I was deeply saddened a couple of weeks ago to learn of the death of David Stuart Davies. He was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour towards the end of last year, and the last time I spoke to him on the phone a few months back he was in remarkably good form; he and his devoted wife Kathryn dealt with the devastating diagnosis with enormous courage. The last time I rang them, however, Kathryn broke the news that David was too unwell to chat. My heart went out to her, and I was distressed by the thought that we'd never have one of our happy conversations again. But I want this post to focus on the many positives about our long friendship, which are much more important in the long run. And they include our last lunch together last summer, pictured above: David is sitting opposite Peter Lovesey, Mick Herron, and me, next to Kate Charles, Len Tyler, and Ragnar Jonasson.
DSD, as he was generally known, spent twenty years as a teacher, but he had a lifelong love of Sherlock Holmes. Guess what subject he majored on in the CrimeFest Mastermind of 2009, when he was competing with Simon Brett, me, and Meg Gardiner! (the above photo). Eventually his growing reputation and status as a Sherlockian scholar enabled him to write full-time. This in turn led him to tackle a wide range of projects, always with good humour and verve. David’s sunny disposition earned him many friends from around the world, people like me who enjoyed his company and good humour. He never took himself too seriously, but he did take his work seriously and made sure it was of high quality.
He wrote nineteen novels, plus short stories, plays, and non-fiction, including a book about Jeremy Brett, one of the great Sherlocks, a book about Sherlock on the screen and another about Sherlock co-written with our mutual pal Barry Forshaw. He was invested as a Baker Street Irregular and he contributed to several books that I edited, including the CWA anthologies Crime in the City and Music of the Night, and two Detection Club books, Motives for Murder and Howdunit (the latter a thoughtful piece about writer's block, well worth reading by anyone interested in the writing process). He also contributed a very generous introduction to my own book of Sherlockian pastiches, The New Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes.
His editorial work was wide-ranging. He acted as general editor for Wordsworth's Mystery and Supernatural series, to which he contributed several enjoyable anthologies (asking me to contribute a couple of stories to one of them). His collection of the stories of W.F. Harvey, for instance, had an admirable introduction which I found extremely helpful as a reference point when a Harvey novel was published as a British Library Crime Classic. For many years he edited the Sherlock magazine (which covered a very wide range of crime fiction, not just the sage of Baker Street) and in that capacity he commissioned a number of contributions from me. David spent about twenty years editing the CWA members' magazine Red Herrings and oversaw its transformation into a print and online publication of high quality.
In that capacity he served as an ex officio member of the CWA board. Members of the board, and indeed Chairs, come and go, so his knowledge and experience meant that his advice was invaluable. At one time there was a suggestion that Red Herrings should become online-only. David was wise enough to understand that many members much prefer a print magazine and he argued successfully on their behalf. When he stepped down as editor, he shrewdly recommended as a successor Matthew Booth, who has maintained David's high standards - including editorial independence.
David was elected to membership of the Detection Club in 2015 and the two photos above were taken that night - which was also the memorable night when I formally succeeded Simon Brett as President. But I first met David at a CWA northern chapter meeting in Boroughbridge many years earlier. By the late nineties he and Kathryn were fixtures at chapter events and CWA annual conferences and we spent a lot of time in each other's company. I have fond memories, for instance, of a wonderful afternoon back in 2006 (blimey, was it that long ago?) when Kathryn took me round the Bagshaw Museum when I was researching background for The Arsenic Labyrinth. In June 2017, he was the very first speaker at the very first Alibis in the Archive and his bravura performance got the weekend off to a terrific start. He also displayed his thespian talents that weekend, taking a part in a murder mystery written by Ann Cleeves.
In 2018, during my stint as Chair of the CWA, I was keen that four people who had given great service to the organisation should be given due public recognition. And so I had the pleasure and privilege of presenting David, along with Barry, Mike Stotter, and Ayo Onatade, with a Red Herring award at the Daggers dinner that year (the above photo). I also recall a very pleasant lunch at David's home in his native Huddersfield, and having the wonderful experience of inspecting his wonderful collection of books and Sherlockian memorabilia.
When I invited Detection Club members to contribute to an anthology in honour of Simon Brett, David was the first person to send me a story. The book, Playing Dead, comes out next year, and although I'm sorry David never got to see it, I know that Simon will be very grateful to him. The last time I saw David in person was in July last year, when he and Kathryn came to the Detection Club's summer lunch at Balliol. As you can see from the photo at the top of this post, and the above picture (with Russell James and Kate Ellis), he was in great form that day; although of course none of us knew what lay ahead, that is one of the memories that I'll treasure. Thankfully, there are plenty of such memories. Goodbye, old friend, and thanks for all the fun you brought into my life, and many other lives.
