Sherlock Holmes For Dummies

Sherlock Holmes For Dummies
About the Authors
Dedication
Author’s Acknowledgments
Contents at a Glance
Table of Contents
Introduction
About This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
What You’re Not to Read
Foolish Assumptions
How This Book Is Organized
Icons Used in This Book
Where to Go from Here
Part I: Elementary Beginnings and Background
Chapter 1: A Snapshot of Sherlock Holmes and the Stories That Made Him Famous
Sherlock Holmes: Not Who You Think He Is
Arthur Conan Doyle: Holmes’s Creator
The Canon of Sherlock Holmes
Three Centuries and Counting
Chapter 2: The Great Detective and His Life in Crime
Finding Sherlock’s Origins
The Methods of Sherlock Holmes
A Few (Not So Small) Quirks
Case Files: A Rundown of Significant Cases
Chapter 3: Arthur Conan Doyle: The Doctor Who Created the Detective
Doyle’s Early Life and Education
The Case of the Bored Doctor and the Birth of Sherlock Holmes
The Death (And Rebirth) of Holmes
Other Literary Endeavors
Life Outside of Literature
His Last Bow
Chapter 4: Life in the Days of London Fog
England, the Center of the World
London, the Heart of Empire
Keeping in Touch
From Peelers to the First Detectives: The Rise of Scotland Yard
Holmes Gets Around
Part II: What a Bunch of Characters!
Chapter 5: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson
Sherlock Holmes: A Character Study
Meet Dr. Watson
A Study in Friendship
Chapter 6: Cops, Landladies, and Others: The Supporting Characters
The Police
Mrs. Hudson, the Landlady
Pageboys and Urchins
Chapter 7: Villains, Victims, and Damsels in Distress
Professor Moriarty: The Anti-Holmes
Other Unsavory Characters
Victorian Victims: The Clients of Sherlock Holmes
Part III: Holmes and His Adventures
Chapter 8: The “Typical” Sherlock Holmes Story
The Long of It: The Novels
The Short of It: The Short Stories
It All Starts on Baker Street
Chapter 9: Delving into “The Hound of the Baskervilles”
Plot Points: How “The Hound” Is More Than Just a Dog’s Tale
Examining Characterization: Henry and the Hound
“The Hound” as Gothic Masterpiece
A Sense of Place
Key Themes in the Novel
Who Told the Hound Story First?
Chapter 10: The Gaslight Goes Away: The “Modern” Stories
Suddenly, It’s No Longer 1895
Postwar Canonical Crime
“The Valley of Fear”: Doyle Goes Hard-Boiled
His Last Bow
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
Chapter 11: Common Themes and Threads
Some Things Never Change
Rationalism and Religion in the Canon of Sherlock Holmes
The Importance of Trifles
Chapter 12: The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
Brand New Detectives, Yet Strangely Familiar: Investigating the Rivals
One of the First Antiheroes: A.J. Raffles
Holmes’s Enduring Influence
Part IV: Beyond Baker Street
Chapter 13: The Sincerest Form of Flattery
Two Types of New Tales: Pastiche and Parody
Sherlockian Pastiche: The Continuing Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Spoofing the Great Detective: The Parodies
Chapter 14: Adapting Holmes for Stage and Screen
Sherlock Holmes on the Stage
Sherlock Holmes at the Movies
Sherlock Holmes on TV
Chapter 15: Communities of Sherlockians
The Baker Street Irregulars
The Scion Societies
The Sherlock Holmes Society of London
A Web of Intrigue: Virtual Sherlock Holmes Societies
Part V: The Par t of Tens
Chapter 16: Ten Unsolved Mysteries
The Missing Pup
Watson’s Wound
The Great Hiatus
The Good Doctor’s Wives
Sherlock and Irene: Did Holmes Fall in Love?
The Moriarty Brothers
Canonical Chronology
What Color Was Holmes’s Dressing Gown?
The Knighthood Question: Why French and Not English?
Where Was 221b Baker Street?
Chapter 17: Ten Sherlockian Places to Visit
The Baker Street Tube Station
The Sherlock Holmes Museum, 221b Baker Street
The Strand
The Lyceum Theatre
The Sherlock Holmes Pub
St. Bartholomew’s Hospital
The Langham Hotel
The Criterion Bar
The British Museum
Salt Lake City, Utah
Chapter 18: Ten Books Every Sherlockian Should Have
The Baker Street Journal
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
The Sherlock Holmes Reference Library/The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
The Baker Street Reader: Cornerstone Writings about Sherlock Holmes
The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Encyclopaedia Sherlockiana
Starring Sherlock Holmes
Chapter 19: Ten Notable Quotes and Passages
Holmes’s Literary Game
The Dog That Didn’t Bark
The Impossible and the Improbable
Keeping an Uncluttered Brain
Proves or Disproves?
A Look in the Mirror
The First Handshake
The Obvious Facts
Knowledge Is My Business
Elementary, My Dear Watson
Appendix: Active Sherlock Holmes Societies in North America
Index