Sherlock Holmes 
 

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous creation, Sherlock Holmes, was thought to be a real detective for some time, so convincing were the stories written about him. Holmes was the perfect genius—brilliant, detached, courageous, supercilious, more than slightly eccentric. And he flouted authority with gusto and panache. 

Even when it was undeniable that Holmes was a fictional character, vast numbers of people carried on with their fascination just as they would for a film star or other personality. To this day, there are Sherlock Holmes societies in nearly every culture around the world. 

Using Internet Explorer's search feature, I looked up "Sherlock Holmes" and came up with a number of results, including the following: 

221B Baker Street Named, of course, after Holmes' address in London, this site offers text versions of most of the Holmes stories, old book illustrations, sound files from the Granada TV series, and a word-search tool where you can find occurrences of any word in the Holmes canon. 

Holmes' Place plays a haunting musical background as you read a number of Holmes stories online, plus you can connect to the Baker Street Chat Room. 

The Gloria Scott This unique site introduces us to Japanese Sherlockiana, including the history of Holmes in Japan, the translators of the canon, and the contemporary manga, or comic-book editions. 

Sheryl's Sherlock Page is also known as 221B Baker Street. It's a nicely designed page of links (including one to the Jeremy Brett Web site—there's a whole sub-cult devoted to the late Brett, who starred in the recent television series). And of course there are Holmesian photos and quotes. 

Sherlock Holmes Lives On Visit here for a healthy dose of "fanfic"—Holmes stories written by fans—"serious, humorous, or just plain weird." 

Oh, You Don't Know Sherlock Holmes Yet! A rather personal site, featuring cartoons, favorite quotes, and "You know you're a Sherlockian when...." (for example, "When talking to people, you don't make eye contact because you're too busy observing the mud splashes on their shoes.") 

The Valley of Fear This site by a Holmesiana collector contains a bibliography of Arthur Conan Doyle's works, with images of collectable Holmes books. There are also a number of useful links. 

You can find many more sites devoted to pastiches and "fanfic," many of which are as entertaining as the original stories. Check them out too! 

Until next week, happy sleuthing! 

By using the hyperlinks located here, you will be entering Internet sites outside of Microsoft's control. 

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