Cryers reveal portrait of sleuth’s landlady

Organisers say Cryer senior, who is also a poet and director, is “not versatile, just confused”, and diners will be able to form their own judgment during the event at Willerby Manor Hotel, which starts at 12.30pm.

With his son Bob, also an actor and writer, he has penned Mrs Hudson’s Diaries, a portrait of Sherlock Holmes’s landlady.

It is described as “an affectionate sketch of a remarkably enterprising Victorian female”, whose humorous musings cover a range of topics, from the Boer War to boxing and music hall legend Bella Lomax.

Mrs Hudson only appears in 15 of the Sherlock Holmes stories and is not given a first name by author Conan Doyle. The Cryers fill in these gaps “with relish”.

They are being joined at the lunch by best-selling author Margaret Dickinson, one of Britain’s best-loved comedy writers, who is promoting her new book, The Clippie Girls.

This is set in wartime Yorkshire and tells the story of Peggy Sylvester, a beautiful young conductress on the Sheffield trams, who has a close friendship with her affable driver Bob.

Both get caught up in the Sheffield Blitz.

Dickinson is one of the UK’s most successful saga writers and has published 30 novels since the age of 25.

Born in Gainsborough in 1942, she has spent most of her life in Lincolnshire and divides her time between her writing retreat in the Derbyshire Dales and her home in Skegness.

The authors will be signing copies of their books at the event, which is supported by Browns Books and Segal’s Jewellers.