” On the other hand, Xpress Reviews writer Barbara Clark-Greene said: “Fans of Sherlock Holmes and spy novels will enjoy this debut by a former screenwriter peppered with historical figures.” A Hindustan Times Online reviewer commented that the book “skillfully spins both fact and fiction to create a tense, pulsating story that uses the frame of a murder mystery to exhibit international intrigue, history and social issues.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
MBR Bookwatch, December 2017, Theodore Feit, review of The Irregular: A Different Class of Spy.
Publishers Weekly, September 4, 2017, review of The Irregular, p. 65.
Xpress Reviews, December 8, 2017, Barbara Clark-Greene, review of The Irregular.
ONLINE
Hindustan Times Online, https://www.hindustantimes.com/ (April 8, 2018), review of The Irregular.
Shots, http://www.shotsmag.co.uk/ (April 8, 2018), Mike Stotter, author interview.
Debut author H.B. LYLE tells (almost) all...
Written by Mike Stotter
Shots: Hi H.B., thank you for agreeing to this interview.
HB: Not at all.
Shots: Let the fun begin. You are at a party, someone asks what you do. Tell us a little about yourself and your background?
HB: I’ve worked in the film industry for many years, mostly as a screenplay development executive for companies such as Working Title Films and the Film Council. I then took an MA in Creative Writing at UEA, followed by a PhD there. All this after an education in a series of anarchist schools, where tests were non-existent and homework was dirty word.
I’m a Londoner born and bred, and I hope the novel reflects that – I love the place. And I once played football with Bobby Charlton, a lifetime high I wrote about for the Guardian. I still live in South London, with my partner and young twin daughters.
Shots: So, that’s you. How about your main character from THE IRREGULAR – Wiggins.
HB: Wiggins used to work for Sherlock Holmes. Smart as a tack, he grew up an orphan on the streets of London, leading a rag-tag gang of street urchins, the Baker Street Irregulars, as they work for Holmes.
Now thirtyish, he’s returned from a long spell in the army and he’s making a hard living on the streets of London. He can never shake his anti-authority streak. He ‘don’t do official.’
Shots: What does he do that is so special?
HB: Wiggins knows London like the back and front of his hand. He can fight, he can climb, he can run. This is his town. He’s whip smart and, here’s the kicker, he’s been taught by the best. With Sherlock Holmes as your mentor, you’ve always got a chance of using those deductive skills in unusual environments.
Had Wiggins been born into a different strata of society, he would have been wildly successful – as it is, a gutter-class street kid doesn’t have a hope of rising in Edwardian society. He’s a superior man born into an inferior position.
Shots: You appear to be a writer very comfortable with writing in historical contexts. What do you consider the most difficult aspect of writing an historical novel?
HB: It’s finding the balance between authenticity, readability and story-telling. You could be totally authentic (in terms of the historical detail) but then there’s a good chance that what you write might be quite boring. Conversely, you could invent a riveting storyline, but if it is too improbable for the period, then you’ll lose the reader that way.
Finding this balance is particularly hard with dialogue. You don’t want the characters to use words that haven’t been invented yet (believe me, this is easy to do) yet you need to find a modern tone and rhythm, otherwise it might become too hard to read.
Shots: You have characters based on real people and you are using the names - Winston Churchill, Mansfield Cumming & Vernon Kell for example, so you have to be reasonably responsible to the originals. During your research did you find out anything about these people that made you go “Wow, I didn’t know that”?
HB: As you say, the use of real historical figures is always a delicate balance to strike. You want to write interesting, surprising and engaging characters - traits that the original people might not have. So while I've tried to be reasonably responsible with my depiction of these people, I've had some fun with them too.
The biggest 'Wow I didn't know that' moments in my research actually came through the events as much as the people. In particular, I'd never heard of the Tottenham Outrage before, yet it's an incredible, chaotic, scarcely believable sequence of events with innumerable gob-smacking moments. I've tried to put as many of these in the novel, so I won't spoil the surprise now, but suffice to say that truth is so often more bizarre and unusual than fiction.
Shots: How do you know when a story is right? Does it hit you first time or are you critical of it as you go along?
HB: My background is in screenplay development, and so I am very used to the process of writing and rewriting, and working on the story again and again. That gives you the discipline to be constantly critical (certainly in the rewriting process.)
With The Irregular, for example, my first thought for the story actually had as its finale an event that will now feature heavily in book two. I realized while writing that I had to tell the story much more quickly, hence I invented the finale rather than using one from history.
Shots: Part of the thrill of being told a story is the chance of being hoodwinked or conned - can you give an example of this from either your novels or research?
HB: It’s tempting to use an example from the novel, but I don’t want to spoil it for any potential readers.
One of the best examples I can think about of being ‘conned’ – or what with my film hat on I might call a ‘reverse’ – actually comes from the film version of LA Confidential. (Spoiler alert!) It’s when the character of Jack Vincennes (played by Kevin Spacey in the movie) goes to report to the head copper. He ends up with a bullet in the chest, revealing that the boss in the ultimate villain.
It’s brilliantly done and totally unexpected. What really kicks this reveal onto the next level is that Vincennes utters the name ‘Rollo Tomassi’ with his dying breath, thereby transmitting a clue – from the grave – to his colleague.
Shots: Without the Wiggins/Sherlock Holmes connection how would the whole premise of THE IRREGULAR worked?
HB: This isn't such a strange question. Indeed, I had a version of this question put to me by a TV producer, whether we 'needed' Holmes.
The short answer is that most of the narrative could work much as it is now, even without Wiggins's connection to Holmes. Or rather, the bulk of the 1909 narrative - the three main storylines - do no rely on this connection. The one major difference would be Wiggins's backstory, which might not have been included at all, and the resulting changes to his character.
However, I think the book is better for this connection. In particular, I think it helps the tone and it also allows for a greater sense of fun and playfulness, to go with the darkness and the thrills.
Shots: What are your thoughts on writing a book series because as the series continues, the range of options for the main character will narrow down. Do you find yourself consciously thinking how Wiggins will develop?
HB: There’s a tension in Wiggins’s position that becomes more pronounced in book two, and it’s a tension that is one that I’m eager to explore more. I have in my head a character arc for Wiggins that could extend to five or seven books. That is, I have an end point for him, and I know how to use certain real life events to help me get there and dramatize this journey.
This is where being an historical novelist is a great boon – because there are real events that can be used and ‘written towards’ as staging posts or end points. It helps me as the writer to structure character arcs.
Shots: What made you decide to sit down and actually start something?
HB: I don’t really know the answer to this question. But I think that what distinguishes many writers from those who are not writers isn’t this decision to start writing something: it’s the decision to finish what they’ve started. And I’ve always had the resolve to finish my work, be it a short story or my first (as yet still) unpublished novel. I realized very early on that there’s no point starting if you’re not prepared to finish.
Shots: What do you find is the most difficult aspect of writing?
HB: Finishing. Or rather, there’s a stage when you’ve written most of the novel – or maybe even completed the first draft – and you have to hold the whole of the story in your head in order to rework it. This is very difficult mentally, given the plot lines, the characters, the language used etc. Making something as long and complex as a novel into a coherent whole – and considering it as such in your head – I find hard.
Shots: What do you like most about your own writing?
HB: There are always too many flaws to ever feel self-congratulatory about any one element. However, the element that I work hardest on getting right is probably story-telling. Keeping the narrative ticking is something that is key to any film writing, and I think I’ve inherited this from my film work.
Shots: Have crime and thrillers played a significant part of your reading background?
HB: My reading background is unusual. For most of the last fifteen years, I’ve been reading books as part of my film work – in other words, you read books to assess their potential for film adaptation.
This has meant my reading habits have been largely circumscribed by my job. I’ve therefore read extensively in just about every genre going since I started working in film: comedy, romance, non-fiction of all types, literary fiction and, yes, a lot of crime and thrillers.
Thinking back to the days when I picked up books for fun, I would say I read fairly widely then too and not specifically in the crime and thriller world. My favourite characters from literature are probably Harry Flashman, Sherlock Holmes, George Smiley, Rumpole of the Bailey and Elizabeth Bennet.
Shots: Could you summarise what really motivates you as a writer?
HB: It sounds cheesy, but I go back to that word storytelling. I like to tell stories. Beneath that, I love working with the language. It’s endlessly fascinating to me how words get their power, and how rearranging them alters meaning, adds impact and, ultimately, stirs emotion.
Shots: The book is going to be adapted for TV - by you I assume? Can you tell us anything about it? (can’t find any info on IMDB)
HB: I am currently adapting it with the director Saul Dibb (N-W, The Duchess, Suite Francaise) for See-Saw Films (Top of the Lake, The King’s Speech.)
I can’t say too much more at present as the producers have plans for it, but watch this space.
Shots: Obviously you’ve written Book 2 - can you share anything about it with us - or will I feel the wrath of the newly-formed foreign arm of the SIB?
HB: Book 2 isn’t yet at a stage where I can share too many details. What I will say is that 1910 is a very interesting year in Britain, that the sequence of events that started with the Tottenham Outrage in Book 1 comes to a head spectacularly in Book 2 and that, yes, the foreign arm of SIB will play some part in Wiggins’s career – watch this space to find out exactly how!
Shots: Many thanks, HB. And congratulations on your debut.
H.B. Lyle’s debut thriller The Irregular is published on 18th May by Hodder & Stoughton, £17.99
Read SHOTS' review
H B Lyle
H.B. Lyle lives in South London with his partner and their twin daughters. After a career in
feature film development, he took an MA in creative writing - then PhD - at the University of
East Anglia, an experience which led to the creation of The Irregular. He also writes screenplays
and teaches undergraduates.
https://twitter.com/benlyle1?lang=en
4/23/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1524520578904 1/4
Print Marked Items
The Irregular: A Different Class of Spy
Theodore Feit
MBR Bookwatch.
(Dec. 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Full Text:
The Irregular: A Different Class of Spy
H. B. Lyle
Quercus
quercus.com
c/o Hachette Book Group
1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104
www.hachettebookgroup. com
9781681440262, $26.99, Hardcover, 292 pp.
In UK: Hodder & Stoughton
9781473655379, 17.99 BPS, Hardcover, 288 pp.
9781784282799, 8.99 BPS, Paperback, Feb. 8, 2018
It's not easy for an author to come up with an original idea for a novel, much less a plot involving Sherlock
Holmes. But that is just what H.B. Lyle has done, albeit the great detective here only playing a minor cameo
role, offstage, as it was. Instead, he has grasped an historical development, the forerunners of Britain's MI5
and MI6 in 1909 and using the "best" of the Baker Street Irregulars, Wiggins, as a protagonist. Not only
Holmes, but no less a personage than Winston Churchill plays a minor role in the plot.
The story revolves around Vernon Kell, who apparently headed up the original efforts to establish a counterintelligence
operation in Great Britain, hindered by his inability to find good agents until his friend,
Holmes, suggested Higgins. A substantial portion of the novel recounts Higgins' exploits and a good deal of
background on how the Baker Street Irregulars came to be. And, of course, we learn a great deal about the
conspiracies pre-dating World War I and espionage efforts by Germany and others not only to obtain secrets
but also to sow discontent and confusion in London.
4/23/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1524520578904 2/4
The novel is exciting, interesting and fast-moving. It is an historical mystery, the beginning of what is
promised to be a new series, and a welcome one. The author captures the atmosphere of 1909 London with
sharp observations and dialogue. We look forward to its sequel with great anticipation.
Recommended.
Theodore Feit
Senior Reviewer
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Feit, Theodore. "The Irregular: A Different Class of Spy." MBR Bookwatch, Dec. 2017. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A523394140/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=6b19da78.
Accessed 23 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A523394140
4/23/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1524520578904 3/4
The Irregular
Publishers Weekly.
264.36 (Sept. 4, 2017): p65.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Irregular
H.B. Lyle. Quercus, $26.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-68144-027-9
Lyle's ambitious first novel, a Sherlock Holmes spin-off with a fresh angle, centers on the events leading to
the establishment of the British Secret Service. In 1909, Holmes recommends Wiggins, who was the leader
of the Baker Street Irregulars as a boy and is now scratching out a living as a debt-collector, to Vernon Kell,
the head of a counterespionage unit for the War Office. Wiggins at first refuses to work for Kell, but he
changes his mind after his closest friend, a police constable, is gunned down while attempting to apprehend
two robbers--and he finds evidence, in the form of a "small brass eight-pointed star, inlaid with red enamel,"
that makes him doubt the official theory of the crime. Kell is eager to have Wiggins's assistance in
identifying the foreign power he believes funded the criminals. James Bond fans will appreciate that in the
end Kell decides to call Wiggins "agent double 0" ("You can call me C," Kell tells him), but others may
have a problem with Wiggins's underdeveloped character and a plot that doesn't realize its potential. Agent:
Jemima Hunt, Writers' Practice (U.K.). (Nov.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Irregular." Publishers Weekly, 4 Sept. 2017, p. 65. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A505468054/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=2a5420d7.
Accessed 23 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A505468054
4/23/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1524520578904 4/4
Lyle, H.B.: The Irregular
Barbara Clark-Greene
Xpress Reviews.
(Dec. 8, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Library Journals, LLC
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/reviews/xpress/884170-289/xpress_reviews-first_look_at_new.html.csp
Full Text:
Lyle, H.B. The Irregular. Quercus. Nov. 2017. 294p. ISBN 9781681440279. $26.99; ebk. ISBN
9781681440255. F
[DEBUT] Just when it seems that Sherlock Holmes-inspired books are old hat, along comes this thrill ride
of espionage, conspiracy, murder, and, yes, even romance, set in 1909 London. Vernon Kell, head of War
Office counterintelligence, needs to prove Britain is threatened by Germany to justify establishing a new
secret service, but his agents are being killed off. His old chum Sherlock Holmes recommends Wiggins,
former leader of the Baker Street Irregular street urchins. Wiggins, with his Holmesian deductive skills and
street smarts, would be perfect to infiltrate a munitions factory to get evidence of German skullduggery, but
he declines the job until his friend, policeman Bill Tyler, is killed in a robbery connected to Russian
anarchists. Wiggins uses his undercover work to investigate the Russians unofficially, falling for beautiful,
mysterious Bela in the process. As he races against time to find the anarchist leader, he dodges bullets,
crosses, and double crosses.
Verdict Both fans of Sherlock Holmes and spy novels will enjoy this debut by a former screenwriter
peppered with historical figures like Winston Churchill, especially when the ending hints of more
adventures for the first British double 0 agent ever.--Barbara Clark-Greene, Westerly, RI
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Clark-Greene, Barbara. "Lyle, H.B.: The Irregular." Xpress Reviews, 8 Dec. 2017. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A521592688/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=63025558.
Accessed 23 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A521592688
Book review: Meet the detective who can fill the gap between Sherlock Holmes and James Bond
The Irregular — A Different Class of Spy is a pulsating story that uses the frame of a murder mystery to exhibit international intrigue, history and social issues.
BOOKS Updated: Apr 08, 2018 16:38 IST
Indo Asian News Service
Wiggins of the Baker Street Irregulars is the protagonist of this book.
Wiggins of the Baker Street Irregulars is the protagonist of this book.
The First World War is still five years away, but London is already an arena for proxy conflict between its potential European allies or adversaries — and their revolutionaries. And with the Great Detective of Baker Street having retired, and James Bond yet to come on the scene, who can Britain depend upon?
That is a question concerning an army officer in the War Office tasked with combating subversive activities. But Captain Vernon Kell has more problems than the lack of funds and support from an oblivious government, and a superior fixated on the idea that Germans are the prime threat and demanding he supply proof.
In the class-conscious British society of the Edwardian era, his biggest problem is that the staffers he has stand out in places where they have to be deployed — like a munitions factory from where plans are being stolen — are easily identified by the ruthless enemy and liquidated. Consulting Sherlock Holmes, living in retirement in the country, he is given a unique suggestion.
Read more
Book review: When Emile Zola opposed religious persecution and was forced into exile
Book Review: A Parsi woman lawyer turns sleuth in Sujata Massey’s Raj-era whodunnit
And in this engrossing story, H.B. Lyle finally does justice to a prominent and promising character from Holmes’ world who had not yet got a place in the sun. The once chief of the force that served as the detective’s nearly invisible but highly effective eyes and ears on the London streets — Wiggins of the Baker Street Irregulars.
But our young hero is reluctant to get back into government service after his experiences as a soldier. All that changes when his friend, a London police constable, is shot dead by a Russian anarchist after a robbery, and his own attempts to find who is responsible, among the closed, suspicious world of Russian emigres in the city, are both unsuccessful and potentially lethal.
Saved from certain death by a mysterious Russian woman, Wiggins is convinced by Holmes to help Kell and simultaneously achieve his own objective while keeping his employer in the dark about it. At the same time, seen hanging around Socialist meetings, he is also co-opted by a duo of Russian revolutionaries to help them in their own nefarious activities on behalf of their shadowy chief.
Meanwhile, Kell is not having an easy job of it, convincing his superiors that he is on the right track, but perseveres with the help of Winston Churchill, then at the start of his political career. But his time is limited until Wiggins can get something for him.
Read more
George Orwell’s letter from hospital may sell for $15k at auction
Oscar winner Sean Penn has written a quirky novel. Here’s what it is about
And can Wiggins, who has imbibed the Great Detective’s art of acute observation, survive in a shadowy world where few people are what they seem, killing is the simplest option, and the majestic forces of law and order may not always behind you? Can he fulfill both his tasks without losing his life in the dark streets of the city? And will he come to terms with what he finds?
Lyle, who was involved in feature films before turning to writing, skillfully spins both fact and fiction to create a tense, pulsating story that uses the frame of a murder mystery to exhibit international intrigue, history and social issues. It is not only about proxy wars and “false flag” operations, but also about a society on the brink of great political and social change. Socialism and Marxist parties pulsating story that uses the frame of a murder mystery to exhibit international intrigue, history and social issues — including those with not qualms about violence — are spreading, while women are demanding the vote as a prelude to equality.
The latter is most ably represented by Kell’s wife, a suffragist, and turning out to be better at clandestine work than her husband — forcing him to rethink most of his prevailing assumptions. Swinging between London’s high class dwellings and squalid slums, featuring Holmes and Watson, as well as real figures like Bolshevik Yakov Peters, and others, Lyle has laid the foundations of a new, engrossing series that takes up a period not very frequently focused in the thriller genre. So while Sherlock Holmes aficionados will find it quite interesting, so will a lot of others.
The Irregular — A Different Class of Spy; Author: HB Lyle; Publisher: Hodder&Stoughton/Hachette India; Pages: 288; Price: Rs 399
Follow @htlifeandstyle for more