-an excerpt from his initial interview in “Sherlock Holmes and the Remaining Improbable*

“M. Holmes recounts that most childish inconveniences, including toothache, temper, rowdiness, diarrhoea, constipation–and especially inability to sleep when nursery maid’s follower (that’s boyfriend) was available–were treated with an array of the most popular children’s remedies, usually tinctured with alcohol, opium, cocaine, or morphine. With little thought, M. Holmes continued to self-medicate, not daily, but frequently, ‘as necessary,’ throughout his youth, especially aged thirteen to sixteen. He recalls his ever-ready Toothache Drops (cocaine) as a favourite.”

As WWI ends, cocaine becomes illegal in England and the aged, still addicted and depressed Sherlock Holmes submits entry papers at a rundown psychiatric clinic on the Normandy coast. He names a treatment goal never before encountered by his admitting physician, churning interlocking mystery and desperate action into the lives of friends and enemies both.

*Sherlock Holmes and the Remaining Improbable by Susanne M. Dutton, coming soon from Propertius Press

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An 1878 example: Getting ready for Christmas with St. Nicholas Magazine stories for children. Included are “The Three Wise Men,” “For Very Little Folks,” and “Jack in the Pulpit,” with Burnett’s cocaine on the side.

      

This stuff is fun, quirky, unsettling, thought-provoking and sometimes hard to get our modern heads around. If you find it as interesting as I do, please follow my blog by signing up in the right hand corner below. Thank you!

Susanne M. Dutton

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