Mar 29, 2017

"quarter day is at hand" [WIST] 

There are at least two instances in the Sherlock Holmes stories when we come across a mention of quarter day. Just what is quarter day, and what is the significance with regard to these two stories? 

We delve into the history of quarter days, cross-quarter days and why the real estate...

Mar 22, 2017

"To Sherlock Holmes, she is always the woman" [SCAN]

It is the first story in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and it is also the first of what we might call the stories of legend: those Canonical tales that have inspired our imaginations far beyond the events that Watson wrote down.

We already have Holmes and...

Mar 15, 2017

"you could not celebrate him without being known yourself" [HOUN] 

With mid-March upon us, we thought it was high time to investigate some of the Irish connections in the Sherlock Holmes stories. From the obvious to the subtle, we go from Belfast to Waterford to Skibbereen, across the pond to America, and...

Mar 8, 2017

"He was clad in his dressing gown" [CREE]

You'll find Sherlock Holmes lounging in his dressing gown in no fewer than 14 of the original stories. And yet, its color changed from story to story. Sherlock Holmes's dressing gown was alternatively purple, blue and mouse — how can this be?

We discuss the possibilities...

Mar 1, 2017

"embrace the true faith" [STUD] 

We see glimpses of religion in a number of stories, from plot devices to red herrings, saintly inferences to clever disguises. What role did religion play in the Sherlock Holmes stories?

And Arthur Conan Doyle's own faith had some bearing on what we see as well. It's a chat about...