The sherlock holmes book

THE VICTORIAN WORLD 299

decade of the 20th century. A more stream of former military men, by a sexagenarian Holmes. (This
comfortable but slower alternative who feature in various Holmes story also touches on Anglo-Irish
was the larger four-wheeler (or stories, such as A Study in Scarlet, relations, with Irish Home Rule a
“growler”), which was more like “The Naval Treaty” (pp.138–41), and live issue throughout Holmes’s era.)
a conventional enclosed carriage. “The Adventure of the Blanched
Soldier” (pp.274–77). The most So while Holmes may be a
Age of Empire significant of these ex-soldiers, of Victorian by background, the
By the time of Queen Victoria’s course, is Holmes’s great friend and stories have a palpable sense of
death, the soldiers of the British chronicler, Dr. John Watson, who progress and modernity. His is a
Empire had fought alongside or fought in the Second Afghan War sophisticated world that features
against many foreign powers— (1878–1880), one of three conflicts many of the wonders of the age,
invariably over colonial disputes. in which Britain, from a base in including telegrams, gramophones,
This imperial and international India, attempted to extend its scientific detection methods, vastly
environment led Conan Doyle control over Afghanistan, and improved national and international
to populate Holmes’s world with to oppose Russia’s influence there. travel, and even that definitive
exotic foreign caricatures, such as emblem of the 20th century, the
the lascar (sailor from the Indian A multi-era hero motor car. Conan Doyle himself
subcontinent) in “The Man with Despite the Victorian setting of was one of the first car owners,
the Twisted Lip” (pp.80–1) and the many of the stories, they often show buying one before he knew how
blowpipe-toting Andaman islander 20th-century attitudes, and are to drive and signing up to take
in The Sign of Four, and also with sometimes used as a voice for their part in an international car rally;
returning colonial adventurers, creator. For instance, when Holmes like his fictional character, the
usually corrupted by their time rails against the callous American author was in many ways an
overseas, such as Dr. Grimesby millionaire Neil Gibson in “The adventurer and a pioneer. ■
Roylott in “The Adventure of Problem of Thor Bridge” (pp.254–
the Speckled Band” (pp.84–9). 57), his sentiments reflect growing I have every hope that
tension between Britain and the light of truth is
Crimes and conflicts originating America. He also often displays breaking through.
in other countries (particularly in anti-German feeling, which was Sherlock Holmes
North America) frequently found prevalent at the time. Nowhere
their way into Holmes’s Victorian is this more blatant than in the “The Problem of Thor Bridge”
England, and it seems only fair that cartoonishly patriotic events of “His
Conan Doyle, in turn, allowed one Last Bow” (pp.246–47). Published
of Holmes’s most famous episodes in 1917, during World War I, the
to take place abroad, when “The story features a German agent
Final Problem” (pp.142–47) reaches who chortles with his boss about
its climax in alpine Switzerland. the “docile, simple folk” of Britain,
The Victorians’ innumerable wars before being effortlessly outwitted
also flooded London with a steady

1880 1887 1901 1914
Jack the Invention Queen World
Ripper of the Victoria War I
strikes. gramophone. dies. begins.

1885 1894 1902 August 1914
Invention Tower Edward Last mention
of the first Bridge VII is of Holmes in
gasoline- opens. crowned. the canon—
powered around age 60
vehicle. and retired
in Sussex.

300

THERE IS NOTHING
SO UNNATURAL AS
THE COMMONPLACE

SHERLOCK AND SOCIETY

G iven the popularity of the The social spectrum In these plans, each of the capital’s
Sherlock Holmes stories, Considering that they deal with streets was color-coded according
Conan Doyle’s readers crime and criminals, it seems likely to eight categories of social class,
may be forgiven for treating the that the Holmes stories would shed based on income. Yellow streets
canon as a legitimate document light on the social and economic denoted “Upper-middle and Upper
of Victorian life. However, society disparities that existed in Britain classes. Wealthy,” while black
in Holmes’s fictional world did not at the turn of the 19th century. streets demarcated the cramped
always correspond to reality. However, social status is treated dwellings of the “Lowest Class.
ambiguously throughout the canon. Vicious, semi-criminal.” The map
At first glance, it may seem that showed that more than a third of
the stories simply reflect typical In 1889 (two years after Holmes Londoners were living in poverty.
late-Victorian attitudes. Dig a little first appeared in A Study in Scarlet, Booth’s classification of London’s
deeper, however, and the depiction pp.36–45), social researcher Charles poor as “vicious, semi-criminal”
of society is more complex—one that Booth published the first volume might seem shocking today, but
was informed by Conan Doyle’s own of his so-called “poverty maps” of in Holmes’s day, poverty and crime
views and values and is, by turns, London to illustrate the deplorable were often spoken of in the same
both conventional and radical. living conditions in much of the city. breath—an association reinforced
by the English word “villain,” which
Social explorers source material for depicting originally referred to a low-born,
the slums and their inhabitants. rustic person, or a serf, but has
In Charles Dickens’s novels, These trips laid the groundwork since evolved to signify someone
crime is shown as the inevitable for social explorers such as the who is involved in illegal activities.
result of injustice—poverty and American writer Jack London
squalor rubbing up against and, later, George Orwell. In “The Red-Headed League”
luxury and excess. Crime in the (pp.62–7), Holmes makes a
Holmes stories, by contrast, is Conan Doyle, however, rarely declaration that appears to reflect
often the work of “professional” went out of his way to visit the the exploratory spirit of social
criminals, usually upper-class places he described, and often reformers such as Booth—“it is a
dilettantes or opportunists. This worked from out-of-date maps. hobby of mine to have an exact
difference may derive from the The London of his tales has knowledge of London.” Yet, as the
two writers’ wildly divergent a genteel sheen, its wealthy literary critic Franco Moretti has
familiarity with London. districts counterbalanced by the pointed out, there is almost no
far-flung reaches of the British overlap between the poor districts
Dickens’s journeys through Empire, rather than the squalid on Booth’s map and where crimes
the city’s poorest districts working-class quarter a few occur in the Holmes stories.
provided him with firsthand miles east of Baker Street.

SHERLOCK AND SOCIETY 301

The contrast between leisured high
society and bustling metropolis in
Holmes’s world is clearly seen in James
Tissot’s 1876 painting of upper-class
passengers cruising on the Thames.

This was a conscious choice by characters (both victims and appearance. In spite of his class
Conan Doyle, as he was writing villains) tended to be well-off. Grand awareness, however, Holmes’s
his stories for a bourgeois audience personae—such as Lord Bellinger own background—as an educated
(even if they did attract readers in “The Adventure of the Second descendant of country squires—
from across society). After A Study Stain” (pp.202–07)—added a dose of is barely mentioned in the stories;
in Scarlet and The Sign of Four glamour. Similarly, Holmes’s great within the context of the tales, it
(pp.46–55), in which the bulk rival, Moriarty, is described as “an is only his intellect and skill that
of the action takes place in the aristocrat of crime,” a designation matter. In this, Holmes embodies
“unfashionable” suburbs of South intended to add to his esteem. the entrepreneurial spirit of 19th-
London, Holmes’s exploits are set century modernity, revealed in his
mostly in the capital’s wealthier It seems neither Holmes nor his declaration that “I have taken to
districts or in “the smiling and audience had much interest in the living by my wits” in “The Musgrave
beautiful countryside” of southeast lower classes. Although he takes on Ritual” (pp.120–25). As the critic
of England. It makes perfect sense, a few working class clients, such as Iain Pears has claimed, this might
too, that on Booth’s map, Baker the governess Violet Smith in “The make Holmes the archetypal
Street is marked red for “Middle Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist” “Victorian New Man… a meritocrat,
Class. Well-To-Do.” (pp.176–77), he most relishes the living solely off his brains.” ❯❯
intellectual puzzles brought to him
A class act by the middle and upper classes. I found that [Holmes] had
The shift in the setting of the many acquaintances,
Holmes stories after The Sign of Nevertheless, Holmes succeeds and those in the most
Four resulted in a surge in their in moving effortlessly through all
popularity. Correspondingly, the levels of society, employing local different classes of society.
street urchins as the “Baker Street Dr. Watson
Irregulars” and donning disguises
with the skill of a stage actor. He A Study in Scarlet
also has an uncanny ability to
determine the class of anyone he
encounters, based solely on outward

Section 41 of Charles Booth’s map
of London poverty covers Fulham and
Chelsea. The different colors denote
levels of wealth. Many of Holmes’s cases
are set in affluent red or yellow areas.

302 THE WORLD OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

In the time of the Holmes stories, the
London docklands were thriving. A link
between the capital and the far-flung
colonies, all kinds of foreign influences
entered England through the docks.

Indeed, Holmes seems to care little as a model of the burgeoning so it is perhaps surprising that it
about the hierarchical strictures British middle class would be is referred to in only a few cases
of the society in which he lives. excessive. He also has a string (for example The Sign of Four
He is no slavish adherent to class of louche, patrician attitudes, and “The Adventure of the Six
deference, concerning himself including an haughty disdain Napoleons,” pp.188–89). However,
with the details of a problem, not for the “imbecile” policemen he Britain’s status as the preeminent
the individuals involved, explicitly works alongside. His cocaine use colonial superpower is the hinge
stating in “The Adventure of the and violin playing all fit the mold of on which many stories turn. Many
Noble Bachelor” (pp.94–5) that “the dandyish bohemianism, while his Britons felt that the Empire had a
status of my client is a matter of famed satisfaction with finding duty to spread “enlightened values”
less moment to me than the interest solutions for the pleasure of it around the world, just as in the
of his case.” This attitude even sees (rather than for any attached fee), stories Holmes is tasked with
him making jokes at the expense of reflects the contemporary cult of defending Britain from insidious
the upper classes. For example, in “art for art’s sake.” It is hardly foreign influences. Throughout the
“A Scandal in Bohemia” (pp.56–61), surprising to learn that The Sign canon, it is often the “otherness” of
he repeatedly undermines the of Four was commissioned around strangers from distant territories or
status of his royal client. the same dinner table as Oscar curious foreign objects that injects
Wilde’s classic novel of fin de an element of the sinisterly exotic
Holmes also occasionally shows siècle aestheticism and decadence, into the orderly imperial metropolis.
a tendency toward the progressive. The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891).
His celebration of the new state-run For example, characters who
schools as “Beacons of the future!” Colonial souvenirs originate from, or have lived at
reveals his support for a measured At the turn of the 19th century, some point in, the British colonies
and planned type of social reform. London’s riverside East End frequently have a criminal history,
This perspective mirrors Conan dockyards were a major point of which, when dredged up, shatters
Doyle’s own liberal outlook. The entry and exit for ships and people all perceived respectability. Convict
author included a veiled criticism from all over the world. Integral to transportation to Australia figures
of the Conservative government led Britain’s trade with its overseas prominently in “The Gloria Scott”
by the Marquess of Salisbury in empire, the area was also a hotbed (pp.116–19), while the wealthy
“The Naval Treaty” (pp.138–41). of crime and vice of every kind, landowner John Turner’s previous
Yet to characterize Holmes
London, that great cesspool
into which all the loungers
and idlers of the Empire are

irresistibly drained.
Dr. Watson

A Study in Scarlet

SHERLOCK AND SOCIETY 303

involvement with an Australian Violence of temper of the Three Gables” (pp.272–73)
criminal gang forms the basis of approaching to mania... had, I is cruelly derided by Holmes, and
“The Boscombe Valley Mystery” believe, been intensified by his specifically for his appearance.
(pp.70–3). These hidden histories long residence in the tropics. The Andaman Islander Tonga
can provide the key to unlocking the in The Sign of Four, a “pygmy,” is
secret power plays that bind former Helen Stoner consistently called “little Tonga”.
colonials: just as John Turner is Much of the sinister atmosphere in
blackmailed by a tenant who once “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” “The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge”
witnessed his past wrongdoing, (pp.222–25), meanwhile, is derived
in “The Gloria Scott”, the haggard “a coolie disease from Sumatra” from the voodoo practices of
Hudson has a morbid authority over in “The Adventure of the Dying Aloysius Garcia’s Haitian cook.
Victor Trevor due to his role in a Detective” (pp.234–35). An island In addition to this broadbrush
mutiny many years before. in the Indonesian archipelago, caricature, the chef is described as
Sumatra had been part of the Dutch “a huge and hideous mulatto, with
Some objects and creatures empire. “Coolie” originally meant yellowish features of a pronounced
also symbolize the corruption that a locally-hired, unskilled Asian negroid type.”
lies beyond England’s shores. For labourer, but by the 19th century
instance, the swamp adder that it had, like villian, become a In other stories, black people
is retrieved from Calcutta by Dr. derogatory term; unlike villain it are often called “devils” or “fiends,”
Grimesby Roylott in “The Adventure has almost completely vanished language that was not uncommon
of the Speckled Band” (pp.84–9) from use in the west today. at the time. The profound but invalid
is employed as a murder weapon. belief in the supremacy of white
Roylott himself also embodies a set More pointed racial language British culture at that time had
of malevolent qualities—principally and stereotypes appear elsewhere even taught people to associate
a proclivity to violence—apparently in the canon. The black boxer dark skin with inferiority and
intensified during his time in India Steve Dixie in “The Adventure repellent cultural practices.
(a stark contrast with Holmes’s
cool, “English” rationality). However, while Conan Doyle
was not particularly concerned
The role of race with subverting the era’s prevailing
On one of the few occasions he prejudices, his depiction of race is
does visit London’s docklands, nuanced. His sympathetic portrait of
Holmes exploits a subtler foreign a mixed-race relationship in “The
danger by pretending to contract Yellow Face” (pp.112–13) is a definite
rejection of contemporary attitudes. ❯❯

Heroism and Britain’s overseas colonies and promoted an ideal of heroic,
masculinity territories were once so numerous, masculine culture to provide a
and scattered so widely around sense of stability in turbulent
the globe, that the empire was times. In The Madwoman in the
said to be one “on which the sun Attic (1979), Sandra Gilbert and
never sets.” But by the late 19th Susan Gubar pointedly included
century, the sun was setting on the “detective story” and the
the very concept of imperialism. Boys’ Own genre in a tradition
It is no wonder that, as a whole “from which women have
world of political and financial almost always been excluded.”
power was perched on one small
island’s precarious authority, According to this view,
anxieties about decline were rife Holmes, with his simple virtues
among the British people. of clinical reason and heroic
bravery, represents a willful
Feminist critics have argued nostalgia for the patriarchal,
that, against this backdrop, stories imperial order, governed by
such as Conan Doyle’s actively white male rationality.

304 THE WORLD OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

The male bond Robinson Crusoe and Friday, to Tom “The Resident Patient” (pp.134–35),
Conan Doyle’s use of a detective Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. This and recommended that scout
and a separate narrator (a technique kind of male relationship is often leaders read the tales to their troops.
lifted straight from the stories of seen in “boys’ fiction.” Indeed,
Edgar Allan Poe) meant that a one of Conan Doyle’s literary role A man’s world
crime’s solution could be slowly models, the British novelist H. Rider Unlike his brother Mycroft, Sherlock
unraveled and turned into a story. Haggard, had Allan Quatermain, is not a member of one of London’s
the narrator of the high adventure private gentleman’s clubs, yet 221B
It also means that the friendship story King Solomon’s Mines (1885), Baker Street often seems to be an
between detective and narrator had dedicate the book “To all the big equally male-dominated arena—
to be sustained at all costs, which and little boys who read it.” a haven from which troublesome
explains the convenient death of questions about gender roles have
Watson’s wife, Mary Morstan, and As some critics have pointed been conveniently excised. Yet,
the doctor’s return to 221B Baker out, Robert Baden-Powell’s Scouting for all that, Holmes is, at times,
Street, for example. Likewise, any for Boys, published in 1908, set out required to think about women.
marriage or romantic relationship an imprint of English “manliness”
for Holmes himself would have for the 20th century. In his section The attitude of the detective
spelled disaster for the stories. on “tracking,” the British war hero (and his creator) toward females
and founder of the Boy Scouts is shifting and contradictory, but
The fraternal bond between specifically referenced both “The largely a product of typical male
Holmes and Watson has a strong Greek Interpreter” (pp.136–37) and Victorian thought. Although
literary heritage, stretching from Holmes does not seem to rate
female mental faculties, he often
Holmes is often called The use of an goes out of his way to help women
to defend his homeland experimental youth and release them from suspicion.
against foreign influences serum from Prague Female characters also tend to
that take the form of violent explains Professor occupy a peripheral position in the
criminals, strange objects, Presbury’s strange stories, and are rarely granted much
and deadly organizations. behavior in “The to say, even when a plot turns on
Adventure of the their involvement. They most often
In “The Five Creeping Man.” appear as clients in need of male
Orange Pips”, aid, or as helpless victims of crime.
the Ku Klux Klan A swamp adder
secret society is brought back from Holmes is often described by
reaches across India by Dr. Roylott Watson as a pure, emotionless
the Atlantic to and used to murder “reasoning machine”: in “A Scandal
murder those who Julia Stoner in “The in Bohemia”, he remarks that “as a
stand in its way. Adventure of the lover he would have placed himself
Speckled Band.” in a false position. He never spoke
of the softer passions, save with a
When burned, the rare Jack Ferguson uses gibe and a sneer.” Therefore, Irene
devil’s-foot root can be one of his father’s South Adler, the “adventuress” who
used as a poison, as it American blowpipes outsmarts Holmes in that story, had
is by the West African to shoot poisoned darts to be a truly exceptional female.
Ubangi people, and the at his baby brother in Always described by Holmes as
killers in “The Adventure “The Adventure of the “the woman,” she is bold, quick-
of the Devil’s Foot.” Sussex Vampire.” witted, and American—free from
the “old world” of European social
conventions and able to set her
own standards.

Apart from Adler, there are a
few exceptions to the sidelined
female: the proactive Isadora Klein

SHERLOCK AND SOCIETY 305

Conan Doyle was writing at a time
when suffragettes were protesting for
equal voting rights for women, but the
movement was never mentioned in
the Holmes stories.

in “The Three Gables” is one; Miss Susan; vengeful and scheming, ascribed this to men changing their
Burnet in “Wisteria Lodge” is like Mrs. Gibson in “The Problem conversation in order to suit the
another. However, neither of these of Thor Bridge” (pp.254–57); or icy situation, rather than any specific
women are heroic. Klein is a classic and aloof, like Violet de Merville in foolishness on the part of women—
femme fatale, while Burnet’s dogged “The Illustrious Client” (pp.266–71). if anything, he meant it as a slight
pursuit of retribution fulfills the on contemporary social strictures.
stereotype of the embittered woman. Given how peripheral female
characters are in the canon, it can be A rounded portrait?
When women are more active in easy to forget that the stories were In all, it is clear that Conan Doyle’s
the Holmes stories, their decisions published at a time when women treatment of contemporary class,
can be disastrous. Lady Trelawney were challenging their lower status. race, and gender issues is far from
Hope in “The Second Stain” is both But although there was increasing straightforward. The social scene
beautiful and reasonable, but it is female education and social mobility, he depicts drew on the shifting
her interference in matters of state most women remained subordinate. sands of an increasingly fragmented
that constitute the story’s central In his way, Conan Doyle helped to society. Britain was facing huge
crime, and Holmes’s intervention is highlight this injustice by writing upheaval as a result of rapid
essential in order to bring about a stories such as “The Adventure of industrialization, population
return to peaceful, patriarchal order. the Abbey Grange” (pp.198–201) – growth, and urbanization. Conan
Similarly, if Sophy Kratides had not which depicts an abusive marriage – Doyle’s depiction of society reflects
succumbed to the charms of the in order to illustrate the situations in this changing world, and suggests
villainous Harold Latimer in “The which women could be trapped. a conflict between his own
Greek Interpreter,” her brother liberal views and the prevailing
might not have been killed. However, the author’s motto, conservative values of the time.
“Steel true, blade straight,” was
There are plenty of these less- redolent of the “manliness” and Although Holmes is white,
than-flattering examples of late- “unaffectedness” that he most male, middle-class, and resolutely
Victorian womanhood. Female admired in his fellow men. In his Victorian, his complexity and
characters can be hysterical and memoir, Memories and Adventures contradictions still resonate with
vindictive, like Sarah Cushing in (1923), he casually mentions that a modern audience. The stories
“The Cardboard Box” (pp.110–11); “it is notorious that though ladies remain captivating today, even
simple and meek, like Sarah’s sister greatly improve the appearance of a in a society that would be
feast they usually detract from the unrecognizable to their creator. ■
Women are naturally quality of the talk.” However, he
secretive, and they

like to do their
own secreting.
Sherlock Holmes

“A Scandal in Bohemia”

306

I HAVE A TURN BOTH
FOR OBSERVATION
AND FOR DEDUCTION

THE ART OF DEDUCTION

T he term “ratiocination” is the ancient Greek philosopher conclusions (often theoretical ones)
often used to describe the and natural scientist Aristotle simply by observing the
methodology employed by (384–322 BCE). A pupil of Plato, characteristics of the natural world.
Sherlock Holmes in his work as a Aristotle soon rejected the central
consulting detective. Derived from tenets of Platonic thought (which Aristotle applied his research
the Latin ratiocinari—“to calculate held that the observed or natural across a broad spectrum of topics,
or deliberate”—it follows a process world was a mere approximation from physics, mathematics,
of step-by-step reasoning that of an ideal, ethereal world), and astronomy, botany, and biology to
begins with observation and the promoted the science of reaching ethics, the arts, and even politics.
collection of evidence available, He effectively created the first
leading to an informed deduction Aristotle, depicted here in this coherent system of Western
and, therefore, a logical conclusion. Roman marble bust based on a Greek philosophical thought, turning each
original, identified logic for the first of these subjects into academic
According to the Oxford time as a separate discipline and can “disciplines” in their own right.
English Dictionary, the term be called the founder of ratiocination. Underlying Aristotle’s approach
“ratiocination” was first used in was the importance of logic, based
Western Europe, which saw the on reasoning and derived from
birth of rationalism, a philosophy, observation, physical evidence,
which holds that reason is the empirical experiment, and general
main source and test of knowledge—in short, ratiocination.
knowledge, rather than experience
or divine revelation. Holmes is a The deductive and empirical
direct descendant of this tradition, process that Aristotle outlined
using his powers of rational, later became central to the
reasoned observation and scientific studies of the English
deduction to help his clients and Franciscan friar Roger Bacon
solve the many crimes that the (1214–c. 1292), as well as a host
police—who are hampered by of other so-called “natural
the constraints of standard philosophers” over the subsequent
“procedures”—often find baffling. centuries. Observation of natural
phenomena, often down to its
The influence of Aristotle minutiae, lay at the heart of almost
However, the roots of ratiocination all their investigations. Many were
lie much farther back in history, aided by contemporary inventions
originating in the writings of such as the magnifying glass, the
thermometer, the telescope, and

THE ART OF DEDUCTION 307

Forms of reasoning

Deduction Induction
Often found in classic detective fiction and Induction is a form of reasoning based on
requiring incontrovertible facts, this formulaic assumptions and commonly utilized by Watson
and the police in the Holmes stories. It requires
type of reasoning involves the following a conclusion to follow from a premise with
argument: if the premises are true, then probability only, rather than necessity.

the conclusion must also be true.

Abduction
Also called an “argument to the best explanation,” abduction is a form of reasoning often used by
Holmes when faced with a variety of explanations for a particular occurrence. As shown below,

he uses the method of abduction to help him decide which explanation best fits the evidence.

Victim Could it be No supporting Therefore,
found dead supernatural? evidence. using
in a locked
room, with Could it be a murder? No supporting abduction,
no evidence evidence. the best
of outside Could it be a suicide?
influence. Most likely, due to explanation
supporting evidence. is that the

victim
committed

suicide.

the microscope, all of which however, Holmes also uses variants of Fear (pp.212–21), for example,
permitted them to delve ever of detection and logical thought Holmes finally reduces the mystery
deeper into their respective that often place him several steps to an inevitable conclusion through
observations and discoveries; ahead of the regular, plodding, do- a process of weighing up possible
Holmes also uses these tools. it-by-the-book police investigators. solutions alongside his perception
of the protagonists’ characters.
The science of deduction “Inductive” reasoning, for
By the time Conan Doyle began example, is a technique used However, more often Holmes
writing the Holmes stories in the in mathematics and chemistry uses “abductive” reasoning—quite
1880s, Aristotelian thought and (in which Holmes was trained), literally the removal of a person
the philosopher’s demonstrations whereby a theoretical inference or, in Holmes’s case, an idea, from
of empirical logic had become might be reached based purely the potential scenario of a crime,
central to most educational and upon the particular circumstances thereby leaving the theoretical
scientific systems in Western of an experiment or situation that question “What if…?”. He uses this
culture. Ratiocination defines itself stands outside “received” to good effect in “The Man with the
Holmes’s principal approach to knowledge. While Holmes does Twisted Lip” (pp.80–1), when he
a problem—that is, deduction take this approach, it is also often “abducts” that Neville St. Clair, who
based on the evidence available; colored by his perception of the has apparently disappeared, in fact
protagonists involved. In The Valley never left the room that he was ❯❯

308 THE WORLD OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

Edgar Allan Poe, whose fictional
detective Dupin is shown here in
this illustration from “The Purloined
Letter” (1844), was an early proponent
of ratiocination in his stories.

and often projecting himself into
the mind of the criminal before
reaching a damning conclusion.
Subsequent writers, such as Wilkie
Collins and even Charles Dickens,
picked up on this theme, although
not with the ferocious enthusiasm
of Conan Doyle who, through the
character of Holmes, strengthened
the concept of ratiocination in his
absolute reduction of logic to an
essential conclusion.

last seen entering. All that is found “murder mystery” tales created by A well-stocked brain attic
in the room are his clothes and an the American writer Edgar Allan Conan Doyle’s presentation of
old beggar man. In asking the Poe (1809–1849), whose interests his detective as a fundamentally
question, “What if he never left?” stretched from contemporary scientific individual and a pioneer
Holmes can abduct that the beggar science to cryptanalysis (the study of forensic crime-solving methods
man is, in fact, St. Clair in disguise. of ciphers)and the supernatural. (Watson first meets Holmes when
Poe published a trio of short stories the latter is a medical research
The deployment of the method featuring the detective C Auguste chemist at St. Bartholomew’s
of ratiocination in crime-solving Dupin. In all three tales, Dupin uses Hospital in London) is telling—it
was not invented by Conan Doyle— the devices of ratiocination to solve is a scenario that provides the key
he was building on a fictional murders, observing the evidence to most of the Holmes mysteries.
tradition that originated in the
However, in the first Holmes
novel, A Study in Scarlet (pp.36–45),
Conan Doyle sets some interesting
limitations on the great intellectual
powers of his eccentric and brilliant
sleuth. As he gets to know his
enigmatic new companion, Watson
notes that Holmes is astonishingly
selective in what he chooses to
learn: he knows nothing about
literature, philosophy, astronomy,
or politics, yet has a deep
understanding of chemistry,
an encyclopedic knowledge of
“sensational literature” (accounts
of criminal cases), and a “practical
knowledge” of British law. Holmes
brushes this implied criticism aside,
stating that he is only interested in
that which will prove useful to him
in his work. “I consider that a man’s

THE ART OF DEDUCTION 309

brain originally is like a little empty In questions of regularly consults his obsessively
attic, and you have to stock it with science, the authority compiled “great book,” into which he
such furniture as you choose,” he of a thousand is not worth pastes daily clippings of the agony
tells Watson. He is careful to fill his the humble reasoning of columns (personal advertisements)
own “brain attic” with facts and of popular newspapers. These were
information that he can draw on a single individual. often used as a means of disguised
to make his deductions and solve Galileo Galilei or coded communication and,
cases—at the expense of other according to Holmes, were “the
things he considers superfluous, (1564–1642) most valuable hunting ground that
even fundamental truths about ever was given to the student of
science and the universe. “There the suggestiveness of thumb-nails, the unusual.”
comes a time when for every or the great issues that may hang
addition of knowledge you forget from a bootlace,” he remarks in A lasting impact
something you knew before,” “A Case of Identity” (pp.68–9). The Holmes stories incorporate
Holmes explains. several historic developments: a
Equally significant is Holmes’s flood of new research was rapidly
“The observance of trifles” shrewd, encyclopedic knowledge entering into everyday life and the
Further revelations about Holmes’s of seemingly arcane data: the popular consciousness—which
methodology are gradually revealed impressions left by a carriage, the detective eagerly exploits—
over the ensuing 40 years, in the bicycle tires, or footprints; the myriad while police practices were also
stories that follow A Study in types of tobacco ash found at a gradually becoming more scientific
Scarlet. Conan Doyle focuses on scene in an era when almost every and rigorous. An entirely new way
the small, detailed, but outstanding man smoked; the tiny clues offered of looking at the human personality,
and often overlooked features of up by dirt and dust particles—all psychoanalysis, was also becoming
a crime, which provide Holmes of which provide extra information popular, although it is difficult to
with the key to many apparently for him when solving cases. Holmes prove the extent to which Sigmund
unsolvable riddles, much to the Freud’s work influenced Conan
astonishment of Watson. It is Doyle’s writing. However, it was with
not only cold, hard logic but also Holmes’s methods of deduction that
Holmes’s highly developed eye for Conan Doyle introduced a new
detail that enables him to solve scientific rigor to the mystery story
crimes: “I can never bring you to that would impact crime writing for
realize the importance of sleeves, over a century to come. ■

Darwin and ratiocination

Charles Darwin’s groundbreaking Many of Darwin’s crucial
book On the Origin of Species premises were derived from
(1859), perhaps the most influential seemingly arcane and very small
scientific treatise of the 19th clues—accumulated over many
century, used ratiocination to years from his studies of fossils,
devastating effect. In this detailed geology, and animal and bird
publication, Darwin (1809–1882) behavior. His conclusions often
propounded his concepts of a flew in the face of received
theory of natural selection, the knowledge, tradition, and
“survival of the fittest,” and from prejudice. In Conan Doyle’s
there to his general theory of Sherlock Holmes stories, the
evolution. A prime example of great detective stands squarely
Aristotelian logic and deduction, within this tradition, although
the work sparked global debate he has to move quickly to track
and sold out on publication day. down the perpetrators of crime.

310 C riminology and forensic
science as we know
THERE IS them emerged in the
NOTHING LIKE 19th century, and had become
FIRST-HAND well-established in criminal
EVIDENCE investigations by the turn of the
20th century. However, their origins
CRIMINOLOGY AND FORENSIC SCIENCE lay in the 18th century, when there
was great scientific progress in the
fields of chemistry, physics, botany,
zoology, geology, and anatomy. This
increase in scientific knowledge led
to a more rational, non-speculative,
evidence-based approach to solving
crimes, and opened up a wider field
of possibilities for the police. Conan
Doyle made Sherlock Holmes a
pioneer of forensic analysis and the
use of reasoning, and as a detective
working in the 19th century he was
in many ways ahead of his time.

The main contributors to the
development of criminology as a
science were German psychologist
and neuroanatomist Franz Josef
Gall (1758–1828) and the Italian

Reformer and politician Sir Robert
Peel (1788–1850) created the first British
police force. The policemen were called
peelers or bobbies (after Peel’s nickname
“Bob”), a term still in use today.

CRIMINOLOGY AND FORENSIC SCIENCE 311

The Watch House in London’s Covent
Garden was built in 1729. In 1829, the
newly formed Metropolitan Police took
it over as headquarters of F Division,
controlled by Superintendent Thomas.

sociologists Cesare Beccaria criminal cases of forgery, assault, consultation with Vidocq. It
(1738–1794) and Cesare Lombroso burglary, homicide, and organized would be many years later that
(1835–1909). Beccaria published gang crime became pressing issues. the burgeoning population of the
On Crimes and Punishments (1764), Previously, crimes had been dealt US saw the creation of the Bureau
in which he argued that crime with on a largely local basis, of Investigation in 1908 and its
was an endemic trait of human within small communities, based cross-state federal remit, the
nature; Lombroso rejected this on local knowledge and relatively Federal Bureau of Investigation
idea, claiming that psychological, simple information-gathering. (FBI), which was introduced
social, and inherited conditions However, this often involved rumor, in 1935 under its first director,
predisposed a person toward hearsay, or prejudice—hence, in J. Edgar Hoover. The aim of these
criminal tendencies. part, the so-called “witch trials” policing institutions was to
of the 16th and 17th centuries, in centralize information-gathering
Urban expansion and crime which local scores were settled and intelligence distribution on
Rapid population growth and by invidious accusations. a national and even transnational
urbanization at the end of the 18th basis. The International Criminal
century—especially in London, The first professional police Police Organization (Interpol) was
Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, forces set up to investigate crimes another French innovation, created
and Glasgow, as well as many came into existence in the early in 1923 to share and disseminate
other industrial cities across Europe 19th century. In 1812, Eugène information around the world.
(particularly Paris)—presented new François Vidocq (see p.317), a
social challenges. Urban expansion former criminal, established the In addition to a new style of
created dense populations within Sûreté Nationale in Paris; it was policing, a different dimension
which crimes could be concealed a modest but ambitious operation of detection and crime resolution
easily and criminals could move that recruited other reformed became necessary, using a range of
around unnoticed in the crowds. criminals to its staff. In 1829, new techniques and methodologies.
This meant that policing, crime Robert Peel set up the Metropolitan The principal steps forward in this
control, and solving or resolving Police Service, based at Scotland area during the 19th century (of
Yard in Whitehall, London, in which Conan Doyle was well aware)
fell into three main categories: the
gathering of intelligence, especially
concerning the activities of the ❯❯

Police are the
public and the public

are the police.
Sir Robert Peel

“Principles of Policing” (1829)

312 THE WORLD OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

“underground” classes; the By the aid of phrenology, thousands of individuals deemed
collection and collation of we have obtained a tolerably suspicious for one reason or another.
details and characteristics of Franz Kafka’s novel The Trial (1925)
criminal “types” (phrenology and clear view… of the mind. is just one example of many that
anthropometry); and the scientific George Combe exemplify the sense of paranoia
analysis of forensic material created by the state’s intrusion
gathered at the scene of the Constitution of Man (1828) on personal liberty and privacy.
crime—unique datasets such On the other hand, the collection
as fingerprints, photographic (the Gunpowder Plot, 1605). This and collation of information from
files, and traces of blood types. perceived danger led to a culture a wide variety of sources has
A fourth important element of “observation” and the incipient undoubtedly prevented a huge
was the development of a range invasion of personal privacy. number of criminal acts. Holmes
of new infrastructure systems: The system also relied on the sits somewhere in the middle
the popular press, railroads, an interception of messages, and of this conundrum: while preferring
efficient postal service, and high- blackmailing and torturing possible to rely on his personal observations,
speed communications, especially suspects or their associates. Other he equally does not eschew using
the telegraph—all of which Holmes countries, including Spain, France, intelligence and information from
exploits extensively in solving Russia, the Habsburg Empire, and international police forces to help
the enigmas that confront him. other European states, developed in his investigations.
“secret police” forces whose sole
Intelligence-gathering purpose was information-gathering. The practice of phrenology
Since the late 16th and early 17th The classification of human “types”
centuries, the accumulation of By the beginning of the 19th based on class, social background,
evidence against “suspects” was century, police forces across Europe and physical characteristics—
largely a matter driven by concerns had become extremely adept at founded on supposedly scientific
of national security, especially in compiling damning dossiers on methods dating back to the ancient
non-Catholic Reformist countries, Greek scientist Galen—began with
worried by the threat of Catholic the development of phrenology (p.188)
subversion—for instance, when in Germany in the early 19th century.
there were plots in England to Franz Josef Gall claimed that the size
assassinate Queen Elizabeth I and shape of the skull revealed the
(the Babington Plot, 1585) and blow intelligence, personality, and moral
up Parliament and King James I faculties of the subject, and would

Jack the Ripper earliest “criminal profiles” of
the murderer. Scotland Yard
In 1888, London was shocked was reluctant to share details
by the brutal serial murders of of its investigations with the press,
at least five East End prostitutes. since it was afraid of revealing
Although forensic evidence was its methods to the murderer
collected and examined, the himself. Faced with a lack of
techniques available to Scotland information, journalists resorted
Yard at this time were basic, to sensationalized, speculative
and forensic investigation was reports, and criticized the methods
not an established procedure, of the police force. This critical
so they focused on identifying press, coupled with the unsolved
and interviewing a large murders, had a negative impact
number of suspects. Police on the reputation of Scotland Yard.
surgeon Dr. Thomas Bond used The murders remain unsolved to
his knowledge of the victim this day, but there are many
autopsies to create one of the theories as to the killer’s identity.

CRIMINOLOGY AND FORENSIC SCIENCE 313

A phrenologist is seen here trying
to assess a boy’s future by measuring
the bumps on his head. Although not
based on fact, this practice became
popular in the early 19th century.

therefore be useful in categorizing Bertillon (1853–1914), who developed Handwriting analysis
criminal types. Gall also produced the “science” of anthropometry. Bertillon also developed another
“brain maps,” which divided the Bertillon carefully measured specialty—handwriting analysis.
brain into 27 “organs” ranging from anatomical details (length of the Started by French priest Jean-
areas responsible for the sense of neck, arms, legs, feet, and so on), Hippolyte Michon, the “science”
taste and smell to those provoking of known or suspected criminals, of graphology (p.127) was based
criminal urges. subjecting them to humiliating on the theory that a person’s
physical analysis. His victims handwriting is unique and reflects
These brain maps proved hugely were also photographed—mainly a range of underlying psychological
popular, and by 1820 the Edinburgh at the time to analyze rather than characteristics. However,
Phrenological Society was set up to record their facial features, handwriting can be imitated and
by one of Gall’s disciples, George although this later formed the forged, faked or misidentified, so
Combe, and his physician brother basis of the “mugshot” archives handwriting analysis is not reliable
Andrew. Although the society was central to criminal archives today. and has since been discredited. ❯❯
disbanded in 1870, the museum
remained open until 1886. Conan
Doyle would have been aware of
the Society’s work and would
probably have visited while he was
studying medicine in Edinburgh.
He incorporated these “criminal
traits” in many of his male villains,
describing them as being huge,
bearded, and swarthy with a
low brow—for example in “The
Adventure of the Six Napoleons”
(pp.188–89), “The Adventure of
the Blue Carbuncle” (pp.82–3), and
“The Adventure of the Speckled
Band” (pp.84–9).

This dubious pseudoscience
persisted for well over a century,
and was used to provide simplistic
evaluations of racial hegemony.
The Nazis were enthusiastic
phrenologists, and SS commander
Heinrich Himmler (1900–1945)
amassed a collection of skulls
that he used to demonstrate his
arguments concerning racial
superiority and criminality.

Anthropometry
The basic tenets of phrenology
were taken several steps further by
the French criminologist Alphonse

314 THE WORLD OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

The use of photography to record
known criminals dates back to the
1840s. In 1871, a law was passed in
the UK requiring that anyone arrested
for a crime must be photographed.

as criminal records, mugshots,
and fingerprints was still in its
infancy, although he included
them in his works—for instance,
the use of fingerprinting to
help solve the mystery in “The
Adventure of the Norwood Builder”
(pp.168–69). The problem of how
this information would be managed
and disseminated, however, was
a challenge for the future.

In an infamous case of 1894, Alfred Argentinian police officer Juan Blood typing
Dreyfus, a French artillery officer Vucetich proved the guilt of a The classifying of blood samples
of Jewish descent, was incorrectly murderer from the bloody hand into types A, B, and O was first
convicted of treason. Bertillon’s stains she had left at the scene of codified by Austrian biologist Karl
identification of his handwriting a murder that irrefutably confirmed Landsteiner (1868–1943) in 1900,
was used as critical evidence in her presence at the crime scene. but research in the area began in
his conviction. Dreyfus was not The idea was taken up by various the 1870s. Identification of the fourth
exonerated until 1906. police agencies, such as in Calcutta, blood type, AB, was published in
India, where the first fingerprint- 1902. Conan Doyle would have been
Holmes is an expert at analyzing recording bureau was set up in aware of these advances in forensic
handwriting, as seen in “The Reigate 1897 by Sir Edward Richard Henry. analysis, which served as narrative
Squire” (pp.126–31), in which he Although fingerprint recording for inspiration. For example, in the
identifies the murderers from a identification was rejected at first first Holmes tale, A Study in Scarlet
handwritten note. At the time of its by London’s Metropolitan Police in (pp.36–45), Holmes declares to
publication (1893), graphology was 1886, the system was adopted by the Watson that he has successfully
little known in Britain, and for many New York Civil Service Commission invented “the Sherlock Holmes’
readers this would have been the in 1901 and, within a decade, had test”—an “infallible test for blood
first they had heard of it. become recognized internationally stains,” old or new, which can result
as an essential tool in criminal
Fingerprints and datasets identification and detection. Why, man, it is the most
One accurate early method of crime practical medico-legal
scene investigation (CSI) was the At the time that Conan Doyle
recognition of the unique genetic began writing the Holmes stories, discovery for years.
quality of fingerprints. In 1892, the accumulation of datasets such Sherlock Holmes

A Study in Scarlet

CRIMINOLOGY AND FORENSIC SCIENCE 315

Dr. Hawley The notorious case of wife- remains, and identified some
Harvey Crippen murderer Dr. Crippen combined scar tissue as being consistent
a number of factors worthy of with an operation that Cora had
Holmes’s ingenuity. Dr. Crippen, undergone. Crippen and Ethel
an American homeopath, lived in were arrested on arrival in
London with his wife, Cora, but Canada. Crippen was tried,
in 1908 began an affair with Ethel found guilty, and hanged, while
Le Neve. In January 1910, Cora Ethel was acquitted. Forensic
disappeared, and in July Crippen pathology played a key role in
and his lover fled, boarding a Crippen’s conviction. However,
boat to Canada. Scotland Yard’s further DNA tests made a
Inspector Dew ordered a further century on have confirmed
look at Crippen’s home, and that the remains were not Cora
human remains were found under Crippen’s, and were of a male.
the basement floor. Pathologist His identity, whether Crippen
Bernard Spilsbury found traces killed him, and what happened
of the toxic drug hyoscine in the to Cora, remain a mystery.

in identification of the criminal. The A taste for crime tales during a fascinating and
significance of this test is immense, From the beginning of the 19th rapidly developing period in
as he tells a bewildered Watson. century, there was a newsprint- criminology, which bridged the
“Had this test been invented, there buying public baying for sensational gap between the speculative and
are hundreds of men now walking details of crimes. Conan Doyle the scientifically based forensic
the earth who would long ago have not only fed this appetite, but also pathology. As well as having a
paid the penalty of their crimes.” built on sociological theories such highly logical, analytical mind,
as those propounded by Gall, Conan Doyle’s awareness of many
Forensic pathology Beccaria, Lombroso, and others theories and discoveries allowed
The science of forensic pathology concerning the causes of crime. him to keep ahead of the public’s
(determining the cause of death Conan Doyle was, after all, a doctor, knowledge, enabling him to
by studying a corpse) was clearly and well aware of scholarly medical constantly astound his audience
of interest to Conan Doyle. It was publications. He wrote the Holmes with Holmes’s ingenuity. ■
a rapidly developing science. The
practitioners at the turn of the 19th
century were usually referred to
as “medical examiners” or “police
surgeons.” During Conan Doyle’s
(and Holmes’s) career there were
a number of high-profile cases
in Britain that involved the work
of forensic pathologists, such as
Sir Bernard Spilsbury (1877–1947),
whose work and analysis brought
many notorious murderers to the
gallows, including Dr. Hawley
Harvey Crippen.

Britain’s foremost forensic
scientist and pioneering pathologist
Sir Bernard Spilsbury performed
thousands of autopsies on both
murder victims and criminals.

316

YOU KNOW V illains have always existed
in literature, appearing in
the works of Homer and
the Bible to Chaucer, Shakespeare,
and beyond. Yet until relatively

recently, it was either natural justice
MY METHODS. orfatethatdeterminedthevillain’s
eventual downfall—detectives, like
Holmes, simply did not exist.
APPLY THEM The origins of crime fiction
In the late 18th century, most
European novels fell into two
groups: social comedies and Gothic
romances. It was from the latter

CRIME WRITING AND DETECTIVE FICTION genre that crime fiction eventually
emerged. Early proponents of the

form included the Marquis de Sade

(1740–1814), who portrayed vicious

criminals in the 1780s and 1790s

with considerable relish, while

Matthew Lewis wrote populist

Gothic mysteries, such as The

Monk (1796). Some novels, such

as Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s

Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1782),

even crossed the boundaries

between these two categories.

But while criminal activity features

in all of these stories, there are

no detectives to solve the crimes.

However, in the first half of the

19th century, crime writing began

to move in a different direction.

The US poet, critic, and novelist

It is, I admit, mere
imagination, but how
often is imagination
the mother of truth?
Sherlock Holmes

The Valley of Fear

CRIME WRITING AND DETECTIVE FICTION 317

Jean-Pierre Fossard, regarded as one
of the great Parisian criminals, was
captured by Eugène François Vidocq
on December 31, 1813, while he was
in charge of the Sûreté Nationale.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) and Holmes’s predecessors the detectives in his novels, such
his French contemporaries Honoré In some ways, the roots of crime as Le Père Goriot (1835), Illusions
de Balzac (1799–1850), Victor Hugo fiction started with the real-life perdues (1837), and La Cousine
(1802–1885), Alexandre Dumas career of one notorious Frenchman, Bette (1846). Balzac’s most famous
(1802–1870), and Émile Gaboriau Eugène François Vidocq. A direct detective was Jacques Collin,
(1832–1873) defined the concept inspiration for many French writers, often known by his alias Vautrin.
of the dogged detective and from Balzac to Gaboriau, Vidocq Dumas also worked elements
criminologist within their stories, was a petty criminal and spy who of Vidocq’s activities into Les
establishing the crime writing later channeled his skills in a lawful Mohicans de Paris (1854) in the
style for which Conan Doyle way when he established the secret form of the fictional Monsieur
would later become famous. Sûreté Nationale in Paris. In fact, Jackal. And in Les Misérables
Balzac became Vidocq’s close (1862), Hugo based aspects of
By the mid- to late 19th century, friend, using him as a model for characters—like both the ❯❯
naturalist writers—who believed
that both genes and social factors
determined personality—were
examining the criminal condition.
Notable works include the French
author Émile Zola’s novel about the
eponymous domestic murderess
Thérèse Raquin (1867) and Russian
novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime
and Punishment (1866), which
explored the mind of a psychopath.

Twenty years later, Conan
Doyle invented Holmes, who
arguably has had the greatest
long-term impact and influence.

Eugène François Vidocq Born in Arras, France, to a middle- Controversially, he recruited
class family, Eugène François former lawbreakers, and even
Vidocq (1775–1857) turned to encouraged his agents to foster
crime as a teenager. He fought their contacts in the criminal
as a French soldier in several underworld. He later resigned
battles, where he killed at least from the Sûreté and, in 1832,
two opponents. After a spell in he founded the first private
prison for crimes that included detective agency, Le Bureau
forgery and assault, he became des Renseignements. Vidocq
involved in spying. was one of the first professional
“criminologists,” combining his
Vidocq then transformed intelligence-gathering skills with
himself. Towards the end of 1811, forensic methods. He even kept
he decided to use his experience card indexes of known criminals
of the criminal world to help the and how they operated, thereby
French authorities, establishing creating an early version of a
Sûreté Nationale, within the crime database.
Prefecture of Police in Paris.

318 THE WORLD OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

Charles Dickens (1812–1870) was
the most popular writer in Victorian
England, and a master of suspense. Like
many authors of the period, he wrote
novels for serialization in magazines.

reformed criminal Jean Valjean mystery, in which a crime—usually the development of the genre
and the relentless police inspector murder—is committed under that was to become one of the
Javert who was pursuing him— seemingly impossible conditions. most important strands in
on Vidocq’s astonishing career, In the second tale, “The Mystery of popular publishing.
which by then had been widely Marie Roget” (1842), which is based
celebrated—however unreliably— on an actual murder case in New British crime mysteries
in print and on stage. Émile York, Dupin has to reconstruct the The first major British crime
Gaboriau even wrote about last days of a mysterious victim’s fiction writer was Wilkie Collins
Vidocq’s adventures in popular life. The third story called “The (1824–1889), who wrote The Woman
novels including his Monsieur Purloined Letter” (1844) combines in White (1860) and The Moonstone
Lecoq series, published from 1866. a psychological duel between the (1868), which were published
detective and a blackmailer with around two decades before Conan
Vidocq’s fame also spread to the “hidden in plain sight” problem. Doyle introduced Holmes. Today,
the US, and Poe was apparently Most of these foreign writers were they remain superb examples
inspired by the French celebrity read in Britain and influenced of mysteries and conspiracies
when he wrote what many believe unravelled by inventive detection.
to be the first pure detective story. Where was the detective Like many novels of the period,
Poe also used the terms “detection” story until Poe breathed these were first published in
and “ratiocination” (pp.306–09) to the breath of life into it? serial form.
describe the methods of his fictional Arthur Conan Doyle
detective C. Auguste Dupin—lateral The giant of the English serial
thinking being a key feature of his Poe Centennial Dinner (1909) novel, Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
crime solving. Indeed, Conan Doyle also experimented with mystery
acknowledged that Poe’s stories stories, drawing elements of the
were a model for later crime fiction, developing genre into his novels
saying that three stories involving such as Oliver Twist (1838) and
Dupin in particular provided “a root Our Mutual Friend (1865). Two of
from which a whole literature has his most notable detective stories
developed.” The first of these tales, were Bleak House (1853), with
“The Murders in the Rue Morgue” Inspector Bucket, and The Mystery
(1841) is a model of the “locked room” of Edwin Drood (1870)—which
remained unfinished at his death—
featuring an early amateur private
detective, Dick Datchery.

Writing around the same time
was Irish author Joseph Sheridan
Le Fanu (1814–1873), who created
Gothic mystery novels featuring
magic and the supernatural. But
he also wrote novels that contained
elements of a classic detective
mystery, including Wylder’s Hand
(1864), The Wyvern Mystery (1869),
and In a Glass Darkly (1872), which
purported to be the memoirs of an
“occult” detective, Dr. Hesselius.

CRIME WRITING AND DETECTIVE FICTION 319

Edgar Allan Poe’s 1841 story “The The English detective Sexton All men thirst to confess
Murders in the Rue Morgue” was later Blake, described as the “poor man’s their crimes more than tired
published in this 1893 collection that Sherlock Holmes,” was one of these.
included “The Mystery of Marie Roget”. The first Blake adventures were beasts thirst for water.
syndicated in newspapers and G.K. Chesterton
The arrival of Holmes magazines from 1893, and penned
In 1887, Conan Doyle published by a variety of authors. The first was The Illustrated London News (1908)
his first Holmes story, A Study in “The Missing Millionaire”, by Harry
Scarlet (pp.36–45). In this novel, Blyth. Like Holmes, Blake lived in condition through hearing
he included forensics (pp.310–15), Baker Street and had a tolerant confessions. Across five volumes
detailed crime scene investigation, landlady. Continuing until 1978 and of short stories written from 1911
and careful character analysis. Once adapted for stage, radio, and TV, to 1935, Brown became a staple
established as a key character in there were over 4,000 Blake stories. of the British crime fiction diet.
the Strand series, Holmes became
a hit with an increasingly literate Another contemporary in There were other fine writers
and enthusiastic reading public. It crime fiction was G.K. Chesterton who wrote under the long shadow
was therefore understandable that (1874–1936) who, in addition to of Holmes. Conan Doyle’s brother-
Conan Doyle’s decision to kill off his writing the brilliant but murky in-law, E.W. Hornung, introduced
greatest fictional creation in 1893 police vs. anarchists thriller The the gentleman thief/hero Raffles
met with public uproar. It seems Man Who Was Thursday (1908), in The Amateur Cracksman (1899),
that Conan Doyle had not realized created the unassuming Catholic and E.F. Bentley wrote the popular
the intense appeal of his stories. But ecclesiastical detective Father detective murder mystery Trent’s
even without Holmes, popular crime Brown. Brown solves problems Last Case (1913), in which his
fiction was here to stay, and would using similar methods to Holmes, gentleman detective Philip
continue well into the 20th and 21st although, as a priest, he draws Trent falls in love with one of
century in its many permutations. on his knowledge of the human the suspects and comes to a
number of incorrect conclusions.
Holmes’s contemporaries Nicknamed “Penny Dreadful,”
Apart from Holmes, there were other “The Union Jack” described itself as Crime-writing subgenres
fictional detectives at this time who a “Library of high class fiction,” and Around the beginning of the
proved to be popular. serialized many tales. This cover from 20th century, crime fiction
1900 features detective Sexton Blake. could be divided into three main
subgenres. There were stories
about sleuths—as embodied by
Holmes; pulp-crime fiction; and
spy thrillers, often involving
conspiracies (p.320). There
was a huge dividing line between
the type of detective mystery that
Conan Doyle espoused, and what
later became the more popular
strands of sensationalist cliff-
hangers typified by the latter
two styles. ❯❯

320 THE WORLD OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

The British “Golden Age” Very few detective stories textbook lecture by Fell about his
The period between the two World baffle me nowadays, but methodology for solving apparently
Wars became known as the “Golden impossible crimes. Carr also wrote
Age” of detective fiction. Modelled Mr. Carr’s always do. an early biography of Conan Doyle.
on the Holmes tales, stories from this Agatha Christie
era tend to take the form of classic Edgar Wallace (1875–1932),
murder mysteries, or “whodunits,” Crime writer (1890–1976) the highly prolific English writer—
featuring amateur detectives who also spent time in the US as a
outsmarting the police, often in John Dickson Carr (1906–1977) successful screenwriter—created
British upper-class settings. Agatha was another writer of detective a crime-writing phenomenon almost
Christie (see right) was undoubtedly fiction. Although American, he single-handedly. At his height, in
the most successful and well-known set most of his novels in England, the 1920s, he was selling more than
“Golden Age” author, but there were where he lived for many years, so a million books per year. His main
many others. his works are often categorized as works include The Four Just Men
British crime fiction. His detectives (1905), The Green Archer (1923),
These included Dorothy L. include the decadent and charming and the J.G. Reeder stories
Sayers with her Lord Peter Wimsey but untidy Dr. Gideon Fell (possibly (collected in 1925).
stories, the first being Whose Body based on G. K. Chesterton), and the
(1923); Margery Allingham’s Albert aristocratic Sir Henry Merrivale. The detective fiction queen
Campion tales, which began with The Hollow Man (1935), which The queen of 20th-century detective
The Crime at Black Dudley (1929); was called The Three Coffins in fiction was Agatha Christie (1890–
Ngaio Marsh’s Inspector Alleyn the US, includes a chapter-long 1976). She is rated as the world’s
mysteries, such as A Man Lay Dead best-selling novelist, with her sales
(1934); and Leslie Charteris’s Simon ranking just behind the Bible and
Templar stories, which were later Shakespeare, and her books have
made into a popular film and TV been translated into 103 languages.
series, The Saint. Introduced in 1928, Despite her high social status, her
Templar was an amateur detective/ work was “middle brow,” and
knight living slightly outside the therefore she could appeal to the
law, with an instinct for detection general public across the world.
and righteousness. During a long career, she published

Stories about sleuths – At the start of Defined by criminal
mainly amateur the 20th century, psychology and brute
detective mysteries force, “pulp” crime
detectives, inspired became increasingly fiction was driven in
by Sherlock Holmes – popular, and three large part by the advent
were read widely, subgenres of crime of cheap paperbacks.
especially in Britain. writing emerged.
Conspiracy and spy
thrillers became very

popular from World
War I onwards and
continued through to
the end of the Cold War.

CRIME WRITING AND DETECTIVE FICTION 321

The Strand Magazine ran from 1891
to 1950, serializing many writers’ works.
This cover from 1935 features Agatha
Christie’s Belgian detective Hercule
Poirot in “The Crime in Cabin 66.”

66 detective novels and 14 short Vance was among the first true as the “author” of his books,
stories, while also creating the champions in the US of the Queen was very popular after
world’s longest-running play, The Holmesian approach to solving the publication of the first novel,
Mousetrap (1952). Other noteworthy crimes. Van Dine introduced The Roman Hat Mystery (1929).
books include The Murder of Roger Vance after writing an exhaustive Today, Queen has become a
Ackroyd (1926), which has been study of the genre, which led to brand, appearing as a character
regularly nominated as the best The Benson Murder Case (1926) and in magazines, and theatrical,
crime novel ever written by The 11 other masterful detective novels. TV, and film adaptations.
Crime Writers’ Association, while
And Then There Were None (1939) Cousins Frederic Dannay (1905– However, the clearest inheritor
has sold over 100 million copies. 1982) and Manfred Bennington of Holmes’s cloak and deerstalker
Lee (1905–1971)—both aliases— in the US is Rex Stout’s clever
Christie had an inventive mind invented Ellery Queen. A gifted but sedentary detective, Nero
and created two main detectives: investigator, and often presented Wolfe (p.322). ❯❯
the Holmes-like Belgian former
professional detective, Hercule
Poirot, and the amateur yet brilliant
observer of human nature, Miss Jane
Marple. Both detectives used an
acute psychological analysis of the
protagonists in each story, linked
with a close observation of the
available and often overlooked
details of apparently insignificant
evidence—a lesson learned from
Holmes. Poirot was first seen in The
Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920),
which also launched Christie’s
career, and he went on to feature in
33 novels. Marple debuted in a short
story in 1926, “The Tuesday Night
Club,” and in novel form in The
Murder at the Vicarage in 1930. She
appeared in 11 further novels and
more than 20 short stories. Like
Chesterton’s Father Brown, she is a
retiring and contemplative character
who modestly delves her way into
each mystery. Both Poirot and
Marple feature in numerous films
played by a variety of actors.

The “Golden Age” in the US
S.S. Van Dine’s (a pseudonym of
Willard Huntingdon Wright, 1888–
1939) aesthete and sleuth Philo

322 THE WORLD OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

Nero Wolfe The “hard-boiled” school The Adventures of Ellery Queen
In the 1930s and 1940s, another style was made into four television series.
One of the most improbable of crime writing emerged in the US. The first season in 1950 starred Richard
successors to the Holmes The novels were unsentimental, Hart. Lee Bowman (pictured) took over
legacy in the US was Rex realistic, and gritty, with cynical after the death of Hart in January 1951.
Stout’s (1886–1975) oversized antiheroes for detectives who were
character Nero Wolfe. A quite different from Holmes. The Holmes’s British legacy
consultant private detective, style became known as the “hard- Over a century after Holmes,
Wolfe lives in a “brownstone” boiled” school of detective fiction. the true legacy of Conan Doyle’s
house in upper Manhattan, Dashiell Hammett (1894–1961) and invention can be seen in a number
where he is attended by his the Anglo-American writer Raymond of British crime fiction writers.
chef, Fritz, and assistant, Chandler (1888–1959) are considered
Archie Goodwin who, like to be the founders of “hard-boiled” P.D. James (1920–2014) wrote
Watson, acts as the narrator. crime fiction. ingenious and intellectually driven
stories, often set in remote locations.
Wolfe appears unchanged Hammett’s three leading She introduced her female private
(aged 56) in 33 novels and protagonists—the unnamed eye Cordelia Gray in An Unsuitable
over 40 novellas. He analyses “Continental Op” in Red Harvest Job for a Woman (1972) and later
crime by shutting his eyes (1929), Sam Spade in The Maltese published a series of novels
and becoming immersed in Falcon (1930), and Nick Charles featuring Commander Adam
a mystery while digesting a in The Thin Man (1934)—find Dalgliesh, beginning with A Taste
gourmet meal and reclining themselves involved in mysteries for Death (1986). With her wonderful
in his specially strengthened that can be solved only by clever prose, James’s crime fiction novels
chair. He rarely leaves his detective work. Raymond Chandler’s were soon considered to be works
home, but solves cases by sleuth, Philip Marlowe, though, is of serious literature.
gathering information, less inventive, often merely following
interrogating both the police a track of bodies and glamorous Ruth Rendell (1930–2015),
and suspects, and using femmes fatales to frequently meanwhile, created a unique
pure deduction. inscrutable but violent conclusions, role for herself as an inventor of
in works such as The Big Sleep psychological crime narratives, also
Wolfe’s background is a (1939) and Farewell, My Lovely (1940). publishing under the name Barbara
mystery. Some Sherlockians Vine. Her principal series of novels
trace his roots to Eastern
Europe; others believe that
he is the illegitimate son of
Irene Adler and Holmes. Like
Holmes, Wolfe’s deductions
draw on his vast knowledge
and experience, and demand
a suspension of disbelief.

CRIME WRITING AND DETECTIVE FICTION 323

the mystery. Beginning with Last Swedish writer Stieg Larsson (1954–
Bus to Woodstock (1975) the series 2004) planned this book as the first of
extended to 13 novels until 1999. ten, but only three were completed. The
books were made into successful films.
Ian Rankin (1960–) never thought
of his books as genre fiction, yet his
Detective Inspector Rebus series,
which began with Knots and
Crosses (1987) and has continued
through a further 18 titles to date,
has established him as one of
the leading modern crime writers.
Rebus is a likeably unlikeable
character, who follows his instinct
using a combination of Holmesian
logic and Philip Marlowe’s strong-
arm blundering.

Hinted at in Poe’s crime fiction,
and made explicit with Holmes—
from his bouts of depression to his
reliance on drugs—many of these
latter-day sleuths are also damaged
by romantic or family issues, alcohol
dependency, and secrets or ghosts
from their past, among other things.

Humphrey Bogart famously played Contemporary crime fiction Much like Holmes was a pioneer
Chandler’s Philip Marlowe in the first The legacy of Holmes continues with of using science as a detective, the
film version of The Big Sleep in 1946. crime fiction writers throughout the US author Patricia Cornwell (1956–)
Lauren Bacall played Vivian Rutledge. world, but particularly in the US. has excelled in describing modern
forensics in stomach-churning
involve the carefully analytical Chief The US crime writer John D. detail. Her heroine Kay Scarpetta
Inspector Wexford; this series began Macdonald (1916–1986) invented uses her mouth-watering cookery
in 1964 with From Doon with Death Travis McGee—a Florida boat- skills to examine mortal remains
and stretched over the course of owning freelancer who takes on and confront evil criminals in novels
12 novels until 1983. cases by which he is intrigued or such as The Body Farm (1994).
outraged. The reader is placed in Another American, Karin Slaughter
Colin Dexter (1930–) created the role of the observer and forced (1971–), who debuted with her novel
the irascible Inspector Morse and to interpret what McGee is up to as Blindsighted in 2001, also describes
his Watson-like companion, Lewis. he unravels cases. McGee collects forensic investigations in gory detail.
Indeed, Dexter’s format is similar to evidence and thinks the problems
Conan Doyle’s, as Lewis often carries through carefully, gradually drawing Crime fiction is now a well-
out the legwork, while Morse solves together the clues and, like Holmes, established genre, particularly
using them to trap his villains. in France, Spain, Russia, Japan,
and Scandinavia, and numerous
The American-Canadian non-English-speaking authors like
Ross Macdonald (the pseudonym Stieg Larsson and Pierre Lemaitre
of Kenneth Millar, 1915–1983) are proving to be enormously popular
wrote a series of adventures about worldwide. Whatever the authors’
the Californian private detective origins or individual styles, there is
Lew Archer. Although he may no doubt that they have all gained
employ some violent tactics, Archer from the legacy of Conan Doyle’s
nevertheless manages to perform indomitable Sherlock Holmes. ■
some excellent detective work.

324

WHAT ONE MAN CAN
INVENT ANOTHER
CAN DISCOVER

THE FANS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

S herlock Holmes mania in the Strand that propelled the until, bored with his creation,
began to emerge during detective to new heights of fame. he killed Holmes off in “The Final
1891, with the publication of The stories carried illustrations Problem” (pp.142–47) in 1893. The
the first short stories in The Strand by Sidney Paget on each page and, reaction to Holmes’s death showed
Magazine. The Great Detective soon with their quick bursts of adventure just how popular the ace detective
became famous all over the world, and satisfying resolutions, proved had become. Readers were
and has remained an international perfect for the monthly format. outraged; more than 20,000 of
phenomenon ever since. Readers went Holmes—mad and them canceled their subscriptions.
the Strand quickly became Britain’s Both the magazine and Conan
A best-seller is born best-selling magazine. Doyle received letters of
The two novels in which Holmes anguished protests—just as
first appeared, A Study in Scarlet The dreadful event Dickens did when he killed off
(pp.36–45) and The Sign of Four The level of fans’ enthusiasm, Little Nell in The Old Curiosity
(pp.46–55), had been moderately however, would not become Shop. People even wore black
popular, but it was the short stories clear—to Conan Doyle, at least— armbands in mourning and
accosted Conan Doyle in the
street. The author was completely
taken aback. Holmes was merely
a fiction, a figment of his
imagination. The staff at The
Strand Magazine, ever after,
referred to Holmes’s death as
“the dreadful event.”

Nearly a decade later, Conan
Doyle brought Holmes back from
the dead, going on to write another
32 Holmes stories. In the meantime,
he accepted that Holmes was out

113 Sherlock Holmes fans gathered
at University College, London in 2014,
in an attempt to set a world record for
the greatest number of people dressed
as the famous sleuth.

THE FANS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 325

Such is the worldwide appeal A statue of Holmes Moscow’s statue
of Sherlock Holmes that five was erected in 1991, of Holmes and Watson
statues of the great detective in Picardy Place in was unveiled in 2007,
have been erected across the Edinburgh, Scotland, as a tribute to their
globe from Scotland to Japan. to mark the birthplace popularity in the
Since 2014, the statue of Sherlock of Conan Doyle. Russian Federation.
Holmes in London has become
particularly lifelike: as part of John Doubleday also In 1988 Japanese
the “Talking Statues” initiative, sculpted the first statue Sherlockians were
passers-by can swipe a nearby of Holmes to be erected, granted permission to
code with their smartphone in the town of Meiringen, erect a life-size statue
to hear it deliver a monologue Switzerland, near the of Holmes in the town
written by Anthony Horowitz Reichenbach Falls. of Karuizawa.
and voiced by Ed Stoppard.

In 1999 Baker Street
finally received a statue
of its most famous
resident. Sculpted by
John Doubleday, it is
located outside the
tube station.

there in the world, and he never romantic Byronism.” When two Studies in the Literature of Sherlock
attempted to stop other people from sensational murders occurred in Holmes. Intended as a spoof of
trying their hand at writing about Paris, newspapers ran imaginary detailed, scholarly textual analyses
him, as they very quickly did. interviews with Holmes to try to of the Bible, it used biblical terms—
get to the bottom of the cases. such as “the Canon” or the “Sacred
Parodies of Holmes Writings”—to refer to the stories
The first authors to adapt Holmes The Canon of Holmes. Thereafter the complete
parodied him, often with amusing In 1911, Ronald Knox, a young collection of Conan Doyle’s Holmes
variations of his name. In 1892, Oxford academic theologian, wrote stories came to be called the
The Idler magazine published “The an analysis of the Holmes stories, canon, and the countless stories
Adventures of Sherlaw Kombs,” and written by others are thus known
in 1893 Punch magazine featured You may marry him, as non-canonical works. Scholarly
“The Adventures of Picklock Holes.” murder him, fans in North America came to call
Even famous authors created spoofs: or do anything themselves Sherlockians, while in
in 1903 P. G. Wodehouse wrote Britain they are more often known
“Dudley Jones, Bore-Hunter” for you like to him. as Holmesians.
Punch, while Mark Twain produced Arthur Conan Doyle
a novelette called A Double-Barrelled Non-canonical works
Detective Story, in which Sherlock To playwright William Gillette (1896) Holmes fans’ appetite for the great
Holmes goes to California, only to detective was insatiable—they
make a complete fool of himself. even began producing their own
Holmes stories while Conan Doyle
Holmes mania spread into was still alive. For instance, in 1927,
mainland Europe too. A German the year of the final Conan Doyle
magazine of 1908 described the story, American teenager August
Holmes craze as “a literary disease Derleth began to write short ❯❯
similar to Werther-mania and

326 THE WORLD OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

August Derleth began to write solve The Case of Emily V (Keith [The Game] must be played as
the Solar Pons stories—the cover of the Oatley, 1993), and teamed up with solemnly as a county cricket
first British edition is shown here— fictional detective Erast Fandorin match at Lord’s; the slightest
when Conan Doyle politely declined his in Boris Akunin’s Jade Rosary
offer of continuing the Holmes tales. Beads (2006). On film and television, touch of extravagance...
the recreations of Holmes have ruins the atmosphere.
stories about a detective called been even more varied and Dorothy L Sayers
Solar Pons, “the Sherlock Holmes imaginative (pp.328–35).
of Praed Street.” Over the next Unpopular Opinions (1951)
decade, Derleth produced more Sherlock Holmes societies
than 70 stories, which were widely Today there are at least 400 Holmes group is The Sherlock
admired. Since then, countless groups devoted to Holmes Holmes Society of London,
other writers have tried to recreate worldwide. The most illustrious of which, since 1952, has published
Holmes, Conan Doyle’s own son these is probably the Baker Street The Sherlock Holmes Journal,
Adrian being among them. Irregulars (BSI), founded in New featuring Holmesian news,
York in 1934 by Christopher reviews, essays, and criticism.
Some of the stories are in the Morley, and named after Holmes’s
same vein as Conan Doyle’s, but helpful band of little street Japan is home to more than
others import Holmes into other urchins. Members have included 30 Holmes societies, among them
worlds, or even bring him into the such important figures as Isaac the Japan Sherlock Holmes Club,
present day. Some take aspects of Asimov and Franklin D Roosevelt. which boasts 1,200 members.
Holmes’s character and exaggerate The BSI is an invitation only group The country also has a statue of
them—his drug habit, for instance— but oversees a host of Holmes Holmes in Karuizawa by Japanese
while more radical stories transform “scion societies” across North sculptor Satoh Yoshinori. Portugal
him into a superhero who fights America—ranging from the has the Norah Creina Castaways
anything from vampires to Nazis Red Circle of Washington to the of Lisbon, named after the ship
(pp.340–43). Dancing Men of Providence. Each
of these has its own obscure Any discrepancies within the
Holmes has also made rituals, but in general, members stories are taken as deliberate
numerous cameo appearances in meet to talk about the great obfuscation or forgetfulness on
other works. He was called in to detective, watch movies, dress up, Watson’s part, rather than the
and exchange views about details inevitable mistakes of a fast-
of the adventures. Another major working author, and provide
numerous inconsistencies
The Grand Game for Grand Gamers to examine.
Gamers might, for example, try
More than 300 groups around to uncover the reason behind
the world are devoted to piecing Watson’s inconsistent mentions
together the “true” events of of his wife. They are particularly
the lives of Holmes and Watson. intrigued by the so-called “Great
Called the Grand Game after Hiatus”—the period between
Holmes’s famous exclamation, Holmes’s death at Reichenbach
“the game is afoot”, but also and his reappearance in “The
known as the Great Game or Empty House” (pp.162–67).
simply the Game, it relies on
the tongue-in-cheek assumption
that Holmes and Watson are real
historical figures and the canon
a record of true events. Arthur
Conan Doyle’s role is explained
as that of literary agent.

THE FANS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 327

that went down off the Portuguese This 1987 Japanese edition of Allen an attempt to create a world record
coast in “The Resident Patient” Eyles’s Sherlock Holmes: A Centenary for the largest group of people
(pp.134–35), and there are also Celebration was translated for the dressed as Sherlock Holmes. Other
numerous Holmes societies in Japan Sherlock Holmes Club and is one incarnations of the great detective
India, Russia, Germany, and of a number of publications by them. include being cast in a Bollywood
around the world. musical; an appearance as an
wall-tile silhouette of Holmes. The African American in modern-day
Holmesian London detective has also left his mark in Harlem, New York; starring in
Countless letters have been written other parts of London. A plaque in Japanese manga; teaming up with
by fans to Holmes at 221B Baker the glamorous Criterion restaurant other fictional characters, such as
Street—from the 1930s, the actual on Piccadilly Circus commemorates Batman and Dracula in numerous
occupants were the Abbey National the spot where Watson is said to comics; and even a role as the
Building Society, who had to take have first heard Holmes’s name, and muppet Gonzo in The Muppet
on a secretary to deal with the a faithful recreation of the detective’s Show comic book.
deluge of Holmes-related mail. 221B study (originally created for
When The Sherlock Holmes the 1951 Festival of Britain) can be More serious Sherlockians and
Museum opened, in 1990, at 239 found in the appropriately named Holmesians enjoy regular Sherlock
Baker Street, it was eventually Sherlock Holmes pub, close to Holmes debates that bring together
renumbered 221 by the Royal Mail, Trafalgar Square. the world’s experts at London’s
even though it sits between 237 and University College, as well as
241. In 1999, a bronze Holmes statue Popularity continues numerous meetings of the various
by John Doubleday (also creator of Holmes mania looks set to continue Sherlock Holmes societies.
the Holmes statue in Meiringen, well into the 21st century, over
Switzerland) was unveiled outside 100 years since the first story From the original Strand
Baker Street Underground station, was penned. The popular BBC magazines to Sherlock Holmes
in which there is also a mosaic television series Sherlock, starring stamps, patches, posters, and
Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin beer coasters, Holmes memorabilia
Freeman, has spawned a host is big business. Fans still can’t get
of new fans around the world. enough of him, and it could be said
In 2014, devotees dressed in that in his popularity lie the roots
deerstalkers and capes gathered of fandom as we know it today.
near University College, London in Sherlock Holmes’s adaptability, and
the public’s enthusiasm, appear to
be truly endless. ■

At the Sherlock Holmes Museum
on Baker Street, visitors can look
inside a faithful recreation of the
great detective’s famous first floor
study overlooking the street.

328

THE BEST WAY OF Thecombinedmagicof
Conan Doyle’s compelling
fictional creation, and the
evocative pictures by Sidney Paget
that illustrated his adventures, have
SUCCESSFULLY long made the detective-hero and
his army-doctor companion a gift
for dramatic portrayals. For well
over 100 years, Sherlock Holmes

ACTING A PART has been a fixture of popular
IS TO BE IT culture, starring in hundreds
of plays, movies, and television
SHERLOCK ON STAGE AND SCREEN shows, and even a Russian ballet.

These numerous appearances
across a variety of different media
have enhanced Sherlock Holmes’s
legendary status. Different aspects
of his iconic character have been

explored in each new adaptation

and interpretation of his famous

adventures. On stage and screen,

the subsidiary characters that

populate the stories, such as Mrs.

Hudson, Professor Moriarty, Irene

Adler, and Inspector Lestrade,

have also become more prominent,

adding even more detail and color

to Holmes’s unique world.

Curtain up
Conan Doyle had made several
unsuccessful attempts to write for
the stage when, in the 1890s, he
created a five-act play featuring
Sherlock Holmes. Charles Frohman,
a US theater producer, expressed
an interest in the work, but was
unimpressed on reading it. He
persuaded the author that the
US actor and playwright William
Gillette would be the ideal person
to rewrite the script and take the
lead role. Conan Doyle, happy to
relinquish the project, agreed.
Initially his only restriction was
that Holmes should not fall in love;
however, he was soon persuaded
otherwise, writing to Gillette,
“You may marry him, murder
him, or do whatever you like
to him.”

SHERLOCK ON STAGE AND SCREEN 329

He has that rare quality of success, to be true to the Premiering on Broadway in 1899, the
which can be described as plots and characters of the stories, Gillette-authored Sherlock Holmes was
glamour... His impersonation or they simply took the detective’s a big success, touring the US and the
basic characteristics and put UK. It was also revived several times.
of Holmes amazes me. him in new—and sometimes
Arthur Conan Doyle inappropriate—scenarios, and convincing Holmes. He even went
ignored most of his unique traits. as far as shaving his hairline to
on Eille Norwood’s performance create the impression of Holmes’s
In the 1922 Goldwyn Pictures extra “frontal development.”
The play—the plot of which was movie Sherlock Holmes, based on
drawn largely from “A Scandal in William Gillette’s successful play, Holmes talks!
Bohemia” (pp.56–61) and “The matinee idol John Barrymore played Conan Doyle did not live to see
Final Problem” (pp.142–47)— Holmes as a youthful, handsome, the first Sherlock Holmes film to
opened in New York in 1899. The tousled-haired fellow. By contrast, feature sound—The Hound of the
critics sneered, but the public Professor Moriarty was portrayed Baskervilles, produced in the UK by
cheered, and William Gillette as a grotesque figure by German Gainsborough Pictures in 1930—
toured intermittently with the actor Gustav von Seyffertitz; but this is perhaps just as well, since
play for the rest of his life. He also so eerie and powerful was von the film was not a success. During
appeared in a film adaptation in Seyffertitz’s performance that when the rest of the 1930s, the performer
1916, which was feared lost for the film was first released in Britain, who received the critics’ thumbs-
many years, until, remarkably, its title was changed to Moriarty. up for presenting “the perfect
a print of it was discovered in Holmes” was Londoner, Arthur
France in 2014. Conan Doyle did The British actor Eille Norwood Wontner. He starred in five features
go on to write two plays that were is widely regarded as the greatest and faced Moriarty in two of them:
performed on the London stage: a Holmes of the silent movie era— The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes
three-act version of “The Speckled and the first actor to successfully (1935) and Silver Blaze (1937).
Band” (pp.84–9) in 1910, and The embody the character beyond the
Crown Diamond—a one-act drama pages of The Strand Magazine. He
later adapted as the short story starred in 47 titles in two years for
“The Mazarin Stone” (pp.252–53). the Stoll film company, and while
not possessing the gaunt, aquiline,
Lights, Camera, Sherlock Paget-like features, he was a
To begin with, the film industry
relied heavily on literary sources for The Sign of Four (1923) was the final Top billing
material, and it was little surprise film in the Sherlock Holmes series It is interesting to note that all the
that the popular Sherlock Holmes made by Stoll Pictures. Conan Doyle Holmes films up until the late 1930s
stories became a recurring source enjoyed Eille Norwood’s “masterly” were set in the period in which
of inspiration for silent movies. portrayal of Holmes. they were made, instead of in the ❯❯
Indeed, between 1910 and 1920
more than 50 films were made
featuring Holmes. These fell into
one of two camps: either they
attempted, with varying degrees

330 THE WORLD OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

Victorian or early Edwardian era of Dressed to Kill (1946) was the Watson insists that I am
the original stories. Also, the actor fourteenth and final movie starring the dramatist in real life...
playing Watson was always set well Rathbone and Bruce as Holmes Some touch of the artist
down the cast list, far away from and Watson. Its plot was based on wells up within me, and
Holmes’s star billing. All this was “The Adventure of the Dancing Men.” calls insistently for a well
to change in 1939. In March, US
film company Twentieth Century Century Fox found a solution to staged performance.
Fox released The Hound of the this—they transformed him into Sherlock Holmes
Baskervilles, featuring British a bumbling, comic character,
actors Basil Rathbone and Nigel raising his cinematic profile in The Valley of Fear (1915)
Bruce as Holmes and Watson, and the process. Meanwhile, with
set in the late Victorian period. his charismatic screen presence London. The first three Universal
Nigel Bruce received fourth billing and strong resemblance to the movies used the ongoing World
and even Rathbone only second— detective of Paget’s illustrations, War II as a backdrop, and Holmes
below the romantic lead. The film Basil Rathbone became the most found himself fighting the Germans
was a surprise hit, and just months authentic Holmes to that generation and unmasking Nazi spies. This
later Fox released a sequel, The of moviegoers; his performance set removal of the detective from his
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the benchmark for the silver-screen usual milieu had the effect of
featuring the same actors. This portrayals that followed. cutting him free from Conan
time, the doctor was given equal, Doyle’s influence, thereby helping
top billing with his Holmes. These two movies marked the to promote him as an independent
beginning of a long run as Holmes character. However, Rathbone grew
Filmmakers had long grappled and Watson for Rathbone and tired of playing the role, and in
with the problem of Watson’s role. Bruce, and very shortly afterward 1946, after a total of 14 outings, he
In the stories, he is the narrator of they became involved in a highly decided to bring his Holmes film
the events, which is difficult to successful, long-running radio
emulate on screen. Twentieth show, The New Adventures of Holmes, she (Irene Handl) was
Sherlock Holmes. Fox no longer an East Londoner again, this
cared to finance further expensive, time comically crotchety.
Victorian-themed films, and in 1942
Universal Pictures began a series In the Jeremy Brett TV
of B movies starring Rathbone and series, the character, played by
Bruce as the Baker Street duo, Rosalie Williams, became more
transporting them to modern-day prominent. Mrs H’s affection for
her lodger was obvious, but she
Mrs. Hudson grew irritated with his ways as
the series wore on. In Guy
Although she has no dialogue in Ritchie’s films, the landlady
the stories, landlady Mrs Martha (Geraldine James) is stoical and
Hudson is portrayed in numerous rather stately, while in the BBC’s
film and television adaptations, Sherlock, she (Una Stubbs) is
where she is used to show the fond but despairing of Holmes,
human, sometimes humorous declaring “I’m your landlady,
side of Holmes. She first made not your housekeeper!”
her mark in the Arthur Wontner
movies as a cheeky Cockney
(played by Minnie Rayner) who
indulged in light-hearted banter
with her lodger; in the Rathbone
series she (Mary Gordon) was a
motherly Scotswoman; and in
The Private Life of Sherlock

SHERLOCK ON STAGE AND SCREEN 331

career to an end. In the 1950s he James Mason as Watson. The US. The first was a BBC six-part
appeared briefly as Holmes on pair formed a warm relationship, series (shown live, so no tapes
television and in an unsuccessful displaying a more human side to exist). Sherlock Holmes, a
Broadway play. the characters for the first time. 39-episode series made for
the US market, was shot on a
The horror Holmes Holmes on the small screen shoestring budget in France
After the international success Sherlock Holmes’s television career and broadcast in 1954. Wanting
of their technicolor treatments of took off in the early 1950s, with to appeal to younger viewers, its
Frankenstein and Dracula in the productions in both the UK and producer cast fresh-faced English ❯❯
mid-1950s, the British company
Hammer Films next turned their
attention to Conan Doyle’s chiller,
The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Horror-movie stalwart Peter Cushing
took the lead—and was slightly
alarmed to learn that producer
James Carreras had presold his
incarnation of the great detective
as a “sexy Sherlock.” Watson was
played by another Hammer regular,
André Morell, whose intention to
portray him as “a real person and
not just a butt for Holmes” resulted
in a realistic and solid cinematic
portrayal of the doctor.

Sir Nigel Films, a British
company formed by the Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle Estate to film the
author’s works, was the force
behind another “horror Holmes”:
1965’s A Study in Terror. The
movie’s storyline pitted the world’s
greatest detective against its most
vicious killer, Jack the Ripper. In a
bid to capture the youth market,
and cash in on the success of the
Batman TV series that was very
popular at the time, Holmes was
billed as “Sherlock Holmes—the
Original Caped Crusader.”

Holmes faced Jack the Ripper
again in 1979, in the superior British-
Canadian Murder by Decree, with
long-established Hollywood actors
Christopher Plummer as Holmes and

In this gory Sherlock Holmes
comic-book horror, released in 1965,
the detective pits his wits against
the real-life notorious Victorian serial
killer, Jack the Ripper.

332 THE WORLD OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

Peter Cushing’s Holmes with
Bishop Frankland (Mr. Frankland in
the novel) in a scene from Hammer
Film’s 1959 adaptation of The Hound
of the Baskervilles.

actor Ronald Howard as Holmes; to the original stories. However, Bruce continued to play Watson
he gave a lively and appealing Wilmer was unhappy with the with other Sherlocks. In Britain, the
performance. His Watson, character scripts (sometimes even rewriting great detective was a comparative
actor Howard Marion Crawford, them himself) and the production latecomer to radio, and it was not
played the part in a buffoonish way. values, and refused a second series. until the 1950s that he was
granted a series. The pairing of
In 1964, Douglas Wilmer donned In 1968, Peter Cushing stepped two distinguished actors, Carleton
the deerstalker in a second BBC into Wilmer’s shoes for a two-part Hobbs as Holmes, with his high,
series that kicked off with The adaptation of The Hound of the reedy, alien tones, and Norman
Speckled Band and was followed Baskervilles, which remains one Shelley as Watson, with his dark
by a further 12 stories the next of the most faithful versions of the plum pudding of a voice, proved
year. His performance was closely story. However, once the rest of successful, and they inhabited
modeled on that of Basil Rathbone, the 16-episode series—the first to the parts intermittently from 1953
and was praised for its faithfulness be made in color—got under way, to 1969. Today, the duo sound
Cushing experienced similar decidedly middle-aged, but they
The stage lost a fine actor, problems to those encountered by were very popular at the time.
even as science lost an acute Wilmer. But the actor’s devotion
to the character and attention to Perhaps the most illustrious
reasoner, when [Holmes] detail were unfailing: he requested of all radio Holmes and Watsons
became a specialist in crime. that his costumes replicate those were Sir John Gielgud and Sir
shown in the Paget illustrations, Ralph Richardson—two of Britain’s
Dr. Watson thus exploding the myth of the greatest Shakespearean actors—
great detective’s Inverness cape: who appeared on the BBC in
“A Scandal in Bohemia” (1891) “It’s not an Inverness cape… it’s 1954 in a short series.
a long overcoat with a hood.”
In 1988, the BBC decided to
Holmes on the radio adapt all of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock
When Basil Rathbone gave up Holmes tales for radio, including
playing Holmes on screen, he also the novels, and within 10 years the
left the US radio series, but Nigel whole canon had been recorded
and broadcast.

Off-the-wall portrayals
Between the Peter Cushing
television series of the late 1960s
and the emergence of Jeremy Brett
in the 1980s in one of the most
notable of all depictions, there
were a number of unusual Holmes
portrayals. Perhaps the most refined
of these was Robert Stephens in
Billy Wilder’s The Private Life of
Sherlock Holmes (1970), an almost
effeminate incarnation, with
languid movements, a nasal drawl,
and wavy hair. Mark Gatiss, the
co-creator of the BBC’s successful

SHERLOCK ON STAGE AND SCREEN 333

The definitive Sherlock lawyer who thinks, and indeed Holmes around the world
Holmes is really in everyone’s acts, like the great detective in In the 1930s, the German film
the bleak comedy They Might Be industry produced a number of
head. No actor can fit into Giants (1971), featuring the first Holmes movies, essentially adopting
that category because every female Watson, Joanne Woodward. the character for use in a series
The mercurial Scottish-born stage of wild adventure films. The 1937
reader has his own ideal. actor Nicol Williamson was a De Hund Von Baskerville, featuring
Jeremy Brett neurotic and emotionally disturbed a gun-toting Sherlock Holmes in a
Holmes in 1976’s The Seven-Per- leather overcoat and flat cap, was
TV Times interview (1991) Cent Solution, which saw Holmes a favorite of Adolf Hitler: in 1945, a
being treated by Sigmund Freud copy of the movie was found in the
Sherlock television series, has said for cocaine-induced psychosis. Führer’s private collection in the
that the movie was “a template of Berghof, his mountain residence.
sorts for Steven Moffat and me as In 1985, Spielberg’s Young In 1967, Germany produced a
we made our adaptation.” James Sherlock Holmes billed itself as television series based on the
Bond star Roger Moore later an “affectionate speculation” that scripts for the BBC’s Douglas
presented a Simon Templar-like addressed the question of what Wilmer series, with stage actor
version in Sherlock Holmes in New might have happened had Holmes Erich Schellow as a rather down-at-
York (1976); while acting heavyweight and Watson first met at a boarding heel, drug-addicted version of the
George C. Scott played a New York school. The ensuing mystery also Baker Street sleuth.
introduces the young Moriarty
and Inspector Lestrade. Holmes Between 1979 and 1986, Soviet
matures over the course of the television screened a series of
action, acquiring a curly pipe and Sherlock Holmes films, split into
a deerstalker hat, and his doomed 11 episodes. In 1986, a movie
romance cleverly hints at why, in adaptation, The Twentieth Century
later life, he adopts a distant Approaches, was made from the
attitude toward women. last four episodes. Produced by ❯❯

In Sherlock Holmes, Holmes can be seen Reimagined as a “contemporary
Conan Doyle created a on televisions all over the dance detective show,” Holmes took
template that can be used world. He has appeared as to the stage at Moscow’s Natalya Sats
in almost any art form or a puppet on Japanese TV. Children’s Musical Theater.
genre. Arguably, no other
fictional character is so More than 750 radio
adaptable. The enduring adaptations—in English
flexibility of Holmes is alone—of the Holmes
itself a subject of study. stories have been aired.

Holmes has been By 2015, Holmes
animated as a mouse, had starred in over
a duck, a bulldog, and 200 movies, played
even a cucumber. He by 75 different actors.
has appeared in several He is perhaps the
manga series in Japan. most enduring screen
character ever.
The great detective
has found his way into On the stage, Holmes has
literary novels, comedy, appeared in a “physical theater”
and science fiction. production, a ballet, and two
In comics, he has musicals, as well as numerous
teamed up with other conventional plays.
fictional characters
such as Batman. Holmes and his world were the
subject of board games in the 1980s
and computer games in the 2000s.

334 THE WORLD OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

Lenfilm, the series featured Russian
actors Vassily Livanov as Holmes
and Vitaly Salomin as Watson; they
were chosen for the “Englishness”
of their appearance and for their
likeness to the Paget drawings. The
adaptations themselves remained
very close to the original Conan
Doyle plots, but tended to include
a great deal of humor.

Animated A definitive portrait? Jeremy Brett portrayed Holmes in the
appearances During the 1980s and early 1990s, 1984–1994 Granada Television series.
British actor Jeremy Brett gave The actor admitted that the role was
Some of the most eccentric what many consider to be the “the hardest part I have ever played.”
depictions of Holmes have defining Holmes performance, in a
been made for children—in series made by Granada Television. enduring portrayal of the great
the form of cartoons. As early The intention was to create a truly detective. Brett was partnered
as 1946, Daffy Duck met the authentic Holmes, and no actor by two excellent but contrasting
detective in “The Great Piggy before Brett had managed to Watsons: David Burke, who gave
Bank Robbery.” In 1986, embody so many of the attributes a sensitive and at times jovial
Disney produced Basil, the created by Conan Doyle. As performance, and then Edward
Great Mouse Detective, who, Michael Cox, the series’ producer, Hardwicke, who inhabited the role
along with his friend Dr. David observed, Brett “had the voice, the for eight years, combining a strong
Q. Dawson, lived beyond the actor’s intelligence, the presence, sense of loyalty and tolerance with
baseboards at 221B Baker the physique, the ability to jump quiet authority.
Street. Professor Rattigan, over furniture, be convincing in a
their Moriarty-like adversary, disguise, handle the horses, and
was voiced by Vincent Price. whatever else that may be required.”

In the 1980s, Holmes’s For millions of fans all around
ghost appeared in an episode the world, Brett was Holmes. In
of Scooby Doo, while in his mesmerizing performance,
“Elementary, My Dear Turtle,” the controlled eccentricities, the
the Teenage Mutant Ninja mannered delivery, and the furious
Turtles enlisted Holmes’s help outbursts combined to create an
in thwarting Moriarty’s bid for
world domination. In the 1999 I think people fall in love, Holmes in the 21st century
US television series Sherlock not with Sherlock Holmes In the 21st century, the world’s
Holmes in the 22nd Century, fascination with the super sleuth
the detective was revived by or with Dr. Watson, but of Baker Street is as strong as ever.
a biologist to combat a clone with their friendship. In 2009 and 2011, two movies by
of Moriarty; in order to assist British director Guy Ritchie
him, Inspector Lestrade’s Steven Moffat presented an exaggerated,
“compudroid” read Watson’s cartoonish, action-hero version of
journals and assumed the Co-writer of BBC’s Sherlock the great detective—played with
doctor’s name, face, voice, anarchic relish by Robert Downey
and mannerisms. And in 2010, Jr.—with all his foibles and habits
Holmes met Tom and Jerry in magnified or lampooned.
a full-length movie.
Meanwhile, on the small screen,
two recent ventures have created a
thoroughly modern reimagining of

SHERLOCK ON STAGE AND SCREEN 335

Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes (2009)
is set in 1890s London. Robert Downey
Jr. is a bohemian Holmes, while Jude
Law is a tolerant, if often exasperated,
Watson. A sequel was released in 2011.

the detective and his world. In Sherlock aired on the BBC in 2010, and its lead actors are also of
Elementary, which had its US and its daring concept allowed the similar ages to the literary Holmes
premier in 2012, Sherlock Holmes detective to manipulate modern and Watson when they first met.
(played by British actor Jonny Lee technology in authentic Holmesian Benedict Cumberbatch’s Holmes
Miller) is a recovering drug addict fashion to aid his investigations. is a geek, but despite his arrogance
who helps the New York City Police He even has a website called and, at times, lack of social skills,
Department solve crimes. His “The Science of Deduction.” he is a fascinating individual.
female Watson (Lucy Liu) is a Martin Freeman’s Watson is a
former surgeon who is initially The show has been hugely fragile mixture of independence
appointed as his sober companion successful all over the world, of thought and unabashed loyalty
(to prevent him from relapsing), but especially with a younger audience. to his friend. Indeed, his violent
becomes a pupil of sorts when they Its fast-paced, humorous, and reaction to Holmes’s return after
begin to investigate cases together. intriguing plots are packed with his “death” is more realistic than
Canonical characters, such as references to the original stories, the rather tepid response of his
Moriarty and Irene Adler (who literary counterpart. Andrew
becomes Holmes’s lover), are Scott’s Moriarty is perhaps the
gradually added to the mix and most chilling portrayal of the villain
given unexpected twists. and a wonderful foil to Holmes.

Meanwhile, in the UK, a pair Since he first appeared in print
of self-confessed Sherlock Holmes more than 125 years ago, Sherlock
fans, writers Steven Moffat and Holmes has been an almost
Mark Gatiss, conceived the constant presence in the media.
notion of bringing Conan Doyle’s Conan Doyle’s unstoppable creation
protagonists into a contemporary, has transcended literature to
high-tech London. The first series of become a global phenomenon,
continuing to fascinate and
entertain fresh audiences. ■

The BBC television series Sherlock
brings Holmes and company firmly into
the present day. Benedict Cumberbatch
plays Holmes, while Martin Freeman’s
Watson records their exploits in a blog.

336

THE MANY FACES OF HOLMES

E ver since his first appearance on the page, Holmes has frequently
been portrayed on stage and screen, with almost every decade
offering new adaptations, adventures, and directions. It was
Conan Doyle himself who initially penned the first Holmes-based drama,
with his efforts later becoming the basis for William Gillette’s play,
Sherlock Holmes (1899). Unlike the books and stories in which much
of Holmes is left to the reader’s imagination, on screen in particular he
is presented as a complete package—faults and all. While some portrayals
are easily forgotten, many of the best, such as those of Rathbone, Cushing,
Brett, and Cumberbatch have become the living embodiment of the great
detective for successive generations.

SHERLOCK HOLMES sharp features and piercing eyes. THE HOUND OF THE
The films all stayed close to the BASKERVILLES
Stage (1899) originals, although there was no
attempt at Victoriana—all were Film (1939)
Originally written by Conan Doyle, set in a London in which electricity,
the final version was reworked by cars, and buses were the norm. This movie marked the first of Basil
William Gillette, who also directed Rathbone’s fourteen outings as
and starred in the play. The story THE RETURN OF Holmes, establishing him as one
was based on material drawn from SHERLOCK HOLMES of the key actors in the role. Watson
the canon, and despite Conan was portrayed as likable but
Doyle’s original misgivings, he Film (1929) buffoonish by Nigel Bruce, with
consented to allow Holmes to be Richard Greene as the romantic
married. For Holmesians, this play This was the first sound-era lead, Sir Henry Baskerville. This
marks an influential adaptation, Holmes movie—a so-called “talkie.” was the first movie to be set in the
since it introduced the detective’s Paramount Pictures owned the Victorian period, and in which the
now iconic bent briar pipe and his rights to the characters of Holmes, actor playing Watson received equal
frequent use of a magnifying glass, Watson, and Moriarty but not to billing with Holmes. Although the
and included the line, “Oh, this is any specific story, so an original action followed the original plot,
elementary, my dear fellow.” piece was concocted by borrowing the great spectral hound simply
various ideas from Conan Doyle. appeared as a large dog.
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES The movie presented the first of many
OF SHERLOCK HOLMES dim-witted Watsons (here played THE ADVENTURES OF
by H. Reeves-Smith), and began SHERLOCK HOLMES
Film (1921–1923) with a murder via a trick cigarette
case with a lethal needle—a device Film (1939)
This was a series of short, silent that Moriarty (Harry T. Morey) later
films, each based on one of Conan tried to use on Holmes (Clive Brook). “The strange case of the chinchilla
Doyle’s original stories; most are The closing lines of the movie also fetish! The fiendish instrument that
now lost. They starred English actor gave another first for Holmes: his strangles, crushes, vanishes! The
Eille Norwood, who, from the age trademark phrase, “Elementary, my albatross of doom! The British
of 60, made 47 films between 1921 dear Watson,” which was never crown jewels!” As the 20th Century
and 1923, and was famous for his uttered in the canon itself. Fox press release suggests, this

THE MANY FACES OF HOLMES 337

movie, starring Rathbone as Holmes, Conan Doyle’s stories, with the as a camp, Batman-style comic-
had an adventurous plot. An original scripts written by blacklisted book caper. John Neville played a
piece, it was claimed to be based Hollywood writers working in solid, energetic Holmes alongside
on Gillette’s 1899 play, Sherlock Europe. This was the only Holmes Donald Houston as Watson.
Holmes, in which Moriarty goads television series produced in the
the detective, telling him of his US until Elementary in 2012. SHERLOCK HOLMES
plans for the crime of the century, for
which Holmes would be discredited. THE HOUND OF THE Television (1965–1968)
BASKERVILLES
THE PEARL OF DEATH Produced by the BBC, this series
Film (1959) initially cast Douglas Wilmer as
Film (1944) a wry and amused Holmes. Like
This adaptation was produced by many of his fellow actors in the
Starring Rathbone and Bruce as a company celebrated for its Gothic role, Wilmer bore a marked
Holmes and Watson, this movie horror outings—Hammer Films. resemblance to the Sidney
was one in a series of twelve made True to form, the dark, gruesome Paget illustrations in The Strand
by Universal Studios. It was based elements found in Conan Doyle’s Magazine. He declined to do a
on “The Adventure of the Six The Hound of the Baskervilles are second series, with the lead then
Napoleons,” and sees Holmes graphically translated on screen. going to Peter Cushing, himself a
making a rare mistake—the loss The cast included the classic Holmesian, who had previously
of a famous, and seemingly cursed, pairing of Peter Cushing as Holmes starred in Hammer’s The Hound of
pearl that he must then recover. and Christopher Lee as Sir Henry the Baskervilles in 1959. The series
The movies in the series were all Baskerville. The movie was directed adapted many of the original stories,
made cheaply and quickly, with by Hammer’s signature director, starting with “The Adventure of
no attempt at period settings. Terence Fisher, who had already the Speckled Band” and extended
They are particularly notable for reenergized the company’s to 29 episodes, the later Cushing
the humor between Holmes and Frankenstein and Count Dracula shows being filmed in full color.
Watson, as well as their array of franchises. It was the first of a
macabre elements. Other movies projected series of movies that never THE PRIVATE LIFE OF
in the series include The Scarlet materialized, although Cushing SHERLOCK HOLMES
Claw (1944) and The Woman played Holmes again in later years.
in Green (1945). Film (1970)
A STUDY IN TERROR
SHERLOCK HOLMES This parody was directed by
Film (1965) Billy Wilder, who also co-wrote
Television (1953–1954) it with I. A. L. Diamond. A non-
Directed by James Hill (better canonical tale, it saw Holmes
Lost in the mists of television known for co-directing Born Free (played by Robert Stephens) and
history, this American series in 1966) this ingenious movie has Watson (Colin Blakely) take on
was made with the cooperation Holmes hot on the trail of Jack the a particularly strange case that
of Conan Doyle’s son Adrian, who Ripper. The notorious murderer is involved missing midgets, naval
was eager to perpetuate his father’s terrorizing Victorian London’s experiments, and the Loch Ness
franchise. Holmes was played by a East End, and the only clues are monster. Controversially for Holmes
youthful Ronald Howard (age 39), the crest of an aristocratic family fans, it was also the first movie to
with Howard Marion Crawford as and a box containing surgical feature jokes about a supposed
Watson. It was filmed in France, instruments with the scalpel gay relationship between Holmes
meaning that some of the London missing. Bizarrely, in the UK the and Watson. Accompanying the
locations appear curiously Gallic. movie was marketed as a violent movie was a notably rich musical
New, non-canonical plots were and sexually graphic exploitation score by Miklos Rózsa, based on
utilized that took aspects from movie, while in the US it was sold his own violin concerto.

338 THE WORLD OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

THE SEVEN-PER-CENT discredited theories about Jack’s in the Thames River, their faces
SOLUTION identity, and this British/Canadian frozen in a rictus of terror, but with
co-production boasted Christopher no visible causes of death. In a
Film (1976) Plummer as an emotionally-charged separate, or possibly linked, case,
incarnation of Holmes. The great he is asked to find a missing prince
An adaptation of a pastiche, this detective is enlisted after the grisly in order to prevent war between
movie is based on Nicholas Meyer’s dispatch of the third prostitute to Britain and Germany.
imaginative 1974 novel of the same die at the Ripper’s hands, “Long
title (see p.341). It shows a cocaine- Liz” Stride, and discovers the SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE
addicted Holmes becoming highly involvement of the British Prime
paranoid about being persecuted Minister, the Home Secretary, Stage (1987)
by mathematics expert Professor and the Freemasons.
Moriarty, who is portrayed here Written by Charles Marowitz and
as a feeble, elderly man. Holmes THE ADVENTURES OF directed by A. J. Antoon, this play
is persuaded to follow Moriarty to SHERLOCK HOLMES is sometimes confused with one
Vienna, unaware that Watson and of the same name produced by
Mycroft Holmes have a hidden Television (1984–1994) Matthew Lang in 1974. This play
agenda—they want him to be was a dark comedy with Holmes,
treated for his addiction by the Produced by Granada Television, played by Frank Langella, receiving
world-famous psychoanalyst this adaptation ran over six series, death threats from the evil son of
Sigmund Freud. The cast included and featured 41 episodes based the late Moriarty, and then being
Nicol Williamson as the blighted on the original stories. The great imprisoned by a frustrated Watson.
Holmes, Laurence Olivier as detective was played by Jeremy Marowitz added some interesting
Moriarty, and Alan Arkin as Freud. Brett, who for many devotees is changes to the Holmes formula,
the archetypal Holmes, portraying and the play was well reviewed.
THE CRUCIFER OF BLOOD him as deeply intense and edgy.
Watson was initially played by THE SECRET OF
Stage (1978) David Burke, then later by the SHERLOCK HOLMES
long-serving Edward Hardwicke.
Written and directed by Paul The series was immensely popular, Stage (1988)
Giovanni, this play was based on being broadcast in the UK and the
The Sign of Four. It first opened US, and is widely considered to be This play was written by Jeremy
on Broadway, and employed state- the most faithful representation of Paul, who had previously created
of-the-art lighting to recreate the Conan Doyle’s stories to date. several episodes of the Granada
river chase scene on stage. It later The later series produced were Television series featuring Jeremy
opened in London and Los Angeles, entitled The Return, The Casebook, Brett as Holmes. By the time of
where Jeremy Brett played Watson. and The Memoirs. the play, the troubled actor had
In 1991, it was turned into a movie an ambiguous attitude to the
starring Charlton Heston. THE MASKS OF DEATH character, and the results on stage
were considered controversial. The
MURDER BY DECREE Film (1984) drama featured just two characters,
with Edward Hardwicke as Watson.
Film (1979) This movie marks the last appearance Although the play received poor
as Holmes by Peter Cushing, who, reviews, the actors’ performances
Of the various, often outlandish, then 71 years old, needed persuasion were praised. The “secret” alluded
treatments of theories about the to take the part. Watson was played to in the title, as in Nicholas
British royal family’s involvement by fellow big-screen veteran John Meyer’s The Seven-Per-Cent
in the Jack the Ripper killings, this Mills, age 76. Set in 1913, the now- Solution, was that the Machiavellian
was one of the most accomplished. retired detective is brought in Moriarty was a concoction of
The movie dealt with largely by the police after bodies are found Holmes’s drug-addled brain.

THE MANY FACES OF HOLMES 339

SHERLOCK HOLMES… SHERLOCK ELEMENTARY
THE DEATH AND LIFE
Television (2010–) Television (2012–)
Stage (2008)
Produced by the BBC, and starring Set in modern-day New York, this
This is the second Holmes play Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes, series was produced by CBS
written by David Stuart Davies, and Martin Freeman as Watson, Television Studios. Holmes, played
and as in the first, Roger Llewellyn this innovative series remolded by Jonny Lee Miller, has been sent
was cast as the great detective. the great detective for the twenty- to New York from London by his
Rather than following a canonical first century audience. Hence father to help him recover from his
tale or creating a simple pastiche, Holmes gains a mobile phone and drug addiction. To watch over
Davies explored the relationship GPS, but loses his famous “three- and support him, his father has
between a fictional character and pipe problem” to multiple nicotine employed a former surgeon,
his creator. In the play, Conan patches. The series co-creators, Dr. Joan Watson, played by Lucy
Doyle is now tired of Holmes, Stephen Moffat and Mark Gatiss, Liu. Holmes’s previous detective
and desperate to rid himself of based some episodes on Conan work for Scotland Yard is known
his famous character, he creates Doyle’s originals. Existing to the NYPD, which naturally
the evil Moriarty to do his bidding. characters, were repurposed, makes use of his services, and
Holmes, of course, proves more such as Irene Adler, here seen Watson becomes Holmes’s new
resilient than Conan Doyle as a dominatrix, and new ones apprentice. Interestingly, this was
anticipated, and the adventure introduced. These included Holmes’s the first Holmes television series
begins. This was an interesting parents, played by Wanda Ventham produced in the US since Ronald
play, where characters flitted and Timothy Carlton, the real-life Howard’s outings in 1953. Having
between fantasy and reality. parents of Benedict Cumberbatch. proved popular with viewers,
several series have been produced.
SHERLOCK HOLMES SHERLOCK HOLMES:
A GAME OF SHADOWS MR. HOLMES
Film (2009)
Film (2011) Film (2015)
Directed by Guy Ritchie, who is
best known for his “Cockney crime” This was the sequel to the 2009 Starring Sir Ian McKellen as the
movies, this is a tongue-in-cheek movie staring Robert Downey Jr., great detective, this movie is set just
rebooting of the Holmes genre that again directed by Guy Ritchie. after World War II. Holmes, now in
sees the detective transformed into It has the same light-hearted, fast- his nineties and long-since retired,
a Hollywood-style action hero. Set paced, all-action approach as the shies away from the fame of his
in Victorian London, it is a non- original movie, and sees Watson younger days, wishing only to tend
canonical tale with Holmes and having ended the detecting to his bees in solitude. Where once
Watson played by Robert Downey partnership in order to marry his he battled criminals, now he fights
Jr. and Jude Law. The plot, which sweetheart, Mary Morstan. Now senility, as he struggles with short-
has elements of science fiction and working alone, Holmes uncovers term memory loss. The movie
the supernatural, sees the detective a plot by Moriarty to embroil all centers on Holmes’s last case, and
pair form an unlikely alliance with of Europe in war, which will benefit his annoyance at the way Watson
former enemy Irene Adler. Together his recently acquired munitions (now deceased) embellished the
they must first save Britain, the US, and arms supplies manufacturers. facts and changed the outcome
and then the whole world from the Naturally, the newly married when publishing the story. Eager to
late Lord Blackwood—recently Watson is soon at Holmes’s side set the record straight, Holmes must
raised from the dead. At the end, in the case. This sequel introduced try to remember the events as they
Adler reveals her connections to Stephen Fry as Mycroft, Holmes’s happened so many years before.
Moriarty, opening the prospect of brother, and Jared Harris as a This movie is a moving portrayal of
a sequel, which followed in 2011. chillingly quiet Moriarty. Holmes at his most human.

340

HOLMES BY OTHER HANDS

M any authors have attempted to create new adventures for the
great detective, and while some have offered clever variations
on the originals, others fatally lack their fire and invention.
Even during Conan Doyle’s lifetime, writers were eager to take on the
Holmesian mantle, including Vincent Starrett, who wrote The Adventure
of the Unique Hamlet in 1920. Other pastiches soon followed, but the first
significant work came in 1944 with the Ellery Queen anthology, The
Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes. As the 20th century progressed,
Holmes’s opponents became increasingly bizarre. Pitted against Dracula,
and battling H. G. Wells’s Martians with Professor Challenger, it is no
wonder that he later seeks help from psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud.

THE EXPLOITS OF Queen, mystery writer and amateur THE FURTHER ADVENTURES
SHERLOCK HOLMES detective, who takes the place of OF SHERLOCK HOLMES:
Holmes in a plot where a decadent THE PEERLESS PEER
Adrian Conan Doyle & aristocracy is not to be trusted. It
John Dickson Carr (1954) is considered the first real modern Philip José Farmer (1974)
Holmes pastiche, and also marks
Consisting of twelve short stories, the first of numerous encounters In this quirky and inventive tale,
this was a collaboration between between the detective and fellow set during World War I, respected
Conan Doyle’s son and Dickson Victorian Jack the Ripper. American science-fiction writer
Carr, a celebrated writer of golden- Farmer sends an aged Holmes and
age crime fiction. Their plan was THE PRIVATE LIFE OF Watson in pursuit of a devilish new
to extrapolate plot ideas from hints SHERLOCK HOLMES weapon in Africa. It marks another
given by Watson in the original occasion where the pair encounter
canon, and for them to write each Michael & Mollie Hardwick (1970) a well-known fictional character—
new story together. The tales include this time, Lord Greystoke, better
“The Adventure of the Highgate This novelization was based on known as Tarzan. It is an exciting
Miracle” and “The Adventure of the The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, tale with elements of the science-
Abbas Ruby.” They are regarded as the largely parodic 1970 screenplay fiction genre.
hit-or-miss by Holmes fans, but by Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond
enjoyed some success. Several of (p.337). Adhering closely to the THE RETURN OF MORIARTY
the stories appeared in Collier’s original storyline, this adventure
Weekly magazine, like the originals. features many mysterious elements, John Gardner (1974)
including a distraught woman, an
SHERLOCK HOLMES VS. absent husband, a Scottish castle, Gardner had already proved himself
JACK THE RIPPER and even the Loch Ness monster. a successful pasticheur with his
It also makes a comic play on the Boysie Oaks espionage novels—
Ellery Queen/Paul Fairman (1966) nature of Holmes’s and Watson’s comic riffs on Ian Fleming’s James
friendship. The idea that they were Bond—before turning his attention
Also known as Ellery Queen vs. a gay couple was fully explored to Holmes. Set in evocatively
Jack the Ripper, this is a skillful later in 1971, in Larry Townsend’s described Victorian London,
novelization of James Hill’s 1965 camp, bawdy tale, The Sexual Moriarty is center stage, having
film. Here, Fairman writes as Ellery Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. been brought back from the dead,

HOLMES BY OTHER HANDS 341

like Holmes before him. The plot is of the Baskervilles, although the THE HOLMES–
ripe with criminality, and is richly perpetrator is a surprise—an old DRACULA FILE
conveyed, with Moriarty and Sal face from the canon. Other Holmes
Hodges, his prostitute-mistress, at short stories by Boyer include “The Fred Saberhagen (1978)
its heart. Together they manipulate Adventure of Bell Rock Light” and
everything from blackmail to “The Adventure of the Eyrie Cliff.” This is a highly original Holmes
murder. In 1975 Gardner wrote a novel, narrated equally by Watson,
sequel, The Revenge of Moriarty. EXIT SHERLOCK HOLMES and the greatest of all supernatural
villains, Count Dracula. Set in
THE SEVEN-PER-CENT Robert Lee Hall (1977) London in 1878, it is a suspense-
SOLUTION filled tale featuring a mad scientist,
Crossing over into science fiction, plague-infested rats, and bloodless
Nicholas Meyer (1974) this is a highly inventive novel that corpses that combines the worlds
has both Holmes and his brother, of both Conan Doyle and Bram
A bestseller in New York when Mycroft, lined up once again Stoker. Unlike other Holmes/
first published, this novel offers against a revivified Moriarty. Dracula encounters by different
an abundance of new ideas to the Holmes, now retired, features only authors, here they work together,
Holmes genre, and often emulates sparingly, and it is Watson who although a more surprising and
Conan Doyle’s own elegant writing plays the central role, which may controversial relationship is later
style. The case involves a sinister frustrate Holmes fans. However, revealed. Holmes also encounters
kidnapping and the threat of war, the book reveals many hitherto Count Dracula in Sherlock Holmes
though as the title suggests, undisclosed “facts.” Where did vs Dracula: The Adventure of the
the detective’s drug addiction is Holmes acquire his astonishing Sanguinary Count by Loren D.
central. To cure his dependence, skills? What are the secrets of his Estelman (1979).
Holmes needs help, turning to shadowy brother? And what is the
none other than psychoanalyst relationship between Holmes and TEN YEARS BEYOND
Sigmund Freud. Meyer later wrote Moriarty? There is a particularly BAKER STREET
the Holmes pastiches The West unexpected twist at the end.
End Horror (1976) and The Canary Cay Van Ash (1984)
Trainer (1993). THE LAST SHERLOCK
HOLMES STORY In another pairing of literary worlds
THE GIANT RAT and fictional characters, this novel
OF SUMATRA Michael Dibdin (1978) pits Conan Doyle’s Holmes against
Sax Rohmer’s infamous villain of
Richard L. Boyer (1976) This is a darkly Gothic novel, the Far East, Dr. Fu Manchu. Set
almost phantasmagorical, in which in 1914, in a richly-described
To most Holmes devotees, the Holmes and Watson are on the trail Wales, the plot is as much an action
references to cases that were not of Jack the Ripper in the East End adventure as it is a crime story,
included in the canon provoke of Victorian London. Unusually, which at one point sees Holmes
keen speculation, and none more so Conan Doyle himself appears as and his client, Dr. Petrie, facing
than the mention of the “Giant Rat a character, a medical friend of certain death in an abandoned
of Sumatra” in “The Adventure of Watson given permission by him mine. This book is well regarded by
the Sussex Vampire.” According to to write up the case, and Moriarty Holmes fans for the authenticity of
Holmes, it is “a story for which the also features in the tale. While the Watson’s narration. It is also notable
world is not yet prepared.” This tale plot follows the familiar Ripper that, like Holmes in many of Conan
is allegedly based on a manuscript murders, as other authors have Doyle’s original stories, Fu Manchu
found in a London bank vault done, Dibdin’s approach is highly makes few appearances, with the
after Watson’s demise. Featuring audacious. The novel is considered plot focusing mainly on his pursuit.
death and a murderous animal, it by Holmesians as controversial, In 1971, Van Ash wrote Master of
has similarities to The Hound and divides opinion. Villainy, a biography of Sax Rohmer.

342 THE WORLD OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

THE BEEKEEPER’S THE PATIENT’S EYES: the greatest of Victorian detectives,
APPRENTICE THE DARK BEGINNINGS alienated and ignored by the world
OF SHERLOCK HOLMES of the 1940s.
Laurie R. King (1994)
David Pirie (2001) THE VEILED DETECTIVE
This is the first in a series of
Holmes novels by King, in which In the first in his series, Pirie David Stuart Davies (2004)
she details the adventures of features Conan Doyle himself
the aging detective, seen from as Watson to the Holmes of the Everything that was previously
the viewpoint of Mary Russell, a remarkable doctor Joseph Bell believed about Holmes and Watson
15-year-old American girl living in (on whom Holmes was modeled). is turned completely on its head in
Sussex following the death of her This account presents Bell and this inventive novel. Opening at the
parents. In this first outing, Holmes Conan Doyle as partners in a start of their friendship, Watson isn’t
is training his new apprentice in criminal investigation, tackling Watson, Mrs. Hudson is an actress,
the art of deduction, and the two the hidden menace and sexual and both are employed by Moriarty
are soon investigating a sinister hypocrisy of Victorian life. The to spy and report back on the young
kidnapping. With its strong female fictional Conan Doyle is intrigued detective to prevent him from ever
lead character and villain, this book by the symptoms displayed by a getting too close to the criminal
is noted for its feminist current. young woman with an unusual eye mastermind. Even Mycroft isn’t
King outraged many Holmesians by complaint; she is also haunted by what he seems. The plot cleverly
marrying off the asexual detective visions of a phantom cyclist. The weaves together Conan Doyle’s A
to the feisty Russell in the second murder of a wealthy Spanish Study in Scarlet and “The Final
book in the series, A Monstrous businessman monopolizes the Problem,” reworking the earliest
Regiment of Women (1995). He was, two detectives’ attention, until days of Holmes’s and Watson’s lives
of course, first married with Conan the matter of the patient’s eyes together, and culminating with an
Doyle’s consent in Gillette’s 1899 and the solitary cyclist looms large. alternative take on that fateful day
play, Sherlock Holmes (p.336). at the Reichenbach Falls.

THE MANDALA OF THE FINAL SOLUTION DUST AND SHADOW:
SHERLOCK HOLMES AN ACCOUNT OF THE
Michael Chabon (2004) RIPPER KILLINGS BY
Jamyang Norbu (1999) DR. JOHN H. WATSON
In this concise tale, the great
This novel follows Conan Doyle’s detective is painfully aged, long- Lyndsay Faye (2009)
ascetic hero during his “Great forgotten, and in seclusion at the
Hiatus,” as he travels through time of World War II. Living in quiet This novel is yet another bloody
India and Tibet in the guise of retirement in the countryside, the encounter with Jack the Ripper
Norwegian explorer Sigerson. elderly man in his late 80s (who for Holmes, but very different from
The premise is that the author, is never named) is known only Michael Dibdin’s The Last Sherlock
Norbu, discovered a long-lost to the locals as a once-celebrated Holmes Story and the others. With
account of Holmes’s time there, detective—his world is now one assiduous historical detail, the
written by his then companion, a of sedate beekeeping rather than world of early tabloid journalism
Bengali spy named Huree Chunder crime. He is visited by Linus (with Holmes himself a victim
Mookerjee—a character from Steinman, nine years old and mute, of character assassination), and
Rudyard Kipling’s Kim (1901). The who has fled Nazi Germany with fledgling clinical psychology are
plot centers on Holmes’s battle to just one companion, an African evoked in this relentless pursuit
protect the young thirteenth Dalai gray parrot, who holds a puzzle. by Holmes of one of the world’s first
Lama from assassination by an evil What is behind the baffling lists serial killers. This novel is a highly
master criminal, and the story of German numbers the bird regarded Holmes pastiche.
becomes increasingly mystical. repeatedly utters? There is a deep
melancholy infusing this story of

HOLMES BY OTHER HANDS 343

THE HOUSE OF SILK THE BREATH OF GOD SHERLOCK HOLMES:
GODS OF WAR
Anthony Horowitz (2011) Guy Adams (2011)
James Lovegrove (2014)
Unlike in many other pastiches Set at the end of the 19th century,
where Holmes has been reinvented, this novel has a strong sense of This is a tense and action-packed
here Horowitz has stuck closely to the paranormal. Someone is found novel in which an aged Watson,
the original canon, and forged a crushed to death in London, yet visiting the now-retired Holmes at
loyal facsimile in Conan Doyle’s despite being surrounded by snow, his cottage on the Sussex Downs,
style. Set in Victorian London, there are no footprints. It is up to comes across the body of a man who
the plot is twisting and, at times, Holmes and Watson to illuminate has fallen from a great height. Is it
dramatic. It contains many familiar the mystery, and they travel to murder or suicide? The dead man’s
Conan Doyle motifs: a rich client Scotland to meet the only person lover reveals that he had some
whose family is not all it seems; a who may be able to help—the real- Egyptian hieroglyphics tattooed on
gruesome knife murder; a detailed, life sinister occultist and novelist his body, and questions are raised
violent backstory set in America Aleister Crowley. Narrated by the over other recent deaths—is this
involving brutal Irish expatriates; recently widowed Watson, Holmes the work of a clandestine society?
and some elaborate Holmesian is largely absent for much of the
deductions. Written for modern story, which instead features SHERLOCK HOLMES:
readers, it touches on many themes an interesting mix of real-life and THE SPIRIT BOX
forbidden to Conan Doyle. fictional characters, such as the
runic expert and demonologist George Mann (2014)
PROFESSOR MORIARTY: Julian Carswell—borrowed from
THE HOUND OF THE M. R. James’s ghoulish short story, In this intriguing novel, Mann
D’URBERVILLES “Casting the Runes” (1911). utilizes themes from his previous
books featuring his supernatural
Kim Newman (2011) DEAD MAN’S LAND protagonists, Newbury and Hobbes.
It is set in 1915, amid scenes of
This is an audacious take on the Robert Ryan (2012) destruction as World War I Zeppelins
Holmes saga where seven of the rain bombs onto London below.
original cases are retold, focusing Following an acrimonious The aging Holmes and Watson are
on Moriarty’s and Moran’s disagreement with Holmes, this leading separate lives until reunited
previously unknown involvement. novel sees Watson working with by Holmes’s brother, Mycroft. Rich
The tales are even retitled to reflect the Royal Army Medical Corps in and powerful members of society
their new perspective: The Study war-torn France during 1914. A have been behaving erratically
in Scarlet becomes “A Volume in series of deaths takes place, quite before taking their own lives in
Vermilion,” while “The Greek unlike the wholesale slaughter of bizarre fashions. Mycroft knows
Interpreter” becomes “The Greek the trenches, involving grotesque something is afoot when a British
Invertebrate.” Here, Moriarty and and mutilated bodies—the victims member of Parliament gives a
Moran are portrayed at their most seemingly scared to death. Working pro-German speech before jumping
cruel and villainous, and are seen by himself, Watson is obliged to naked into the Thames River;
at the heart of an international investigate the mystery, and the a senior military adviser advocates
crime web, of which Holmes is flare-lit horrors of World War I surrendering to Germany before
not fully aware. Mirroring Moriarty’s become the stage for grisly feeding himself to a tiger at London
role in Conan Doyle’s original nocturnal graveyard raids. Holmes Zoo; and an eminent suffragette
canon, Holmes himself is barely features only in the shadows, often jumps to her death under a train
referred to in the first stories, and obliquely referred to as “the old having renounced the movement.
only makes a full appearance in man,” yet there is constant hope Someone or something must be
the final tale, “The Problem of the for a reconciliation between the behind these events, and Holmes
Final Adventure.” two great former friends. and Watson duly investigate.

344

CONAN DOYLE’S OTHER WORKS

S ir Arthur Conan Doyle is undoubtedly best known for the Holmes
canon, which is widely regarded as his defining work. Before
creating the great detective, however, he had previously published
a number of short, dark mysteries, including “The Captain of the Polestar”
(1883) and “J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement” (1884), a fictional account of
the Mary Celeste, which were both inspired by his time as a ship’s doctor.
Holmes brought Conan Doyle huge public acclaim, but he soon tired of his
creation, wishing instead to concentrate on “better things.” He wrote
many other works during the “Great Hiatus” and after The Case Book of
Sherlock Holmes, including historical epics, fantasy adventures, and deep
psychological pieces. Sadly for the author, none are as well remembered.

THE MYSTERY OF tolerance is vital for the good of Amory de Catinat, and his eventual
CLOOMBER us all. Micah may have expressed emigration to America, where
Conan Doyle’s own views as a many Protestants settled.
(1889) disillusioned former Catholic.
THE PARASITE
Published a year after A Study in THE WHITE COMPANY
Scarlet, this is a Gothic mystery (1894)
set in Scotland involving a family (1891)
secret and long-awaited revenge. Written when his first wife was
The appearance of the three This historic novel was Conan terminally ill, this is considered
mysterious Buddhist monks in a Doyle’s first attempt to emulate to be one of Conan Doyle’s most
remote area has distinct echoes Sir Walter Scott, who he admired. personally revealing tales, exploring
of Wilkie Collins’s The Moonstone Set in England, France, and Spain, the power of the mind and sexual
(1868), one of Conan Doyle’s favorite it follows the campaign of Edward, obsession. Here, the repellent
novels as a youth. the Black Prince, to restore Peter parasitic mesmerist, Miss Penclosa,
of Castile to the throne in 1366–67. controls the minds of the young
MICAH CLARKE The hero, a knight, is Sir Nigel Professor Gilroy and his fiancée,
Loring, who Conan Doyle returns to and is determined to destroy their
(1889) in his later novel, Sir Nigel, in 1906. relationship. Unsuccessful, it was
later withdrawn by Conan Doyle.
Conan Doyle’s first critical success THE REFUGEES
as a novelist, this novel records the THE STARK MUNRO
events of the Monmouth Rebellion (1893) LETTERS
of 1685 that sought to replace
the Catholic King James with a Set during the reign of King Louis (1895)
Protestant rival. Events are seen XIV of France (1638–1715), the
through the eyes of Micah Clarke, central theme of this historic novel A departure in style for Conan
a young boy who falls under the is the persecution of Protestant Doyle, this is a thinly disguised
influence of a world-weary soldier Huguenots through the revocation biographical piece in which he
of fortune. Becoming disillusioned of their civil rights. Well-researched drew on various incidents from his
with the religious extremism and richly detailed, it follows the own life. It takes the form of twelve
around him, Micah concludes that tale of a Huguenot guardsman, long letters written by J. Stark

CONAN DOYLE’S OTHER WORKS 345

Munro, a recent medical graduate, abducted by a marauding band Conan Doyle enthusiastically
to his friend Herbert Swanborough of Dervish warriors. It is a clear endorsed the girls’ story, hoping
in the US. The letters detail his defense of British Imperialism, and to encourage the belief in
failed attempt to build a medical in particular, its reach into North spiritualism. It had the opposite
practice with the brilliant but Africa. It also reveals the very great effect; he was mocked in the press,
unorthodox James Cullingworth, suspicion of Islam felt by many and his credulity was called into
reflecting Conan Doyle’s early life. Europeans at the time. question. The truth only came out
in 1983 when the perpetrators said
THE EXPLOITS OF THE LOST WORLD they’d always felt guilty for fooling
BRIGADIER GERARD Conan Doyle, and for holding him
(1912) up to the ridicule he suffered.
(1895)
This fantasy novel introduces THE MARACOT DEEP
Based on the real-life Baron de another of Conan Doyle’s
Marbot, Conan Doyle’s comic fascinating characters: Professor (1929)
character, Brigadier Gerard, is George Edward Challenger, an
a swaggering, vain officer in irascible, red-haired explorer, much Subtitled The Lost World Under
Napoleon’s army, yet is also brave, given to losing his temper with the Sea, this was Conan Doyle’s
imaginative, and resourceful. He anyone who disagrees with him. last work. It is a short novel about
initially appeared in the pages of Like Holmes, Professor Challenger the discovery of the sunken city
The Strand Magazine, with the was based on a real person, here of Atlantis by a team of explorers
first short stories published in book William Rutherford, a professor of led by Professor Maracot. He is
form in 1896. The Adventures of physiology who had lectured at accompanied on the adventure by
Gerard followed in 1903. the University of Edinburgh while Cyrus Headley, a young research
Conan Doyle studied medicine. zoologist, and Bill Scanlan, an
RODNEY STONE The imaginative plot concerns expert mechanic who built the
Challenger’s expedition to a plateau submersible that carries them to
(1896) in the Amazon basin, where the bottom of the Atlantic. This tale
dinosaurs still survive. Highly is regarded as being part science
Set against a backdrop of bare- influential, it inspired many later fiction and part spiritualist sermon,
knuckle boxing at the time of the works in which prehistoric with the Atlanteans demonstrating
Prince Regent, this novel weaves monsters are loose in the modern the movement’s high ideals.
together the coming-of-age of the world, including the 1993 movie
narrator, Rodney Stone, and a Jurassic Park. Challenger returned TALES OF UNEASE
murder mystery. Conan Doyle drew in the novels The Poison Belt (1913)
on the life of famous dandy Beau and The Land of Mist (1926). (2000)
Brummell and many contemporary
chronicles to capture the flavor of THE COMING OF THE This is a compilation of short
the period. He came to regard this FAIRIES stories written by Conan Doyle
novel as one of his successes. between 1890 and 1921. It includes
(1922) “The Ring of Thoth” (1890) about an
THE TRAGEDY OF ancient Egyptian mummy coming
THE KOROSKO Conan Doyle wrote this piece back to life, which, along with his
having been fooled by the “Lot No. 249” (1892), inspired the
(1898) “Cottingley Fairies.” In 1917, two 1932 movie The Mummy, featuring
young cousins, Elsie Wright Boris Karloff. Also, his atmospheric
This novel tells the story of a group and Frances Griffiths, claimed ghost story, “The Captain of the
of European tourists who, while that there were fairies in their Polestar” (1883), echoes images
sailing up the Nile in a boat called garden, and produced their own from the climax of Mary Shelley’s
the Korosko, are attacked and photographs as proof. Duped, 1818 Gothic classic, Frankenstein.

346

INDEX

Numbers in bold refer to main entries. the Six Napoleons” 31, 188–9, Baker Street 22, 270, 279, 327 Blyth, Harry 319
211, 297, 302, 313, 337 household 26, 53, 304 Board Schools 141
A Boer War 16–7, 18, 92, 150–1, 203,
the Solitary Cyclist” 176–7 Baker Street Irregulars 31, 34, 39, 49
abductive reasoning 87, 276, 307 the Speckled Band” 18, 35, 84–9, Baker Street Irregulars (society) 326 274–5
Acton, Mr. 126, 128, 130–1 Baldwin, Ted 214–15 bohemianism 61, 302
Adair, Ronald 66, 162–3, 164, 167 220, 253, 299, 304, 313, 329, 337 ballistics 130, 295 Bollywood 327
Adams, Guy 343 the Sussex Vampire” 99, 251, Balzac, Honoré de 61, 317 Bond, James 220, 340
Adler, Irene 35, 56–61, 58, 219, 239, bank robbery 64, 334 Bond, Dr. Thomas 312
256, 260–1, 266, 304, 341 Barclay, Colonel James 132–3 Book o’ the Brig 21
272, 304–5, 328, 335, 339 the Three Gables” 81, 272–3, 303, Bardle, Inspector 30, 278, 282–3 The Bookman 22
“The Adventure of Barker, Cecil James 214–15, 217, 218, Boone, Hugh 80–1
305 Booth, Charles 189, 300–1
the Abbey Grange” 151, 198–201 the Three Garridebs” 30, 250–1, 220 “The Boscombe Valley Mystery” 35,
the Beryl Coronet” 96–7, 298 Barker, Mr. (private investigator) 284–5
Black Peter” 15, 30, 107, 184–5 255, 262–5 Barnes, Josiah 288–9 71, 73, 107, 198, 303
the Blanched Soldier” 274–7, 278, the Three Students” 190–1 Barnes, Julian 19 Boswell, James 26
the Veiled Lodger” 250, 286–7 Barrie, J. M. 18, 253 Bowman, Lee 322
299 Wisteria Lodge” 99, 211, 222–5, 303 Barry, James 61 Boyer, Richard L. 341
the Blue Carbuncle” 82–3, 99, 108, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Barrymore, Eliza 154–5 Boylston Bank Robbery 64
(collection) 15, 16, 34–5, 104 Barrymore, John 154–5, 158 Brackenstall, Sir Eustace 150, 198–9
191, 252, 268, 296, 313 (movie) 330, 336–7 Barrymore, John (actor) 329 Brackenstall, Lady Mary 198–201
the Bruce-Partington Plans” 127, (TV series) 338 Barton-Wright, Edward 165 Brackwell, Lady Eva 186
Afghan War, Second 27, 166, 167, 299 Baskerville, Sir Charles 154–5, 157, brain fever 101, 138, 140
204, 210, 230–3 air-guns 144, 252–3 158–9, 160 The Breath of God (Adams) 343
the Cardboard Box” 30, 31, 104, Akbar, Dost 48–9 Baskerville, Sir Henry 154–5, 157–9, Breckinridge (poultry seller) 82
Akunin, Boris 326 Brett, Jeremy 57, 88, 99, 110, 137, 144,
110–1, 134, 145, 305 alcoholism 151, 199 160–1, 336–7
Charles Augustus Milverton” 27, Alexander II, Czar 195 Baskerville, Sir Hugo 154–5, 160–1 165, 169, 181, 206, 223, 229, 244,
Alice, Turner 70 Baskerville, Rodger 160 258, 295, 330, 332–3, 334–6, 338
39, 145, 151, 186–7, 266 Allingham, Margery 320 Bathsheba 133
the Copper Beeches” 98–101, 138, Altamont (informant) 246–7 Batman 220, 327, 331, 333, 337 Breuer, Joseph 91
Amberley, Josiah 284–5 Baudelaire, Charles 67 British Empire 34, 263, 277, 296, 297,
239, 279 American Civil War 35, 75–6, 77, 79 Baxter, Edith 106
the Creeping Man” 250, 258–9, 304 “The American’s Tale” 260 Baynes, Inspector 222–3, 224 299, 300
the Dancing Men” 18, 151, 170–5 amyl nitrite 134 Beccaria, Cesare 311, 315 British Medical Journal 101, 244
the Devil’s Foot” 18, 190, 211, 238, Anderson, Robert 25, 29 Beddington (criminal) 114–15 British Museum 24, 82–3, 121, 263
animated 333, 334 Beddoes (mutineer) 116–7, 118–9 Broadmoor 285
240–5, 304 Anna (the Revolutionary) 192, 194–5 The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (King) Brontë, Charlotte 101
the Dying Detective” 27, 211, anthropometry 312, 313 Brown, Father 319, 321
anti-German sentiment 92 342 Brown, Mr. Josiah 188–9
234–5, 303 anti-racism 113 Beeton’s Christmas Annual 16, 34, 45 Brown, Silas 106, 109
the Empty House” 18, 25, 27, 31, Antoon, A. J. 338 Bell, Dr. Joseph 12, 15, 16, 25, 34, 41, Browner, James 110–11
Aristotle 306, 307, 309 Browner, Mary 110–11
53, 144, 147, 151, 162–7, 252, Arkin, Alan 338 43 Bruce, Nigel 156, 189, 330, 332, 336
252–3, 326 Armitage, James see Trevor, Victor belladonna 118, 234–5 Brunel, Isambard Kingdom 297
Armstrong, Dr. Leslie 196–7 Bellamy, Maud 278, 280–1 Brunton, Richard 120–1, 122
the Engineer’s Thumb” 90–3, 138 Arthur and George (TV drama) 19 Bellamy, Tom and William 278 Buchanan, Dr. Robert 235
the Golden Pince-Nez” 151, 192–5 Ashwell, Paul 253 Bellinger, Lord 202–3, 207, 301 Budd, Dr. George Turnaville 15
the Illustrious Client” 18, 236, 239, Asimov, Isaac 326 Bennett, Trevor 258–9 Bullard, Charley 64
Astley, Philip 286 Bentley, E. F. 319 Burke, David 99, 144, 334, 338
250, 253, 255, 257, 266–71, 305 Astor, Viscountess 95 Beppo (Italian craftsman) 188–9 Burke, John 179
the Lion’s Mane” 18, 25, 30, 151, Athenaeum 137 Berkeley Square 269, 270 Burnet, Miss 222, 225, 305
Auger, Claudine 273 Bernstone, Mrs. 48 Burns, William John 218
251, 278–83 Australia 20, 35, 50, 70, 72–3, 118–9, Bertillon, Alphonse 313, 314 Burnwell, Sir George 96–7
the Mazarin Stone” 22, 246, 250, 183, 199, 302 Billy (page boy) 31, 252 Burroughs, Edgar Rice 259
Binet, Alfred 127 Burton, Richard (explorer) 61, 243
252–3, 263, 329 B Black Hand 228
the Missing Three-Quarter” 196–7 Black Peter see Carey, Peter C
the Musgrave Ritual” 18, 104, 116, Babingon Plot 312 blackmail 73, 113, 131, 182, 187, 204,
Bacon, Roger 306 Cabell, Richard 159
120–5, 138, 301 Baden-Powell, Robert 304 207, 273, 340 Cadogan West, Arthur 230–1
the Noble Bachelor” 94–5, 302 Bain, Sandy 288 Blake, Sexton 319 Café Royal 269, 270
the Norwood Builder” 53, 105, 151, Baker, Henry 82–3 Blakely, Colin 337 Cairns, Patrick 184–5
Blessington, Mr. 134–5
168–9, 297, 314 blood types 312
the Priory School” 18, 151,178–83, bloodhounds 197

191, 257
the Red Circle” 211, 216, 226–9
the Resident Patient” 104, 111,

127, 134–5, 304, 327
the Retired Colourman” 284–5
the Second Stain” 18, 151 202–7,

230–1, 232, 301, 305
Shoscombe Old Place” 109, 250,

288–91

INDEX 347

Caldicott, Richard 263 Boer War 18, 150, 274–5 Conan Doyle, Mary (daughter) 17 Dibdin, Michael 341
California Gold Rush 221 break from Sherlock Holmes 17–18 conspiracy thrillers 319, 320 Dickens, Charles 30, 54, 81, 134, 206,
Cambridge University 196–7 children 17, 18, 19, 20 convicts, transportation 119
The Canary Trainer (Meyer) 341 and class 300–2, 304–5 Coram, Professor 192–5 295, 296–97, 300, 308, 318, 324
the Canon 325 death and burial 21 Cornwell, Patricia 323 “The Disappearance of Lady
Cantlemere, Lord 252–3 and “death” of Holmes 17, 105, 143, coroners 290
“The Captain of the Polestar” 15, coronets 97 Frances Carfax” 211, 236–9
156, 319, 324 Cottingley Fairies 20, 157, 251 Disney, Walt 334
344–5 and developments in criminology Covent Garden market 83 divorce 201
“The Cardboard Box” 31, 104, Coventry, Sergeant 253, 254–5 Dixie, Steve 81, 272, 303
and forensics 315 Cox, Michael 334 Dixon, Charles Edward 55
110–11, 134, 145, 305 disenchantment with Holmes 216 Crandon, Dr. 295 DNA tests 315
Carey, Peter (“Black Peter”) 184–5 education and influences 14–15 Crawford, Howard Marion 332, 337 docklands, London 302
Carfax, Lady Frances 210–1, 236–9 failing health 20–1 Cream, Dr. Thomas Neill 238 Dodd, James M. 274–7
Cargill, Alexander 127 family background 14 crime scene reconstruction 255 Don Juan 122
Carlton Club 137, 267 favorite stories 18, 62, 120, 127, crime writing 316–23 doppelgänger 145
Carlton, Timothy 339 170, 240, 278 Crimean War 118, 297 Dorak, A. 258–9
Carr, John Dickson 320, 340 fees 16, 17, 34, 45, 64, 105 Criminal Lunatics Act (1800) 285 Doran, Hatty 94–5
Carreras, James 331 first marriage 17 criminal minds/types 144, 167, 281, Dostoyevsky, Fyodor 175, 317
Carruthers, Bob 176–7 and Freemasons 63 Doubleday, John 325, 327
Cartwright (messenger) 31 gentlemen’s club 137 311, 312–13 Douglas, Ivy 214–15, 217, 218
The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes and George Edalji 19–20, 211 criminology 295, 310–15 Douglas, John “Jack” 214–15, 219, 221
historical fiction 16, 17, 105 Crippen, Cora 315 Dovercourt, Earl of 186
18, 250–1, 257, 344 hobbies and interests 21, 237 Crippen, Dr. Hawley Harvey 315 Downey, Robert, Jr. 334, 339
The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes and Houdini 19, 20 Croker, Jack 198, 200–1 Doyle, Charles Altamont 14, 104
and injustice 19–20, 210–11 Cromwell, Oliver 125 Doyle, Innes 157
(TV series) 338 inspiration for Holmes 25 “The Crooked Man” 51, 104, 127, Doyle, Mary (née Foley) 14
“A Case of Identity” 62–3, 69, 309 inspiration for Lestrade 30–1 Dracula 327
Casement, Roger 20, 210–11, 247 inspiration for Moriarty 29 132–3, 134, 138 Drayson, Major-General Alfred Wilks
castration, symbolic 91 and Jean Leckie 19, 245, 257 The Crown Diamond: An Evening
catalepsy 134, 135 as journalist in Sudan 166 51
Chabon, Michael 342 knighthood 18, 150, 246, 251 with Sherlock Holmes (play) 250, Drebber, Enoch J. 38–9, 43
Chadbon, Tom 229 medical experiments 244 252–3, 329 Dreyfus, Alfred/Dreyfus Affair 127,
Challenger, Professor 17, 251, 259, medical practice 15–16, 34, 85, 135
political opinions 21, 141, 302 The Crucifer of Blood (play) 388 230, 314
340, 344 problems of 143, 240–1 Cubitt, Elsie 170, 172–5 Dugdale, Daisy 305
Chandler, Raymond 322 and race 303, 305 Cubitt, Hilton 170–5 Dumas, Alexandre 61, 317
Charles I, King 123, 125 religious beliefs 15, 150 Cullin, Arthur M. 52 Dunbar, Miss Grace 254–7
Charles II, King 108, 125 and resurrection of Holmes 18–19, Cumberbatch, Benedict 23, 327, 335, Dupin, Chevalier C. Auguste 66, 76,
Charpentier, Alice 38–9
Charpentier, Arthur 38–9 150–1, 162–3, 324 336, 339 207, 223, 294, 308, 318
Charpentier, Madame 38 and science fiction 15, 259 Cunningham, Alec 126, 128–9, 130 Dust and Shadow: An Account of the
Charteris, Leslie 320 second marriage 19 Cunningham, Old Mr. 126, 128–31
Chesterton, G. K. 295, 319, 320, 321 self-censorship 111 Cushing, Peter 331, 332, 337, 338 Ripper Killings by Dr. John H.
chloroform 238, 246–7 shares 114 Cushing, Sarah 110–11, 305 Watson (Faye) 342
Choderlos de Laclos, Pierre 316 as ship’s surgeon 15, 119, 184 Cushing, Susan 110–11, 305
Christie, Agatha 175, 295, 320–1 spiritualism 15, 20, 150, 241, 251, Cusack, Catherine 82–3 E
Christison, Robert 244 Cutty Sark 117
Churchill, Lady Jennie 95 260–1 Cuvier, Georges 76–7 East India Company 132
cigarettes, Egyptian 194–5 starts writing 16–17 Cyprus (convict ship) 119 Eastbourne 25
ciphers 171, 175, 308 and Switzerland 236–7 Easter Rising (1916) 247
class division 295 university thesis 135 D Eccles, John Scott 222–3
Clay, John 65, 66–7 use of foreign lands 220–1, 299, Edalji, George 19, 211
coded messagers, 118, 171, 173, 227, Damery, Colonel Sir James 266–8, 271 Edward VII, King 151, 163, 271, 299
302–3 Dartmoor 107, 108, 158–61 Edwards, Birdy 215, 219, 221,
232 and Victorian era 296–7 Darwin, Charles 243, 294, 309
coiners 93 views on society 300 David, King 133 247
coins and women/female characters Davies, David Stuart 339, 342 Elementary (TV series) 56, 334–5,
de Merville, General 267, 268, 271
commemorative 166 303, 304–5 de Merville, Violet 239, 266–71, 305 337, 339
counterfeit 93 works of 295, 344–5 Dead Man’s Land (Ryan) 343 Elise 90, 92–3
collectors, Victorian 263 World War I 20 deduction, art of 306–9 Elizabeth I, Queen 312
Collier’s Weekly 156, 162–3, 340 writing for the stage 253, 328–9 deerstalker, Holmes’s 35, 71 Elman, Mr. (vicar) 284–5
Collins, Wilkie 25, 30, 295, 308, 318, 344 writing style 175, 304 Derleth, August 325–6 Emsworth, Colonel 274–6
Combe, George and Andrew 313 Conan Doyle, Denis (son) 18, 19 detecting bloodstains 40 Emsworth, Godfrey 274–7
The Coming of the Fairies 251, 345 Conan Doyle, Jean (née Leckie) (2nd detective fiction 316–23 Emsworth, Mrs. 274–5
The Complete Long Stories 41 wife) 18, 19, 21, 245, 257 devil’s-foot root 244 English Civil War 120, 125, 183
Conan Doyle, Adrian (son) 13, 18, 19, Conan Doyle, Kingsley (son) 17, 20, Devine, Marie 236–7 entailment 183
21, 326, 337, 340 157, 250 Dew, Inspector 315 Epsom Derby 108, 289
Conan Doyle, Arthur 14–21 Conan Doyle, Lena Jean (daughter) Diamond, I. A. L. 337, 340 Epstein, Jean 222
activities and interests 21 18, 19, 20 diamond 177 Ernest, Dr. Ray 284–5
attitude to US 95 Conan Doyle, Louise (“Touie”) (née espionage, World War I 247
authorship of Case Book stories 250 Hawkins) (1st wife) 17, 19, 143, Eton College 179
autobiography 15, 18, 109, 269, 305 Evans, Killer see Garrideb, John
bereavements 143, 157, 260 197, 245, 257

348 INDEX

Evans (mutineer) see Beddoes frequency analysis 170, 173 “The Greek Interpreter” 105, 127, and Baker Street 22, 190
Exit Sherlock Holmes (Hall) 341 Freud, Sigmund 91, 138, 309, 333, 136–7, 304, 305, 343 bohemianism 41, 50, 57, 60, 294,
The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard 345 338, 340–1
The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes Frith, William Powell 289 Green, The Hon. Philip 236, 238–9 302
Frohman, Charles 328 Greene, Graham 55 and boredom 35, 50, 67, 196
(A. Conan Doyle/Carr) 340 Fry, Stephen 339 Greene, Richard 336 and boxing 41, 176
explorers, Victorian 243 The Further Adventures of Sherlock Greenhough Smith, Herbert 170, 218 character 22–3, 35, 251, 257
Eyles, Alan 327 Gregory, Inspector 106–9 and class 301–2, 305
Holmes (movies) 336 Gregson, Inspector Tobias 31, 34, code-breaking 173, 174
F The Further Adventures of Sherlock crime scene reconstruction 255,
38–9, 44–5, 54, 222–3, 226–7
Fairbairn, Alec 110–11 Holmes: The Peerless Peer Grimspound (Dartmoor) 160 256
fairies 20, 157, 251, 260, 345 (Farmer) 340 Groombridge Place 218 “death” 17, 25, 105, 142, 147, 156,
Fairman, Paul 340 Gross, Hans 255, 256
Falder, Lady Beatrice 288–91 G Gruner, Baron 253, 255, 266–71 162, 164, 237, 319, 324, 335
“The Fall of the House of Usher” Gubar, Susan 303 deerstalker 35, 71
(Poe) 134, 222, 223, Gaboriau, Émile 25, 55, 77, 317, 318 Gunpowder Plot 312 drug use 48, 50–1, 58, 112, 196
fans 295, 324–7 Gainsborough, Thomas 29 guns, Holmes’s and Watson’s 255 education 24
Galen 312 fallibility 79, 104, 254
affection for Holmes 22–3 Gall, Franz Josef 310, 312–13, 315 H family background 24
continued appeal of Holmes 251 Galton, Francis 169 fans 324–7
and death of Holmes 156, 324 gangs, women in 273 Haddon, Mark 109 and forensic science 40, 310–15
visits to Reichenbach Falls 146, 147 Garcia, Aloysius 222–5, 303 Hall, Robert Lee 341 Great Hiatus 25, 105, 164–6, 326
Farmer, Philip José 340 Gardner, John 340–1 Hammett, Dashiell 221, 322 health 241
Faulds, Henry 169 Garnet, Henry Highland 112 handwriting 127, 128, 130, 313–14 idiosyncrasies 41
Faulkner, Miss 150 Garrideb, Alexander Hamilton 262–5 hansom cabs 294, 296, 298 immunity to intimidation 255
Faye, Lyndsay 342 Garrideb, John 262–5 Hardwicke, Edward 206, 229, 258, inspiration for 25
FBI 311 Garrideb, Nathan 262–5 intellectual faculties 35, 308–9
feminist critics 61, 303 Gascoyne-Cecil, Robert 141 334, 338, 339 knowledge of literature 51, 308
Ferguson, Jack 260–1 Gaskell, Elizabeth 297 Hardwick, Michael and Molly 340 legacy 322–3
Ferguson, Mr. 90, 92–3 Gatiss, Mark 332, 335, 339 Hardy, Thomas 175 life with Watson 24–5, 27
Ferguson, Mrs. 256, 260–1 gender issues 294, 304–5 Hargreave, Wilson 170 logic 87
Ferguson, Robert (“Bob”) 260–1 gentlemen’s clubs 53, 137, 304 Harker, Mr. Horace 188–9 memorabilia 327
Ferrier, John 38–9 George III, King 65 Harper’s Weekly 126 as multi-era hero 299
Ferrier, Lucy 38–9 George, Henry 130, 131 Harris, Jared 339 as narrator 116, 120, 132, 133, 274,
films 326, 328–35, 336–9 Germany Harrison, Joseph 138–41
“The Final Problem” 12, 18, 25, 28, 29, Hart, Richard 322 276, 278
35, 104, 105, 142–7, 151, 156, 164, espionage 247 Hatherley, Victor 90–3 and natural justice 115, 187, 198,201
film industry 333 Hayes, Reuben 178, 181–3 other authors’ writings about 324,
220, 237, 299, 324, 329, 342 militarism 203 Hayter, Colonel 126, 128–9
The Final Solution (Chabon) 342 The Giant Rat of Sumatra (Boyer) 341 Hearst, George 254 325–6, 340–3
financial felons 114 Gibson, Mrs. 254–6, 305 Hebron, John 112–13 parodies of 325
fingerprints 151, 169, 255, 312, 314 Gibson, Neil 254–7, 299 Hedin, Sven 166 physical appearance 23–4, 35
Fisher, Terence 337 Gielgud, Sir John 332 Heidegger, Mr. 178–83 powers of deduction 24, 40–1, 52,
Fitzgerald, F. Scott 297 Gilbert, Alfred 246, 253, 257 Heinrich, Edward Oscar 255
“The Five Orange Pips” 18, 24, 35, 61, Gilbert, Sandra 303 heiresses, American 95 306–9
Gilchrist, Giles 190–1 Hemingway, Ernest 297 and race 303, 304
74–9, 171, 216, 223, 296, 304 Gillette, William 150, 253, 295, 325, Henderson, Mr. 222, 224–5 rationalism 251, 261
Flaubert, Gustave 67, 175 328–9, 336–337 Henry, Sir Edward Richard 314 refuses knighthood 262
Fletcher Robinson, Bertram 18, 157, Giorgiano, Giuseppe 226–9 heroism, and masculinity 303 relationship with Lestrade 31
Giovanni, Paul 338 Heston, Charlton 338 relationship with Moriarty 28–9,
160 Gladstone, William 141, 203 high society, weddings 94
Florence 164, 166 “The Gloria Scott” 24, 34, 73, 104, Hill, James 337 219–20
fog, London 296 116–19, 120–1, 127, 134, 302–3 Himmler, Heinrich 313 relationship with Watson 23, 26–7,
Forbes, Elizabeth 241 Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von 51 His Last Bow (collection) 111, 210,
Forbes, Mr. 138–9, 140 gold prospecting 117, 177, 221 42, 219, 238, 250, 262, 265, 304
Foreign Office 25, 139, 141, 165 Gordon, General Charles 166 211, 250, 299 resurrection 18–19, 25, 147, 150–1,
foreign policy 203 Gordon-Cumming, Sir William 163 “His Last Bow” (story) 24, 25, 210,
forensic science 25, 40, 130, 255, 288, Gorot, Charles 138, 140 162–5, 324
Gothic fiction 99, 100, 145, 316 211, 231, 246–7, 251, 252, 283 retirement 25, 250, 258, 259,
295, 310–15 Grace, W. G. 21 The History of Spiritualism 251, 261
forgers 93 Grand Game 79, 326, 327 Hitler, Adolf 333 278–9, 283
Forrest, General Nathan 76 graphology 127, 130 Hobbs, Carleton 332 scientific experiments 25, 244
Forrester, Inspector 126, 128–30 Gray, Charles 137 Holder, Alexander 96–7, 298 sexuality 219
Forrester, Mrs Cecil 48 Great Andaman Island 53 Holder, Arthur 96–7 snobbery 95
fortune-seeking, in South Africa 177 Great Game 166 Holder, Mary 96–7 and society 300–5
The Forty Elephants (gang) 273 Great Hiatus 25, 34, 104–105, 165, 190, Holdernesse, Duke of 178–83, 180, 257 on stage and screen 326, 328–39
Fournaye, Madame 202, 204–05, 207 203, 222, 342, 344 Holdhurst, Lord 138–41 statues 325, 327
Fowler, Mr. 98, 101 The Great Shadow 104 Holmes, Mycroft 24, 25, 105, 136–7, as template 333
Frankland, Mr. 332 theatrical gestures 141
Freeman, Martin 327, 335, 339 144, 146, 147, 210, 230–1, 233, 304 thought process 281
Freemasons 63, 67, 214 Holmes, Sherlock 22–5 violent attack on 257, 269–70
wariness of prejudice 130
and women 57, 219, 304–5
The Holmes–Dracula File
(Saberhagen) 341
Hoover, J. Edgar 311
Hope, Jefferson 34, 35, 38–9, 43