There’s Something about Sherlock

A recent survey in Britain found 20% of respondents identified Sherlock Holmes as an actual, historical figure. Pressed for details, most would likely describe him as wearing a deerstalker hat, smoking a pipe, and carrying a magnifying glass. What makes him so real to readers more than a hundred years since he burst on the scene?

There were few detective stories or series prior to Holmes (think, “Murder in the Rue Morgue” by Edgar Allen Poe), but Arthur Conan Doyle took it further by creating a serialized character who solved cases in four books and fifty-six short stories. The stories applied science and logic to solve the mystery and carried the reader along for the conclusion. A clever reader could even figure it all out before Holmes brought Watson up to speed.

In more than one case, Holmes applied forensic methods only just being introduced to solve actual crimes: fingerprints, footprints, soil analysis, ink and paper characteristics—to name a few. In some cases, such as typewriter eccentricities, were shared in a story before they even appeared in a court case. More than one historian attributes the development of real-life forensics on the methods presented by Holmes as he solves a case. The concept of preserving the crime scene (and not let the curious trample the evidence) was one of Holmes’ techniques. In one story, Sherlock reminds Watson “You know my methods.” And thanks to his continuing popularity, we know them too.

What aspects of the original or further adventure stories appeal to you? Are you a CSI or forensics buff? Do you think you have the knowledge to pull off “the perfect crime?”

An Unconventional Holmes: Three Unnatural Cases

by Liese Sherwood-Fabre

Narration Performed by RJ Bayley

Genre: Mystery Short Story Collection

Missing boys, an imposter husband, and a bizarre vampyre murder.

Sherlock Holmes ventures into the realm of the unnatural in these three cases: the disappearance of the Baker Street Irregulars, the true identity of a Great War veteran, and a vampyre’s grisly death. Crossing into the worlds of the Grimm Brothers and Bram Stoker, he seeks the clues needed to unravel the mysteries confronting him. Can Holmes’ conventional methods still function in the unconventional world?"

"[Dr. Sherwood-Fabre] knows her Holmes characterization and her stories do not disappoint."

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Liese Sherwood-Fabre has won awards for her thrillers, romance, and literary short stories, and NYT bestselling author Steve Berry describes her writing as "gimmick-free, old-fashioned storytelling."

In the second grade, she knew she was destined to write when she got an A+ for her story about Dick, Jane, and Sally's ruined picnic. After obtaining her PhD from Indiana University, she joined the federal government and had the opportunity to work and live internationally for more than fifteen years. She draws upon these experiences to endow her characters with deep conflicts and emotions.