Questions tagged [sherlock-holmes]
For questions regarding the Sherlock Holmes series of novels and short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle or any other literary work featuring this character. For questions about the original Doyle stories, use the [arthur-conan-doyle] tag as well.
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Did Arthur Conan Doyle code Holmes and Watson as a gay couple?
Given the Victorian era, a writer couldn't deliberately create an openly (or even quietly) gay couple for public literary consumption. But gay people existed, and had romances. Arthur Conan Doyle knew ...
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Has the phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson" ever truly appeared in a Sherlock Holmes book?
A famous phrase attributed to Sherlock Holmes is "Elementary, my dear Watson" or "Elementary, dear Watson"
Has this phrase ever occurred in a Sherlock Holmes book?
If yes, in which novel or story ...
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Why did Sir Arthur Conan Doyle decide to kill off this character?
In the short story "The Final Problem", Sir Arthur Conan Doyle made the decision to kill off Sherlock Holmes (although he did bring him back again in the story of "The Empty House"). This was met with ...
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Is Sherlock Holmes religious?
In this question, it is established that Sherlock Holmes, from the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was asexual and in explaining that it is stated that he showed very little emotion in general. This ...
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Did Sherlock Holmes have a character development arc across Arthur Conan Doyle's books?
Often, in a large novel, a character would have a character development arc, which is considered an integral part of writing.
But Sherlock Holmes canon consists mostly of smaller stories.
Was there ...
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In which order should the Sherlock Holmes stories be read?
The canonical Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle comprise:
four novellas:
A Study in Scarlet
The Sign of Four
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Valley of Fear
fifty-six short stories, ...
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Why Did Doyle Choose 221B Baker Street?
221B Baker Street. One of the most famous addresses in literature. But why?
Was there any reason Sir Arthur Conan Doyle chose this particular address as the residence of his famous protagonist? Did ...
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To what extent did Agatha Christie base Captain Hastings on Dr. Watson?
I've noticed that there are quite a few parallels between Agatha Christie's Captain Arthur Hastings and Arthur Conan Doyle's Dr. John Watson:
Both served in the British military (Hasting in World War ...
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How much did forensic science at the time of Sherlock Holmes' publication influence it?
Was Arthur Conan Doyle influenced by any particular forensic techniques or methods used in his time? Were there any specific ones utilized a lot in the Sherlock Holmes series? And if so, what were ...
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Are any Sherlock Holmes antagonists besides Moriarty based on real people?
I've heard that Arthur Conan Doyle's depiction of Professor Moriarty was inspired by several real-life figures, including Adam Worth. Given Doyle's wide-ranging set of villains and antagonists in the ...
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Is Professor Moriarty really Sherlock Holmes' arch-enemy in the way some people think?
Some people view Professor James Moriarty as the ultimate arch-enemy to Sherlock Holmes, and that perhaps he may have been a major character in the stories and novels.
If you've watched a TV series ...
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What occult references caused The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes to be banned in the Soviet Union?
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fascination with spiritualism and the occult is well known. However, I was surprised to find out that his short stories collection The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was banned ...
user8
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Was Afghanistan considered tropical or was Holmes wrong?
From the 1887 Sherlock Holmes story A Study in Scarlet:
... He has just come from the tropics, for his face is dark, and that is not the natural tint of his skin ... Where in the tropics could an ...
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How much of "The Adventure of the Second Stain" did Conan Doyle have planned when he wrote "The Naval Treaty"?
The first paragraph of the Holmes story The Naval Treaty, from Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, reads as follows (emphasis mine):
The July which immediately succeeded my marriage was made memorable by ...
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Why did Morris and Clay preemptively dissolve the Red-Headed League?
Spoilers ahead for The Red-Headed League.
In this Sherlock Holmes story, Holmes and Watson are recruited by a flustered pawnbroker, Jabez Wilson, who has been tricked into joining a fake society, the ...
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Do Holmes and Challenger coinhabit the same fictional world?
Doyle published The Lost World well after both killing off and reviving Sherlock Holmes. He wrote about Professor Challenger and Holmes concurrently for about fourteen years, and continued to write ...
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Why does "The Five Orange Pips" devote an entire paragraph at the beginning to the case with the watch?
"The Five Orange Pips" opens with two rather large paragraphs. The first one describes that there are a lot of good cases. The second, however, goes into detail about one of these cases - 180 words ...
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Identify non-Doylian Holmes short story: Watson outstrips Sherlock and Mycroft
About ten years ago, I read an old short story about Sherlock Holmes, which was not one of the 'canon' Doyle stories. I think it may have been written by one of the well-known later detective fiction ...
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What was the case where Sherlock answers Watson's private thoughts?
I recall a Sherlock Holmes mystery where the detective and his assistant are in their apartment and Watson is working over some decision that he has to make. Suddenly Holmes pipes in to give his ...
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Was Holmes written as a drug user in A Study In Scarlet?
In The Sign of the Four, Holmes is a drug user:
Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantelpiece, and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morroco case. With his long, white, ...
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When do the events in The Valley of Fear take place?
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's final Sherlock Holmes novel, "The Valley of Fear", is notable for being the only story other than the short story The Final Problem where Professor Moriarty plays a direct ...
user8
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How many of the original Sherlock Holmes stories are fixed in time?
While re-reading this Q&A, I was wondering how we know that, for example, the story "The Final Problem" is set in 1891. Presumably it's mentioned somewhere in the story. I recall the occasional ...
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Where did Doyle write that the Hound of the Baskervilles was originally intended as a "Victorian creeper", and what does this mean?
According to Wikipedia (section "Technique" in the Wikipedia page for the famous Sherlock Holmes story "The Hound of the Baskervilles"; emphasis mine):
The novel incorporates five ...
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Had Holmes previously encountered Charles Augustus Milverton?
The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton depicts Holmes' and Watson's encounter with Charles Augustus Milverton, a man who is, according to Holmes, "the worst man in London" (he even drives Holmes ...
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What does "more than I gave" mean in "I therefore named a price which was £500 more than I gave"?
I’d like to ask about the sentence from The Three Gables by Conan Doyle.
.. but naturally I was interested in what he said. I therefore named a
price which was £500 more than I gave.
Here I’m not ...
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Meaning of "He deserted me for others" in "The Veiled Lodger"
I’d like to ask about this sentence from the Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger" (1927) by Arthur Conan Doyle:
From that day I was in hell, and he the devil who tormented me. ...
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Who are the main characters of "A Study in Emerald"?
Neil Gaiman calls his "A Study in Emerald"* a Lovecraft/Sherlock Holmes fanfiction. And indeed it is exactly that: it uses the narration and story structure pretty characteristic to one from ...
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What does "loose-jointed" mean in this Sherlock Holmes passage?
I’d like to ask about the following sentence from "The Three Garridebs" by Conan Doyle:
Mr. Nathan Garrideb proved to be a very tall, loose-jointed,
round-backed person, gaunt and bald, ...
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Visualising a scene described in the beginning of “The Adventure of the Three Students”
The sitting-room of our client opened by a long, low, latticed window on to the ancient lichen-tinted court of the old college. A Gothic arched door led to a worn stone staircase
This is the ...
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Was the pun on the word 'reading' intentional in "The Boscombe Valley Mystery"?
In the beginning of "The Boscombe Valley Mystery", while Holmes and Watson are on the train, we see this line:
We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of papers which Holmes had ...
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Which London streets mentioned in Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories are fictional?
In the course of the Sherlock Holmes stories, many streets are named. Let's focus here on London streets. Many of them are real, e.g. Baker St., Oxford St., Regent St. and many more. Which of them, ...
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How tall was Dr. John Watson?
How tall was Dr. John Watson, from the Sherlock Holmes stories by Doyle? I have for some reason always imagined him as very tall and strong, but in a discussion today learned that I seem to be the ...
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Should I read 'A Scandal in Bohemia' before I read 'A Study in Scarlet'?
Is it important to read 'A Study in Scarlet' before 'A Scandal in Bohemia'? I have heard that the former is the first book by Sir Arthur Connal Doyle. And it gives initial insights into the character ...
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What is Watson's "old service" in "His Last Bow"?
I’d like to ask about a sentence in "His Last Bow" by Arthur Conan Doyle.
As to you, Watson, you are joining us with your old service, as I
understand, so London won’t be out of your way.
...
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Which does this part refer to, a pencil or the words?
I’d like to ask about the sentence in The Red Circle by Conan Doyle.
The words are written with a broad-pointed, violet-tinted pencil of a
not unusual pattern.
This is uttered by Holmes when he saw ...
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In "Adventure of the Priory School", what is going on with the reward money and the cheque?
In the Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Priory School", Holmes shows perhaps the most amount of interest in the reward money. Holmes initially confirms the terms of the reward ...
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What did Holmes mean when he referred to Watson's habit "of telling a story backward"?
In The Problem of Thor Bridge, Holmes begins running through the background of his latest case before telling Watson that he has a client:
"The fact is that the problem, though exceedingly ...
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Does "sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt" imply social class?
Quote from "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle":
His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded from his sleeves ...
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Meaning of "She impressed me neither favorably nor the reverse."
I'm reading "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches" by Arthur Conan Doyle. I came across this sentence by the character Violet Hunter:
Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colorless in mind as ...
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What is "the Segregation of the Queen" in "His Last Bow"?
I’d like to ask about a sentence in "His Last Bow" by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Practical Handbook of Bee Culture, with Some Observations upon the
Segregation of the Queen.
I’d like to make sure ...
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"The Evil One" in Sherlock Holmes series
Holmes makes a reference to an individual he referred to as the "Evil One" in "The Adventure Of Charles Augustus Milverton", though without explicitly naming him:
...He is as ...
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How to interpret this "temptation"?
I’d like to ask about the sentence I’m not really sure how to interpret in The Boscombe Valley Mystery by Conan Doyle, preferably to someone who’s already read the story.
“Well, it is not for me to ...
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In 'The Sign of the Four', what happened to the Sikh accomplices at the end?
Jonathan Small always maintained how he was loyal throughout to his other three Sikh/Indian accomplices. The last we read of them was when they all met with Sholto and Mortsan and told them about the ...
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Is Von Bork's "I've been there" the idiomatic expression here, in "His Last Bow"?
I’d like to ask about the sentence from His Last Bow by Conan Doyle.
“.. It was on my first arrival. I was invited to a week-end gathering at the country house of a cabinet minister. The conversation ...
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What did Conan Doyle mean by saying the butler would adorn a bench of bishops?
I’d like to ask about the following sentence from "The Illustrious Client" by Conan Doyle.
A butler, who would have adorned a bench of bishops, showed me in and…
I wanted to know what ...
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In which pastiche of Sherlock Holmes does Watson end up being Moriarty?
I read a pastiche of Sherlock Holmes some time ago that ended up with Watson actually being Moriarty, fooling Holmes all those years, working his machinations under his nose.
Sadly, I can't remember ...
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Sherlock Holmes: What does "woman's' hand" mean?
This is an excerpt from the Sherlock Holmes novel named The Hound of the Baskervilles (emphasis mine):
"Well, Sir Henry, your uncle had a letter that morning. He had usually a great many letters,...
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Implication of "your four-in-hand takes the prize" in "His Last Bow"
I’d like to ask about a sentence in "His Last Bow" by Arthur Conan Doyle.
You yacht against them, you hunt with them, you play polo, you match
them in every game, your four-in-hand takes ...
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Was Professor Moriarty ever apprehended or killed by Sherlock Holmes?
Professor Moriarty was Sherlock Holmes' arch enemy.
Was Professor Moriarty ever arrested or killed by Sherlock Holmes?
user5000