WATSON’S WAR WOUND
THERE’S A LOT OF scholarship, some of it contradictory, regarding the war wound of Dr. John H. Watson, chronicler of the world’s greatest consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes. Exactly where was … Continue reading
ON HOLMESIAN HOLIDAYS
HOW DID THE world’s greatest consulting detective celebrate the holidays? I’ve cited Canonical evidence for his Victorian Christmas. But what about New Year’s? Given that his birthday was coming on … Continue reading
HOLMES AND A TRAIN BLUFF
SHERLOCK HOLMES may have bluffed his chronicler Dr. John H. Watson during a train trip in their “Silver Blaze” adventure. I’m particularly fond of this tale and its implications because … Continue reading
HOLMES PEDALS HIMSELF INTO A CORNER
HOW DID HOLMES deduce a cyclist’s direction of travel? This continues yesterday’s discussion here, ”Pedaling It All Over (Victorian) Town. ” In “The Adventure of the Priory School,” Holmes says … Continue reading
PEDALING IT ALL OVER (VICTORIAN) TOWN
SHERLOCK HOLMES CLAIMED he could identify the direction of Victorian bicycle travel merely by examining its tire er… for him, tyre tracks. What’s more, as recently as December 2014, this … Continue reading
JUST GIVE HOLMES A HAND
WE CAN THANK the world’s first consulting detective for conceiving manual forensics, identifying criminals (and the rest of us) by examining the person’s hands. In The Sign of Four, one … Continue reading
SEDIMENTARY, MY DEAR WATSON
FULL DISCLOSURE: I’m recycling this wonderfully non-Canonical title from a David Bressan blog in Scientific American. It’s too good to resist for my reflections on Sherlock Holmes and his geologic … Continue reading
AN ENTHUSIAST’S FATHER BROWN
BEING ENTHUSED about classic cars, vintage aircraft and English mystery stories, I recommend the BBC TV adventures of Father Brown. In a recent PBS presentation, this parish priest/amateur sleuth found … Continue reading
FAIRIES IN THE GARDEN
THERE’S NOTHING particularly new about recent reports of a likely faked Everest photograph or another showing a mysterious hand in an image from 1900. Back in 1920, Sir Arthur Conan … Continue reading
SCOTLAND YARD’S FLYING SQUAD
I WAS ENJOYING one of the Paul Temple radio mysteries when Scotland Yard Chief Commissioner Sir Graham Forbes said to Paul, “We’ve got the Flying Squad on it.” Scotland Yard … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 