Sherlock Holmes, more than any other fictional detective, has achieved immortality via books, short stories, radio, TV, the theatre, and motion pictures. I recently read A Study in Scarlet Women written by Sherry Thomas, published by Berkley, the first in the Lady Sherlock Series, which offers yet another fresh mystery-twist version on this fiction phenomenon.
Not only has mystery and detective fiction been influenced by the legendary Holmes, but also other fiction genres as well. Genevieve Cogman, who writes a well-reviewed fantasy series, started reading Sherlock Holmes stories at an early age. In her debut novel, The Invisible Library, which received a starred review from Library Journal, Cogman introduces a private detective named Vale, who is described as similar to Sherlock Holmes. Cogman sets her fantasy in an alternate world which is similar to late-Victorian London. Mr. Vale is enlisted to help the librarians locate a rare book, and along the way solve some murders.
Sherlock Holmes has been played by a host of well-respected actors, which includes Basil Rathbone (my personal favorite), Orson Welles, Charlton Heston, Christopher Lee, Roger Moore, Leonard Nimoy, and John Cleese. Robert Downey, Jr.’s film versions were highly successful, while Benedict Cumberbatch played Holmes in the BBC series Sherlock, which aired in America on PBS. Jonny Lee Miller stars as a modern-day Sherlock Holmes—Brooklyn, New York based—in the popular CBS series Elementary.
If Sherlock Holmes has captured the popular imagination ever since the Victorian era, the credit belongs to his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, upon whom the spotlight rightfully shines. Arthur & George, a Public Broadcasting series encompassing a three-part Masterpiece mystery, aired in 2015, based on a novel by Julian Barnes. Martin Clunes of Doc Martin fame starred as Doyle. The novel was based on real facts in Doyle’s life and was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize.
How Sherlock Changed the World, another Public Broadcasting program, featured dramatized excerpts from several of Doyle’s stories. Sherlock Holmes used chemistry, bloodstains, and fingerprints to catch offenders. In many ways, the modern detective can be seen as a direct extension of Conan Doyle’s literary genius. Using interviews and archival materials, this program did an excellent job of exploring real crimes that were solved thanks to techniques, equipment, or methods of reasoning Holmes used.
Conan Doyle did an extraordinary job of demonstrating how forensic evidence could be used to solve crimes. He was critical of the police of his time and Holmes, his detective, reflects this viewpoint. Apparently, Conan Doyle often received letters appealing for help with crimes. Because of one letter, Doyle decided to act as a detective himself. In 1903 his shrewd observations and experience as an eye doctor helped exonerate a man accused of brutally killing animals in a Staffordshire village. However, although Doyle proved the accused man innocent, the police refused to believe it. The experience caused Doyle to become influential in setting up the first official British Court of Appeal two years later.
Sherlock Holmes’s extraordinary powers of observation were created by the mind of Conan Doyle and still influences people to this day. NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote an article entitled “Why We Love Sherlock Holmes” for the September 27, 2015, issue of Parade Magazine. He described being fascinated by Holmes’s insistence on logic and facts as the wisest means to form opinions. It influenced his approach to basketball as he practiced powers of observation on his opponents, scoping out their moves, habits, strengths, and weaknesses in careful detail. He began studying clues, expanding his intellectual horizons. He even co-authored a novel entitled Mycroft Holmes, based on Sherlock’s brother.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle actually tired of writing the Holmes stories, which he felt kept him from concentrating on more serious historical writing. “The Adventure of the Final Problem” was published in December of 1893 in The Strand magazine. In this short story, Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes. He had Holmes tumble to his death from the Reichenbach Falls in the northern Swiss Alps, which Doyle visited that year. Holmes was locked in a death struggle with the villainous Professor Moriarty. The reaction of readers? The Strand Magazine lost 20,000 subscribers. According to legend, fans of Holmes took to the streets wearing black armbands.
In 1901, Conan Doyle brought Holmes back in The Hound of the Baskervilles. However, he made it clear that this story preceded the death of his famed detective. The Hound of the Baskervilles was also originally published in The Strand. Public reaction was overwhelming: The magazine’s circulation rose by thirty thousand overnight. Thus it would be no surprise that Conan Doyle would bring Holmes back to life at least in part to please his enthusiastic fans. He did so in “The Adventure of the Empty House.” Watson finds out Holmes’s death was just a ruse to hide from Moriarty’s associates.
Altogether, Conan Doyle wrote fifty-six Sherlock Holmes short stories and four novels: A Study in Scarlet (1887), The Sign of the Four (1890), The Hound of the Baskervilles (serialized in 1901-1902), and The Valley of Fear (serialized in 1914-15). These are considered classics. The influence of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories continues in today’s media. Just tune in to any of the forensic police dramas on television and you will see it. The legacy lives on.
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Multiple award-winning author, Jacqueline Seewald, has taught creative, expository and technical writing at Rutgers University as well as high school English. She also worked as both an academic librarian and an educational media specialist. Seventeen of her books of fiction have been published to critical praise including books for adults, teens and children. Seewald’s mystery novels include the Kim Reynolds series. Her most recent mystery novel is Death Promise from Encircle Publishing. Her short stories, poems, essays, reviews and articles have appeared in hundreds of diverse publications and numerous anthologies such as: The Writer, L.A. Times, Reader’s Digest, Pedestal, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, Over My Dead Body!, Gumshoe Review, The Mystery Megapack, Library Journal, The Christian Science Monitor and Publisher’s Weekly. Her blog can be found at: http://jacquelineseewald.blogspot.com