I interviewed KAJ about a decade ago about his Mycroft Holmes work. (In addition to the three novels, there's also a prequel graphic novel about Mycroft when he's much younger.) He is super smart and a serious Sherlock Holmes fan. I believe he's a member of the Baker Street Irregulars. He's certainly gone to some of their annual dinners. I don't know how much of the writing he actually did on these, but he's a very capable writer in his own right, so I imagine it was more than just coming up with the plot and slapping his name on it (as often happens with books like these).
Did you ever get through War and Peace? I'm on my fourth read of it, and I find it a richly rewarding book, but I am also strange and argue with Tolstoy because I think he could have chosen better, more interesting endgames for his characters.
I submitted a short story to an editor last week based on War and Peace. People write their own takes on Jane Austen and Dracula and Sherlock Holmes, but War and Peace has been left alone. Tolstoy leaves so much space open, and there are hundreds of characters who receive very little development, that whole publishing careers could be built on writing War and Peace side stories.
