The Outlaw Detective

Friar Tuck’s sense of mercy brings to mind the most famous of Christmas detective stories, "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. There, Sherlock Holmes also showed mercy and noted “it is the season of forgiveness.” Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil is a fine addition to the literary tradition of Mr. Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street as much as it is to the tradition of Robin Hood of Barnsdale.

There’s a touch of an outlaw to Sherlock Holmes too, who as he tells Dr. Watson is “not retained by the police to supply their deficiencies.” And for his bit, Tuck has many of the same skills as the Great Detective. He’s well-read (as Holmes proved himself to be, despite Watson’s famous initial assessment), well-travelled, a master wrestler, a doughty fighter and possesses an instinct for justice. Clayton Emery has written a series of short stories with Robin and Marian solving mysteries, and yet I feel like it’s a better fit for Friar Tuck.

I wish I could be less vague about some aspects of the tale. Some of its more notable features lay outside of its mystery genre trappings. And yet I don’t feel that’s fair to the reader. If you want to see Tuck in more of a traditional British mystery, I recommend Faces of Darkness, McKay’s most recent novel. There, Little John (now a representative of the official law) joins Tuck as his Watson or perhaps Inspector Lestrade.

Part of me also wishes that McKay’s Tuck could cross over to Jennifer Ash’s superb 14th century mystery novels – The Folville Chronicles.