Feb 22, 2017

"it is a very sweet little problem" [BERY] 

 
One of the more comical openings to a story occurred in "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet," in which the banker Alexander Holder raced his way through to snow to 221B Baker Street, which he followed by beating his head against the wall.

You don't get much more dramatic...

Feb 15, 2017

"what's amiss with the names?" [VALL] 

One of the most puzzling passages in the Sherlock Holmes stories is when Mrs. Watson referred to her husband, the good Doctor, as "James." However, we know that his given name is John. What could be afoot here?

Was it a typo? An impostor? A slip of the tongue? We review some of...

Feb 8, 2017

"a puzzled quarter of an hour" [MISS]

The Sherlock Holmes stories are filled with hints of dates, places and people that cause them to be intertwined with reality. It is therefore natural to think that we can arrive at some certainty as to the date of an adventure when Watson gives us a specific month in which a case...

Feb 1, 2017

Charles Augustus Milverton was considered by Sherlock Holmes to be "the worst man in London." Watson tried to shield the date of the case — not to protect Milverton, but to protect his victims.

And Holmes and Watson went to extraordinary lengths to defeat the odious blackmailer, from burglary to destruction of...