Mar 25, 2020

“helped a little to fill up the gap of loneliness and isolation” [MAZA]   

There are many tragic figures in the Sherlock Holmes stories, and more than a handful are lonely or isolated in some way. This is either features in their predicament or gives us a better understanding of their personality.

As many of us may...

Mar 18, 2020

“Watson, the fair sex is your department” [SECO]  

There was a scandal in Sherlockian circles in the early 1940s. Author Rex Stout, BSI ("The Boscombe Valley Mystery"), creator of Nero Wolfe, after careful research, determined that Watson was a woman. He presented his facts in the Saturday Review of Literature and...

Mar 11, 2020

“I made every disposition of my property before leaving England” [EMPT]  

After Holmes "died" at the Reichenbach Falls, wouldn't people have looked for a funeral or memorial service? Watson, in particular, would have expected to assist in such an arrangement.

As next of kin, Mycroft would have been expected to...

Mar 4, 2020

“he contracted some loathsome disease” [YELL]  

Dr. Watson was a general practitioner, and one "with very limited experience and mediocre qualifications," as Holmes blurted out in "The Dying Detective." It's the reason he called for a specialist in rare diseases.

With global news being filled with talk of...