Allusions
As in many of Garrett's other writings, he takes every opportunity to insert subtle, or otherwise, allusions to other fiction—in these stories there are many echoes of other classic, or otherwise, detectives. For example, in Too Many Magicians there is a cameo appearance by the Marquis de London, who looks and talks like Nero Wolfe, an identification reinforced by his sidekick Lord Bontriomphe (whose name is a literal French translation of "Goodwin") and his cook Frederique Bruleur (corresponding to Wolfe's cook Fritz Brenner). The title, furthermore, echoes Wolfe novels Too Many Cooks (1938), Too Many Women (1947) and Too Many Clients (1960). That novel also contains a number of punning references to The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. More subtly, the murder victim, a famous Master Sorcerer named Sir James Zwinge, is named for Randall James Zwinge, better known as the stage magician James Randi; and the head of the magician's guild is Sir Lyon Gandolphus Gray, whose name is partially a reference to Gandalf from J.R.R. Tolkien and partially that of fantasy author Lyon Sprague De Camp, and whose appearance as described partakes of both men's appearance . In the short story "The Bitter End", a bumbling Sergeant-at-Arms is named Cougair Chasseur, a clear reference to Inspector Clouseau of the Pink Panther movies. And in several stories there is a secret agent, Sir James le Lein (le lien is French for "bond"; a clear James Bond reference).
The story "A Case Of Identity" also contains two subtle references to contract bridge, including a magic spell for establishing identity called the Jacoby transfer which requires blood from "at least two hearts." This is an allusion to a bridge convention known as transfer bidding, which attempts to make the stronger, concealed hand the declarer, and can be carried out using the heart suit. Also in the story, the murder victim is described as having been struck with a long club, because "according to the Kaplan-Sheinwold test, a short club cannot have been used." In the Kaplan-Sheinwold bidding system, making an opening bid of "one club" when holding three or fewer club cards—a "short club"—is not permitted.
The story "The Sixteen Keys" contains a reference to the "von Horst-Shea" process, whereby a person can maintain a lifelong youthful appearance, at the expense of a much shorter life, and a sudden dissolution at the end of it. This is done by a magical "balancing" of the body's processes, so that no one part of the body wears out before any other. This is a clear reference to the name of, and events in, Oliver Wendell Holmes' poem, "The Wonderful One-Hoss Shay".
In two stories, Darcy encounters a magical reference to E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensmen series: King's Messengers, couriers who identify themselves with a be-gemmed badge that glows red for its owner, and only its owner. The spell on the badge is said to be invented by magician Sir Edward Elmer in the Thirties, and to have remained secret ever since. "E.E." was short for Edward Elmer, and the badges are a reference to a device which preceded the Lens which gave the Lensmen their name.
Darcy himself resembles Sherlock Holmes in a number of ways. However, unlike Watson, whose primary purpose was to allow Holmes to explain his deductions, Sean O'Lochlainn is more of a counterpart than a foil. The relationship between the two is very similar to that of the suave, analytical Napoleon Solo (Darcy) and technical expert Illya Kuryakin (O'Lochlainn).
Sometime Garrett collaborator Michael Kurland (who would himself write later Lord Darcy works, with the permission of Garrett's estate) appears as Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Coeur-Terre in Too Many Magicians; and in "A Case of Identity" the Marquise of Rouen, worried about her missing husband, is described as drinking herself into a stupor on "the best brandy, the St. Courlande-Michele." Similarly several books feature a magical theorist named Sir Thomas Leseaux, a play on another of Garrett's friends, the author and stage magician T. A. Waters.
The strong relation between Lord Darcy and Master Sean O'Lochlainn in some ways recalls that between Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey and his servant Mervyn Bunter. In both cases there is a successful detection team composed of a nobleman and a commoner, with a built-in social hierarchy tempered by a strong and long-lasting personal friendship; in both cases, the commoner partner is an extremely capable and competent person, highly appreciated by his socially-superior noble partner; and in both cases, the partnership started as a wartime relationship between an officer and an NCO, and carried over into civilian life.
Elizabeth Bear, whose novel New Amsterdam is set in a (quite different) alternate timeline where magic works, acknowledged her debt to the Darcy stories by giving her protagonist, a forensic sorceress, the name Abigail Irene Garrett.
In David Weber's Honorverse novel, Mission of Honor, a character is reading "a novel about the psychically gifted detective Garrett Randall by the highly popular Darcy Lord."
Read more about this topic: Lord Darcy (character)