Churchill as Literary Character: WSC in Fiction

The Red Ribbon is the second in a series of mysteries set before the First World War featuring Captain Vernon Kell in his early days as head of MI-5 and his “Agent W” (for Wiggins), a now-grown-up street urchin who once had been a member of Sherlock Holmes’s Baker Street Irregulars. The first book in the series, The Irregular, was set in 1909, where Churchill, as President of the Board of Trade, had a major supporting role [see review in FH 179]. The Red Ribbon is set in 1910, and Churchill, now Home Secretary, has an even larger role than before. Additionally, Sherlock Holmes himself has a cameo appearance.

The plot is woven around three supporting women’s suffrage to a someone willing to take positive, sometimes physical, action to achieve their goals. She is one of the more engaging and intriguing supporting characters, second only to Churchill. The third incident is the Siege of Sidney Street on 3 January 1911, where Kell and Agent W bring all the plot threads together for Churchill.