Murder by the Creek

Note: This story is available in Black Cat Weekly #225

Though I love Sherlock Holmes, I was aways a little annoyed that he had to solve everything. I mean, wouldn't Watson be learning and accumulating experience as they went? And Lastrade? Not everyone has to be dumb for a detective to be brilliant. I wanted to see the characters evolve, grow, change. Heck, I would even settle for aging!

When I started writing Friday and Ambrose mysteries, the idea was that over a long arc, the legendary Ambrose Broyhill's star would begin to wane and Friday Hampton would come into her own. It has been gradual, but if you've read any of their mysteries, you can see Friday becoming more and more seasoned as an investigator. The time when the two detectives would be peers was rapidly approaching. There would come a day, I knew, where, instead of riding to his protege's rescue, Ambrose was going to have to count on her to save him. It would mean he was getting old, and that thought was bittersweet.  So, I put it off as long as I could. Then came this murder set on Christmas Day, and I knew it was time.

Enjoy this one, my friends, both as a mystery and as a story about passing torches.