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A series of short stories by [[Kim Newman]].
First, a paragraph of historical context and disambiguation: The Diogenes Club was created by [[
In these short stories, Newman presents a somewhat different Diogenes Club: not ''the'' British secret service, but ''a'' British secret service, devoted to investigating the weird and improbable, from the return of Zombie Hitler to an [[Stealth Pun|insane murderer who devotes his kills to the goblins Snap, Crackle, and Pop]].
The main sequence of stories range from [[Victorian Britain]], when Mycroft Holmes presided over the Club in its familiar form, to [[The Eighties]], when dark behind-the-scenes forces used the British government's enthusiasm for privatisation to have the Club officially dismantled and replaced by a tame band of paranormal investigators with electronic detectors and a silly acronym. Each story is a stylistic pastiche of the investigator of the unknown and/or secret agent fiction of the period in which it's set, with much [[Lampshade Hanging]] and other playing with tropes. (And then there's the story set on the set of a [[Show Within a Show]] soap opera, which explicitly lampshades a whole new set of genre tropes.)
The period that gets the most attention is [[The Seventies]], when Richard Jeperson, psychic detective and glam fashion enthusiast, was the Club's best agent, ably assisted by the elegant [[Only One Name|Vanessa]] and the down-to-earth Fred Regent. These stories homage British TV series such as ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]]'', ''[[
Other featured periods include [[Victorian Britain]], with Charles Beauregard and Kate Reed (alternate versions of whom featured in ''[[Anno Dracula]]''); and [[The Twenties]], [[The Thirties|Thirties]], and [[The Forties|Forties]], with Edwin Winthrop and Catriona Kaye (who had previously appeared as supporting characters in the nominally standalone novel ''Jago'', which also introduced the paranormal investigators with the silly acronym).
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If the Richard Jeperson stories are episodes of a 1970s TV show, "[[Swellhead]]" is the inevitable 21st-century backdoor-pilot revival telemovie, in which Richard is called out of retirement to face a problem only he can solve, picks up a new able assistant, and decides it's past time he resumed his adventures.
...and that's where the series ends. For now.{{when}}
Originally published in a wide variety of places, most of the stories have been collected in a series of books: ''The Man from the Diogenes Club'', ''Secret Files of the Diogenes Club'', and ''Mysteries of the Diogenes Club''. New stories still occasionally appear.
=== Stories in this series with their own trope pages include: ===▼
* [[Tomorrow Town]]
* [[Swellhead]]
* [[Alternate Universe]]: To the ''[[Anno Dracula]]'' series, with which it shares quite a few characters (particularly among the members of the Diogenes Club), with subtle and sometimes less-subtle differences.
* [[Blitz Evacuees]]: An unpleasant childhood experience of being a Blitz evacuee comes back to haunt one of the characters in "The Man Who Got Off the Ghost Train".
* [[Broad Strokes]]: Newman's typical attitude to continuity. For instance, "Seven Stars" was apparently written with the continuity of "The Original Dr Shade" in mind, in which Shade is a pulp fiction character owned by Leech. Later Diogenes stories have him as a real person. So by the end of "Seven Stars", Genevieve has apparently forgotten meeting his sister (in "Sorcerer, Conjurer, Wizard, Witch") and son (in "Cold Snap") and thinks of him as entirely fictional.
* [[Canon Welding]]:
** While Kim Newman has seeded connections between his books since the beginning, "Cold Snap" seems to be a concentrated effort to tie them all together. Apart from featuring characters whose [[Alternate Universe]] selves appear in the ''[[Anno Dracula]]'' novels, it adds characters from his early work such as ''Jago'', and even features the villain from his ''[[
** One of the bidders at the [[Auction of Evil]] in "The Serial Murders" is the villain of Newman's non-series novel ''Bad Dreams''.
* [[Cool Car]]: The Rolls Royce ShadowShark, only six of which were ever made. [[The Cowl|Sinister vigilante]] Dr Shade has one. [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] Derek Leech has one. Richard Jeperson has ''three''.
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* [[Cross Through]]: ''Seven Stars'', a sequence of novellas in which various generations of the Diogenes Club one after the other have to deal with the same cursed artifact.
* [[Deconstruction]]: The stories are more-or-less [[Affectionate Parody|loving homages]] to the various styles of popular fiction from the eras that they are set in (Victorian 'boy's own' adventures, 1930s and 1940s pulp adventure novels, 1970s 'glam' detective TV shows, etc), but generally tend to feature a bit more social commentary and focus on the darker side of things around the time. The genres themselves also tend to be deconstructed, either through judicious use of [[Expy|Expys]] or, when an original character shows up, exposing their rougher edges.
* [[Direct Line to
* [[Enemy Mine]]: "Cold Snap" has Derek Leech and the Diogenes Club joining forces to save the world.
* [[The Fair Folk]]: The antagonists in "The Gypsies in the Wood".
* [[Footnote Fever]]: All the more recent stories include footnotes or endnotes explaining obscure historical or cultural details that might not be familiar to foreign readers. The cultural notes are pretty reliable, but the historical notes are written from an [[In
* [[Framing Device]]: In "The Man Who Got Off the Ghost Train", Richard Jeperson tells Fred Regent the story of his first major mission for the Diogenes Club, and his first meeting with Vanessa, on the eve of what turns out to be Vanessa's departure.
* [[Kid Detective]]: Richard Riddle, Boy Detective, who assists the Diogenes Club in "The Gypsies in the Wood", and in whose honour Richard Jeperson was named.
** A darker version appears in "Clubland Heroes" with Richard "Clever Dick" Cleaver; he's an off-the-scale genius who, unlike the more pleasant and engaging Richard Riddle, is also a snide, stuck-up and humourless little snot. {{spoiler|And then when he appears in "Cold Snap" following the ignominious end of his child-detecting career, he's let bitterness warp him into a genocidal maniac.}}
* [[Legacy Character]]: "Cold Snap", set in the 1970s, introduces Jamie Chambers, son of 1930s vigilante Jonathan "Dr Shade" Chambers. By the end of the story, he's considering going into the family business as Jamie Shade. An author's note adds that the current holder of the Shade Legacy is Christine Chambers, aka Lady Shade.
* [[Literary Agent Hypothesis]]: Referenced not only in regard to Newman himself and [[
* [[
* [[Meaningful Name]]: The psychiatrist in "You Don't Have to Be Mad..." is Dr. Ballance, which sounds like a good name for a psychiatrist -- but a slightly fuller rendition of his name reveals him as Dr. I. M. Ballance -- ''im''balance.
* [[The Men in Black]]: "The Undertaking", an Edwardian British group of MIBs, who are a rival organisation to the heroes (the Diogenes is, essentially, [[Doctor Who
* [[Mister Strangenoun]]: The Undertakers.
* [[A Mind Is a Terrible Thing
* [[Mythology Gag]]:
** One of the stories mentions that the Diogenes Club was aware of [[Dracula]]'s activities but correctly concluded that Dr Van Helsing could handle it without their assistance. ''[[Anno Dracula]]'' shows what might have happened if they were wrong.
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* [[Phantasy Spelling]]: Mocked in "The Gypsies in the Wood", featuring a series of children's stories about faeries (including ''The Aerie Faerie Annual''). One character rhetorically asks what's wrong with the word "fairy".
* [[Phony Psychic]]: Played for laughs in "Angel Down, Sussex"; a young woman, Catriona, visits a psychic after [[World War I]], and the psychic divines that she is seeking contact with a soldier, Edwin; the psychic assures her that her soldier felt no pain when he died and that he sends his love to her from the afterlife, and a ghostly, indistinct image appears. After a moment, Catriona points out that there's one problem with the psychic's reading: Edwin, the soldier who the psychic has made such direct contact with? ''Isn't actually dead.'' Turns out Catriona's a particularly savvy paranormal investigator, and proceeds to deconstruct the psychic's act with devastating accuracy and reveal to her other patrons that she's a sham.
* [[Public Domain Character]]: Several are named as past members or allies of the Diogenes Club, including [[Carnacki, the Ghost
* [[Shout
* [[Two
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