THE QUEEN'S SHADOW A SHERLOCK HOLMES ADVENTURE
I was inspired to write this after I shared the story of The Wild West Show's voyage to London in 1887 at my 1001 Stories From The Old West podcast, which gave me the history of the show's great success in England. Everything you will hear in this story acftually hap;pened with two exceptions- the bomb threat and the presence of our two famous fictional detectives. Link to 1001 Stories From The Old West: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-stories-from-the-old-west/id1613213865
The Queen’s Shadow — A Sherlock Holmes Adventure from the Jubilee Year
Series: 1001 Sherlock Holmes Stories & The Best of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Narration: Dr. John H. Watson
A Sherlock Holmes pastiche written and performed by J.R. Hagadorn 3/08/26
Summary:
In this newly uncovered memoir, Dr. Watson recounts a secret mission he and Sherlock Holmes undertook during Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887. Invited by the Prince of Wales to a private preview of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, Holmes and Watson soon discover a Fenian plot to assassinate the Queen during her visit to the Exhibition. With the help of the Baker Street Irregulars — and at great personal risk — they foil the attack in a dramatic confrontation behind the royal pavilion. The affair is buried under royal secrecy, but weeks later, Holmes and Watson receive the Victoria Cross in a private audience with the Queen. Watson closes with a touching remembrance of Annie Oakley and a letter she sent him in 1918, recalling her famous shot at Kaiser Wilhelm.
Highlights:
• Watson’s vivid description of Jubilee‑era London
• Behind‑the‑scenes look at Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show
• Annie Oakley’s marksmanship and her encounter with Kaiser Wilhelm
• A tense assassination plot involving a disguised food cart
• Holmes’s infiltration of a Fenian hideout
• Watson wounded in the line of duty
• A private royal audience and the awarding of the Victoria Cross
• Watson’s reflective 1918 framing device
Themes:
Loyalty, secrecy, courage, historical memory, and the unseen work of those who protect the Crown.
