Tim Major is a writer and freelance editor from York, UK. His books include Snakeskins, Hope Island, three Sherlock Holmes novels, short story collection And the House Lights Dim and a monograph about the 1915 silent crime film, Les Vampires. Tim’s short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies and has been selected for Best of British Science Fiction, Best of British Fantasy, and The Best Horror of the Year. His latest novel is Jekyll & Hyde: Consulting Detectives and he recently talked about it with Daryl Maxwell for the LAPL Blog.
What was your inspiration for Jekyll & Hyde: Consulting Detectives?
I’ve been interested in Jekyll and Hyde for a long time, and during Covid lockdown I’d been considering writing a non-fiction piece about the many portrayals of the characters in film. At that time I was in the midst of writing my third Sherlock Holmes novel, The Twelve Thefts of Christmas. I suppose the two ideas began to merge: Jekyll and Hyde plus detective mysteries.
I’m a big fan of the trope of the flawed detective, and here we have two in one—literally! While Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde each have useful skills to help them investigate crimes, they’re a dysfunctional team, unable to meet and barely able to communicate. And of course, there’s the added tension that each might transform into the other at any moment…
How did the novel evolve and change as you wrote and revised it? Are there any characters, scenes, or stories that were lost in the process that you wish had made it to the published version?
Some of the biggest decisions were about how faithful to the original novella I ought to be. For a start, Jekyll appears unlikely to have survived! The character of Gabriel Utterson is key to the novella, but as he effectively acts as the detective character, and my intention was to reframe Jekyll and Hyde as the detectives in my novel, he had to be pushed to the sidelines.
Quite early on, I decided to feature Henry’s ex-fiancée Muriel as the main character, even though she’s a character drawn from stage and film adaptations rather than Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella. Her inclusion means that some mystery still surrounds Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde at the start of my novel. Eventually, I decided that it was important that Henry and Edward would be viewpoint characters too. I think the book is stronger for the insights into their minds, as both characters are interestingly messy and conflicted in very different ways.
Is The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde your favorite of Robert Louis Stevenson’s works? If not, what is?
Absolutely, Jekyll and Hyde is my favorite! I do enjoy Stevenson’s adventure fiction, and his New Arabian Nights short stories are wonderful. But Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a masterwork and gets better with every re-read.
Do you remember when/how you were first exposed to the story of Jekyll & Hyde (the book or a portrayal in film or television)? What was it, and how old were you?
As with so many classic Victorian tales, I think I was just aware of the characters and scenario in a very general sense. The first version I saw was probably a spinoff with barely any relation to the original story, such as the Bugs Bunny cartoon Hyde and Hare. I got into horror films in my teens, but I don’t remember seeing any Jekyll and Hyde adaptations. Around the time I went to university I realized I hadn’t read a huge swathe of British literature despite being interested in the subject matter, and I read the great Gothic classics and the entirety of the Sherlock Holmes canon in a great rush.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one of a group of novels published in the 19th century (including Frankenstein, Dracula, The Invisible Man, The Island of Dr. Moreau, among others), that really laid the foundation for the genres that we now think of as science fiction and horror. Is The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde your favorite of these novels? If not, what is?
As you’d expect, Jekyll and Hyde is my favorite, closely followed by The Invisible Man, which is a similarly complex portrait of a character equally as tortured as Henry Jekyll. I love all of H.G. Wells’ novels, which were my gateway into adult fiction. I feel that Frankenstein and Dracula are far more interesting novels than people give them credit, mainly due to the familiarity of the stories and characters from countless adaptations. The scenes in Frankenstein from the creature’s viewpoint are incredible, and the fact that Dracula is conveyed mostly in letters and voice recordings made by its characters is barely discussed. More than anything, I think all of the novels you’ve mentioned are immensely entertaining.
In your Acknowledgements, you state that your favorite film version of Jekyll & Hyde is the 1931 version starring Fredric March and directed by Rouben Mamoulian. What makes this version of the film stand out to you over the others?
It’s so dark. Mamoulian’s adaptation was created during a brief sweet spot when technical developments (sound, moving cameras) allowed for liberating new techniques, but also just before the Hays Code was introduced in Hollywood. After that point, the tone of adaptations would be throttled by the need to adhere to rules of decency, particularly in terms of violence and references to sex. Fredric March’s Hyde is terrifying mainly because he’s so recognizable: a powerful, impulsive man with no limits on his repellent behavior. Plus, the transformation scene is still the best I’ve seen. The unbroken shot was achieved with layers of makeup that are visible in turn under ultraviolet light… we think. There’s still a lot of mystery about how the effect was achieved.
You also talk in your Acknowledgements about “reinstating” the mystery into the story of Jekyll & Hyde (since the big reveal at the end of the original novel has been culturally given away to most of us before we are truly exposed). What are some of your favorite mystery titles, and who are some of your favorite authors?
Yes, I think it’s fascinating that Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is structured as a mystery novel—a detective novel, in fact, with the lawyer Gabriel Utterson as the investigator. The trouble was the book was so successful that when the first adaptation was staged the following year, audiences already knew the outcome of the mystery, and the tale has been presented more as a melodrama since then.
To answer the second part of your question, I’m mainly drawn to classic mystery stories as opposed to modern, gritty thrillers. I suppose that’s because I like puzzles. Sherlock Holmes short stories are hard to beat, but G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown series comes close, and I adore E.W. Hornung’s Raffles and Maurice Leblanc’s Arsène Lupin for their moral ambiguity.
Recently, I’ve been enjoying Golden Age locked-room mysteries. John Dickson Carr is the master, though he seems relatively unknown in the UK, which is a shame. His novel The Three Coffins (also known as The Hollow Man) is enjoyably complex and an absolute treat. A more leftfield recommendation would be The Red House Mystery, the only crime novel written by A.A. Milne, the creator of Winnie the Pooh.
Jekyll & Hyde Consulting Detectives has a wonderful cinematic quality and would make a marvelous film or television series. If it was going to be adapted, who would your dream cast be?
Thank you for saying so! My images of Muriel and Henry keep shifting. The only dream casting that’s remained fixed in my mind is Edward Hyde being played by Tom Davis, a British comic actor who’s probably best known for playing Bleacher in Wonka. He’s charismatic and funny but very imposing, with a glimmer of threat. He’d be perfect.
The ending of the novel seems to indicate that readers will be able to join Henry, Edward, and Muriel as they solve additional cases. Is Jekyll & Hyde Consulting Detectives the beginning of a new series? If so, what are your plans for the series? Do you have an idea at this time how long the series will be and how many books will be necessary to tell the story you want to tell?
Nothing has been announced quite yet, but I’m planning a second adventure for Henry, Edward, and Muriel. I can only hope that I have the opportunity to write more than that, as I do have great plans for the characters, and there are surprises in store! And while these mystery adventures are set in Victorian times, there’s a lot I’d like to say about the modern world and attitudes and behavior that I think I can convey using these three characters, each of whom I love writing.
What’s currently on your nightstand?
I’m finishing up At Last, the fifth and final Patrick Melrose novel by Edward St. Aubyn. The series as a whole is a staggering achievement, a deep dive into a mind that often leaves me breathless.
Can you name your top five favorite or most influential authors?
Patricia Highsmith, John Wyndham, Shirley Jackson, Arthur Conan Doyle, Vladimir Nabokov.
What was your favorite book when you were a child?
Not Now Bernard by David McKee, which contains one of my favorite sequences in any book:
Bernard went into the garden.
"Hello, monster," he said to the monster.
The monster ate Bernard up, every bit.
Was there a book you felt you needed to hide from your parents?
No, but there was a book I hid from myself: a Ladybird young readers edition of A Christmas Carol, which had a cartoon illustration of Marley’s ghost on the back cover that scared me to death.
Is there a book you've faked reading?
I love Don Quixote, but still I’ve only read the first book. I beat myself up about that sometimes.
Can you name a book you've bought for the cover?
Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter, which is about mathematics, symmetry, and intelligence and is presented alternately as non-fiction, fiction, and funny dialogues. It’s amazing and easily the best impulse-purchase book I’ve ever bought.
Is there a book you would most want to read again for the first time?
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. Now there’s a mystery novel. Actually, you know what? I think I should just reread it immediately.
What are you working on now?
As I clumsily hinted earlier, I’m planning more Jekyll and Hyde. There’s also a contemporary thriller in the works and a short-story collection. Anybody who’d like to keep up with all these publications can sign up for my newsletter at www.timjmajor.com
