The Case of the Non-Canonical Addition to Canon Regarding Sherlock Holmes by Karl Bockemeier

A Comparison of Two Sherlock Holmes Movies of the Silent Era and How They Influenced Our Modern Perception of Sherlock Holmes

I was asked to supply this month’s blog post after it had been discovered that I have an extensive collection of physical media concerning the great detective. Of course, I have the usual suspects: the Basil Rathbone Collection, the Jeremy Brett Granada Series, the Ronald Howard Series, Benedict Cumberbatch’s modern version of Sherlock; but I also include Peter Cushing’s BBC series, what there is of it, and George C. Scott’s take on the detective in They Might Be Giants. I have documentaries and selections of rare early variations of Holmes. Any of these could show up as reviews in future blog posts, but today I will focus on two from the silent era, both identified as Sherlock Holmes.

The first dramatization of Sherlock Holmes came in the late 1890s. Doyle had attempted his own theatrical version of Holmes, but by the time interest in a play about Holmes was generated, Doyle himself became disinterested and let the project drop. Backers had heard that another gentleman, the American actor William Gillette, was also working on a play adaptation of Doyle’s work. In 1899, the play, Sherlock Holmes, starring William Gillette, opened in the West End of London. Although Gillette had been popular as an actor before, it was Holmes that gave him fame for the rest of his life. He became Holmes to generations before Basil Rathbone. It was fated that Gillette would have to play Holmes in the motion picture adaptation of the play. In 1916, Sherlock Holmes was released to the public by Essanay Film Manufacturing Company. Over the years, it became a victim of time and the evolution of talking pictures. It was lost to the public until the restoration and release of a French copy of the film in 2015. This is the version that is available on Blu-ray and DVD from Flicker Alley.

Before I discuss the canon of the film, let me briefly explain my fascination for the play. In my undergraduate years in the early 1980s, I had the privilege of being offered the role of Moriarty in our college production of the play. I wanted the role of Holmes, but my evil side won out. To say the least, my rivalry against the actor cast as Holmes was very real and believable. It was at this time that I first learned of that aspect of the play that modern audiences complain the most about. In Gillette’s play, Holmes falls in love. Sacrilege! The famous anecdote is that Gillette felt that theatre audiences needed a love story. He wrote to Doyle asking if he could marry off Holmes. Supposedly, Doyle wrote back something to the effect that he could marry him or murder him for all he cared. At that time, Doyle had thrown Holmes over Reichenbach with no thought of bringing him back, even in flashback form, as he does in The Hound of The Baskervilles. That was later, so to Doyle, Holmes was done.

To be honest, I am like most modernists and am suspicious of a lovelorn Sherlock Holmes. As an actor and sometime director, though, I see the potential in the script. I have my old working script, and the original script on the DVD copy of the Gillette movie. I noticed that some changes were evident between the scripts. The script I had was taken from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s revival in the 1970s. This newer version kept all the dialogue but added a few transition scenes to give more of a flavor of Victorian London. The biggest scene change comes at the end. In the original version, Holmes and Alice Faulkner (the stand in for Irene Adler) are saying goodbye after having outwitted Moriarty. Holmes admits his love for Miss Faulkner and she leans into him. The lights fade as they embrace. In the Shakespeare Company’s version, the same dialogue exists, but Alice reaches into her purse and presents Holmes with the iconic Meerschaum pipe. In both versions, the time is days before his journey to Reichenbach with Watson. A long-term affair is doomed to failure in either version. All is well.

Okay, if you are not familiar with the story, it is an adaptation of “A Scandal in Bohemia” and “The Final Problem.” In the play, Irene Adler is replaced by Alice Faulkner, the sister of an adventuress who has compromising letters from an heir to an unnamed country with direct ties to the royal family. The adventuress is killed but gives the evidence to Alice who is determined to use the letters to blackmail her sister’s former fiancé. Although the dialogue shows Alice as a typical nineteenth century ingenue, she is smart and industrious, much like Holmes himself. One scene in the movie that is not in the play is very telling. After Holmes discovers the hiding place of the letters by the usual fire trick, he gives them back to her to try and convince her to do the right thing and return them on her own. He knows that he would be guilty of theft. The letters are legally Alice’s property. Holmes knows such a devious trick would never hold up in court if Alice pressed the matter. Holmes is certain he can convince her to acquiesce if given the chance. Alice is seen in the movie hiding the letters in a gutter outside of her window, something that indicates her cleverness. She really is a match for Holmes.

This brings me to the second silent feature, another version of the same play. This one was produced in 1922 by Goldwyn Pictures to capitalize on their new matinee idol, John Barrymore. Barrymore had already taken Hollywood by storm with his electric performance of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1920. This time he was to take on the world’s most famous detective. I’m sure he tried to talk the producers into taking on both Holmes and Moriarty. The Moriarty in this production bears a striking resemblance to Barrymore’s interpretation of Mr. Hyde. He didn’t win the debate. The role was played by popular character actor, Gustav von Seyffertitz. The concession to losing the battle was the introduction of not one but two dramatic meetings between Holmes and Moriarty.

The cinematic qualities of the 1922 production are evident throughout. There is a dark, atmospheric environment. The use of shadows is quite effective. The one fault that shows up most prominently is in the casting of Barrymore as Holmes. He is about as far removed from Doyle and Gillette’s vision of Holmes as Robert Downey, Jr. is for modern audiences. Barrymore takes every opportunity to appear handsome and promote his profile. He is slow to move and shows little of the intellect that Gillette captured so well in his interpretation.

The Barrymore movie has an addition that some may or may not appreciate seeing, the introduction of Holmes and Watson as classmates at Cambridge. We first see Holmes lounging under a tree transcribing the famous list of faults and abilities described by Watson in A Study in Scarlet. He first meets Alice Faulkner as he uncharacteristically falls off a ladder and stumbles in front of Alice’s carriage on campus. They are immediately attracted to each other. Ah, Hollywood! Watson, interestingly played by Roland Young of Topper fame, talks Holmes into helping a fellow classmate who is being falsely accused of stealing a valuable gem from Alice’s father, the president of the college. Holmes finds the true perpetrator and traces him to Moriarty, leading to the first meeting between the two rivals.

We jump to Baker Street years later when Count von Stahlberg approaches Holmes with the task of finding and returning lost letters between Rose Faulkner, Alice’s sister, and the young prince, the classmate Holmes had previously helped, who is now sole heir to a royal throne after his two older brothers are killed in an accident. The jilted Rose Faulkner commits suicide and sends the letters to Alice. Now the play begins. The extended prologue is interesting, but it manages to cut into the play to the point of rushing through. There is very little character development. Holmes foils Moriarty and has him arrested. He falls firmly in love with Alice and even announces his engagement in front of Watson. At least Gillette had the propriety of only suggesting a long-term relationship outside of Watson’s purview.

So, how are any aspects of these films part of Doyle’s canon? In terms of literary aspects, the two films are not canon. In terms of their influence on our modern perception of Holmes, they are not only canon to us but also to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. After Doyle gave in to public pressure and resurrected the great detective, his persona was clearly shaped by the shadow of William Gillette. Gillette’s hawklike appearance and energetic heroics feed into later interpretations of Holmes. Rathbone is a brilliant combination of Doyle, Paget, and Gillette. Barrymore may not be a match, but the cinematic mystery in the Goldwyn production does highlight aspects that all future interpretations of Holmes’s material will draw upon.

To those unfamiliar with it, the play Sherlock Holmes is worth looking into. These two films may not be what we are used to, but they do give us a taste of what past generations knew as Sherlock Holmes. For those who may be interested, Orson Welles interpreted the play for his Mercury Theatre radio series as The Immortal Sherlock Holmes. It is a truncated version of the play with all the main scenes except the love story at the end. To get an idea of how Gillette may have sounded as Holmes, there is a five-minute segment of scenes from Sherlock Holmes starring William Gillette for the Lux Radio in the 1930s, weeks before his death. The voice is a little shaky, but the power is still there and can easily be imagined. Both can be found on Internet Archives. I hope you find these additions to Doyle as enjoyable as I always have and appreciate the canon that is not canon.

Mercy, Compassion, and Justice by Nellie Brown

As I entered this holiday season, I have been torn between frustration at other's lack of compassion and a desire to improve the circumstances of those less fortunate than myself. How does one reconcile the struggles of people facing hunger, poverty and lack of affordable health care with the indifference and persecution by those in power? 

While watching a Tolkien drama yesterday with my family, I posed a question: "Whose greed was more evil (i.e., caused more human death and suffering): Ebenezer Scrooge, Smaug, or a certain well known, unnamed billionaire?" Unfortunately, the general consensus was that the real life human was worse. It is almost as though we have reentered a harsh new Dickensian era, where we wish the ghosts of Christmas would visit our leaders and oligarchs.

I had duck for Thanksgiving yesterday, the smaller cousin of goose. I did not find a bonnie, bright, little blue egg in the disjecta membra as I prepped the bird for roasting. Fortunately, my life is replete with privilege, and I do not have to worry about a roof over my head, food on my table or being able to pay for any medical bills I might incur. Unlike Peterson, I am not in need of reward money for recovered stolen gemstones. (I am going to assume that Holmes shared the reward money with the good commissionaire, or just gave it to him outright.)

The vision of Sidney Paget's line drawing of Sherlock Holmes standing in front of his fireplace, holding the blue carbuncle high, with James Ryder kneeling abjectly before him begging forgiveness has been flitting across my mind recently. It has competed with media images of Chicago neighbors blowing whistles, trying to warn and protect their neighbors. What price does the law demand when it ignores mercy, compassion and justice? How do we negotiate following the rule of law when the law and its enforcers seem to be inhumanely cruel? And is there a way to punch a Nazi while still abiding by a personal philosophy of nonviolence? Some months ago I mentioned to a fellow veteran, an immigrant, that we are going to discover which of our neighbors would turn Anne Frank in to the authorities.

Are we retained by the police to supply their deficiencies? Shall we commute felonies in order to save a soul? It is the season of forgiveness, and if I have learned anything from the year 2020 it is to extend to others even more grace than I would wish for myself. And so, to the best of my ability, I will follow Sherlock Holmes’s example of justice over law.

Happy holidays.

Good Sherlock Hunting Scottish Edition by Kristen Mertz

Hello adventurers! I’m back with another tale of hunting Sherlock statues. 

This time around, I started by meeting up with the Sherlock Holmes Society of London in Portsmouth for the Ships, Shanties and the Shingle of Southsea fall excursion. And what an adventure it was! 

I flew into Heathrow on an overnight flight, arriving 10 AM London time. After going to the wrong coach station, another wrong coach station and then standing befuddled in the middle of a car park, I finally gave up trying to find the bus from the airport and just took the tube to another coach station. 

Side note: the tube at Heathrow is free to get to that station and I CANNOT believe I didn’t know this. 

Moving on, I eventually got on my bus to Working and made my train to Portsmouth with no further issues, except being quite exhausted and working on very little sleep.  Before I knew it I was in Portsmouth and walked (trudged perhaps?) to the Royal Maritime Hotel where the conference was being held. 

Once there I found a whole plethora of Sherlockians! I got to meet Holly Turner and Robin Knowles in person for the first time and let me tell you they are just as nice as they seem over Zoom. I also was privileged to say hello again to a few of the Japanese Sherlockians, Yumiko, Ritsuko and Tommoya; and, I was introduced to a bunch more London Society members and found Paul Thomas Miller (pictured below, looking as jaunty as ever). 

I honestly need to start writing everyone’s names down under their pictures. I would say I’m pretty horrible with remembering names but, to be fair, when you meet 30 new people in one weekend, it rather taxes the memory. I will remember your face and where I met you and what we talked about, but for some reason, your name will elude me if I don’t write it down IMMEDIATELY. I pre-apologize to anyone for our future encounters.

The first evening was a traditional fish and chips dinner. I sat with Paul, Marina Stajic and Ashley Mayo. I didn’t have any vinegar with for my chips, but Paul said it wasn’t very British to complain so I refrained. I think he was having one over on me because he said later I should have asked (I will remember this Paul!). The conversation was lovely, as to be expected at any Sherlockian event. Ashley told us about his work posting posted ALL the articles from the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, which is a very handy reference for all of us. I hope I got this all correct but here is the link that leads to the “Scrapbook” that contains all of the articles for you (https://sherlock-holmes.org.uk/the-canon-and-the-journal-a-scrapbook/). 

After dinner there was a toast with gunpowder proof rum (Royal Navy certified). Absolutely excellent toast and though the rum had a bit of a bite, I guess that should be expected since it has to be volatile enough to still be able to light gunpowder for cannons. Our entertainment for the evening was “The Portsmouth Shantymen” who sang some very lively sea shanties for us. We all got to sing along to some and sing some of our own afterwards as well. All in all, the evening was great fun. 

The next morning, I woke up at 7:30 AM despite my alarm not going off, thank goodness. Lucky for me I seem to be jet lag immune or perhaps that is just a hope. Regardless, I made it down to breakfast and had a full English breakfast. Although quite large, I have become very fond of them as I tend to skip lunch (and a full Scottish breakfast is almost the same but with tattie scones and haggis). Wonderful food and tea. When in England, drink like the locals! Plus I like tea and need the caffeine, so there’s that. Holly got me in the habit of carrying a bag of biscuits everywhere too, so I was never without a snack. Thank you Holly! 

After eating breakfast, we all headed out and walked to the Central Library at the Guildhall across town thru Victoria Park (just missing a downpour of rain). We got to see the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection Lancelyn Green Bequest, which is huge. I don’t even think all of it is at the library. I should have asked, but someone told me he had 2 houses full of Sherlockian related material. We separated into 4 groups to cover different areas of the collection, some of which held boxes and boxes of pictures, correspondence, newspaper articles, and well I can’t even say what else is in all those categorized boxes (see below). 

The collection of books was quite a sight to behold. I don’t think I have ever seen so many copies of The Sign of the Four in one place. All the letters and stories and books and Strands, oh my. You can see some examples of my perusals below. Of course, I grabbed some postcards to commemorate the visit. 

In the afternoon, we visited the Mary Rose at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, where we got to see the remains of the historic Mary Rose, the story of her sinking and the artifacts that were recovered from the raising. If you have never heard the story of the Mary Rose and how it sank at the Battle of Solent in 1545 and are a Tudor fan, I would recommend reading about it. It was Henry the VIII’s favorite ship and has quite the history. 

For Saturday evening, dinner was a more formal affair. I can’t remember what I had, but who is worried about food when there are Sherlockians to talk to. I remember it was good (except for the turnips because I think they had horseradish, I am not fond of horseradish). I was seated next to Robert Ellis and his wife. 

After dinner, Mia Lagergaard gave a presentation on the 75th Anniversary of the Sherlock Holmes Klubben of Denmark. It was a very nice presentation and the attendees of the anniversary all got named honorary members. Then Pankaj Chandak gave a very informative presentation on Joseph Lister, his work with antiseptics, as well as his connections to the University of Edinburgh, where Conan Doyle attended medical school. I sincerely appreciated hearing the history and medical facts and how very fitting that in just a couple days I would be headed to Edinburgh to see the university for myself. It made for the perfect end to a very enjoyable evening.

Sunday morning, after another English breakfast, we went for a walking tour around Portsmouth. Luckily the rain held off again. We walked to the Camber, where Doyle landed after arriving in Portsmouth. We also visited Bush House, where Doyle lived, had his practice and where the first Sherlock Holmes stories were written, which is now commemorated with a plaque as you can see me pointing out below. It is now a block of flats. Some person(s) lives right over the spot where Sherlock was invented; and, I’m not sure if they’re chuffed about it or not. I guess it depends on how nice they consider their flat to be. 

We also passed Ye Spotted Dogge (where the Duke of Buckingham was assassinated in 1628, now a B&B), a door that leads or led to the local Masons where Conan Doyle would have been a member and the spot where he had fisticuffs after he first arrived (another little story for you to look up!). 

Eventually we made our way around to the Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery, which contains a wonderful collection of Sherlockian artifacts, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s and his wife Jean’s tombstones, on loan from All Saints Church in Minstead, Hampshire, England. This was the last stop of our tour, so we visited the gift shop and had some tea before heading back to the hotel for Sunday roast. The weekend wrapped up with more conversation, a good hearty roast and goodbyes.

It was pouring down rain by the time I headed to the train station. I went to Eastbourne to catch up with my friend and then up to London so I could catch my train to Edinburgh early the next morning. It was quite the whirlwind travel day and unfortunately the weather was about the same. Wind, rain and football fans aplenty from a Portsmouth / Hampton game made it a challenge. I nearly got on the wrong train to Eastbourne, OK I did, but I was able to get off at the next stop and catch the correct one (disaster averted). Well, it was an adventure but I finally hit the hay around midnight. 

The next morning I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed to get to Kings Cross and catch my train to Waverly Station in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was a very lovely and relaxing ride, with a lot of beautiful scenery along the way. I had booked the Parliament Hotel, by a lucky accident, it is at the bottom of Calton Hill and a mere 400m walk to the Sherlock Statue. Of course, I couldn’t wait to see the statue despite the rain. 

As soon as I arrived, I headed directly to the hotel, checked in, dropped off my bags and headed straight back out in the rain. It was a light rain, not worth an umbrella and definitely nothing that would stop me from seeing Sherlock. 

I do want it noted that if you ever go to Edinburgh, Google maps will lie to you. It will say on all your walks “mostly flat, stairs”. This is a most egregious fabrication. Mostly flat will have you at the bottom of a hill that you will eventually have to hike back up, probably a very steep hill and likely in a close, but the locals will tell you it is a SLOPE not a hill, which I guess is fair since they call mountains “hills” in Scotland. Having said that, the stairs and hills were on the way down to Sherlock in all his glory, standing in the rain in his Inverness cape and deerstalker and because it was the afternoon and rainy, he was all mine. Many photos were taken, standing in the rain alone with the great detective before I gave into my hunger.  

You see, I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast on the train, which was yogurt from a coffee shop and some biscuits (thank you, Holly!). Also, yes, I admit it I was saving my appetite for just this. I crossed the street to the Conan Doyle pub. There I had a pint of Innis & Gunn’s and a lovely, award winning steak and ale pie. This is pretty much as good as it gets. A nice hearty meal, sitting and looking at one of the best sites I could ask for, in a very cozy pub on a lovely rainy day in Edinburgh. 

One more Sherlock Holmes statue in the books. Sitting in that window seat, I couldn’t help thinking that I will likely never see the statue in Russia unless some miracle happens in my lifetime…so where to now? Well, Steve Mason has told me there is a statue in Oklahoma. I will definitely be headed there sometime in the next year, but what then? I suppose I will have to find something besides statues to collect on my adventures. Until Oklahoma, dear readers and then we will see where my Sherlock hunting takes me after that.

India in the World of Sherlock Holmes: Tracing Colonial Echoes in Conan Doyle’s Fiction by Srinivasan Raghavan

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, written between 1887 and 1927, are famed for their puzzles, eccentric detective, and foggy London settings. But behind the gas lamps and cobbled streets is the looming shadow of the British Empire—especially India, the crown jewel of Victorian colonial ambition. A deeper reading of the Holmes canon reveals that India is not a mere backdrop, but a rich source of mystery, trauma, and imperial tension.

This post explores the key Indian references in the Sherlock Holmes stories, the historical realities they reflect, and what they reveal about how Victorian England saw its empire.

I. India in The Sign of Four (1890)

Among all Holmes stories, The Sign of Four stands out as the most deeply embedded in Indian history and colonial themes.

Key Indian References:

• The Indian Rebellion of 1857: The plot revolves around a treasure looted during the rebellion. British officers Major Sholto and Captain Morstan betray Indian convicts and flee with the Agra Treasure.

• Characters: Jonathan Small, a former British soldier-turned-prisoner, Tonga, a tribal man from the Andaman Islands, who come to England to exact retribution and claim the treasure.

Though intended as exotic, these portrayal reflects colonial stereotypes.

• Themes: Treachery, imperial plunder, racial anxiety, and the blurred line between empire and criminality.

More about Agra

Who has not heard about one of the Wonders of the World , the Taj Mahal, the hauntingly beautiful mausoleum built by the Mogul emperor in honor of his wife Mumtaz who died in childbirth.

There is of course the Agra Fort which was the nearest big British military post to Delhi, the headquarters of the Mogul kingdom, which was in the waning period of its rule.

Historical Context: The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857

Known in British texts as the “Mutiny,” but often called India’s First War of Independence, the 1857 rebellion began with Indian soldiers (sepoys) revolting over the use of animal fat in cartridges. But the anger ran deeper triggered by political overreach, economic exploitation, and cultural insensitivity. Key figures like Rani Lakshmibai, Begum Hazrat Mahal, and Nana Sahib led uprisings against British forces. Though the rebellion was eventually crushed, it led to the dissolution of the East India Company, and Britain took direct control of India in 1858.

While the Canon mentions atrocities perpetrated by the Sepoys there is no mention of the same perpetrated by the British which included tying suspected rebels to cannons and blowing them to smithereens.

II. “The Speckled Band” and the Mythical Swamp Adder

In "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" (1892), India is once again the source of a deadly mystery.

The Plot:

Dr. Grimesby Roylott, a violent former colonial doctor, uses a swamp adder, the deadliest snake in India” to murder his stepdaughter in a locked room.

The Truth About the Snake:

The swamp adder is fictional. Several deadly species may have inspired Conan Doyle (Russell’s Viper, Common Krait, Indian Cobra), but none can be trained as depicted. The snake serves as orientalist horror, using exotic animals as symbols of imperial fear and fascination.

The assertion by Holmes that the venom of this snake can kill in a few seconds is clearly incorrect. It can take many minutes to hours depending on the size of the victim and the amount of venom injected.

None of these snakes can be tamed to where they will slither up and down a rope on command! Likewise, milk supposedly provided to the snake by Dr Roylott is not part of a snake’s diet. A juicy mouse is always preferred.

III. Watson and the Afghan Wars

Dr. John H. Watson’s backstory begins with war. In A Study in Scarlet, we learn he was wounded while serving as an army surgeon in Afghanistan.

Historical Background: The Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880)

As part of the “Great Game” between Britain and Russia. Britain sought to install a friendly Afghan ruler to block Russian influence.

After Dr Watson joined the Northumberland Fusiliers, and after basic training he was sent off to India where the British were in a state of war with Afghanistan.

His ship docked at the port of Bombay, now renamed Mumbai, also called the Gateway of India.

One can only imagine his excitement and trepidation as the train chugged out of the station bound on its journey up the coast of western India thence to New Delhi (most likely) and across the fertile plains of Punjab (now partly in Pakistan and India), and finally to the rugged terrain of the Pak-Afghanistan border, to the garrison town of Peshawar ,the last major outpost in British India.

His travels then took him to Kandahar, in Afghanistan, the next staging area, and onwards to the battle of Maiwand. The British-Indian army was defeated by the Afghan forces in that battle and had to beat a hasty retreat to Peshawar.

During this battle he sustained an injury by a “Jezail bullet."  The Jezail is a gun with a long barrel, up to 5-6 feet in length, and the effective range of this gun was 300-400 yards, whereas the range of British guns were limited to about 200 yards! These guns were essentially assembled by the Afghans, in their own homes and villages.

The Afghans hid amid the crevices and gullies of the hilly terrain and picked off the officers and NCOs one by one, and once their enemy was whittled down, they would then attack in force.

Poor Dr Watson recovered from the Injury to be laid low by “Enteric fever," also called Typhoid fever. in those pre-antibiotic days, the mortality and morbidity were quite high up to 35%.

Present Day Afghanistan and Pakistan

The picture below shows the Durand line drawn by the British, to delineate Afghanistan and Pakistan but as noted in the rust-colored shaded area, the Pashtun area straddles the line, and to this day this line is not accepted by the Afghans in its entirety! The Pashtuns are in the majority in Afghanistan and most of the Taliban then and now, came from this group.

They were originally displaced by the Soviet invasion, to Pakistan, and as kids many of them attended local seminaries or Madrasas where they had some religious education. They were imbued with the fervor to teach the Soviets a lesson and became willing fighters and were able to cross this poorly guarded line to engage the Soviet Army, with help from outside forces.

Once the American forces occupied Afghanistan, the same process repeated itself and now these new forces were on the receiving end of this cycle of violence. 

There was no external force that was able to ever subdue and rule over the Afghans for any length of time, and so history repeated itself, time and again.

IV. “The Crooked Man” and the Cawnpore Massacre

This story, in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, returns explicitly to the 1857 rebellion, focusing on betrayal during the Siege of Cawnpore. This city on the Indo-Gangetic plain had a large British Cantonment, about 300 kms from Agra.

It was from this city that the British Brigadier Edward Greathead liberated Agra Fort. The interesting part here is that the British Indian army had mainly British officers, but the enlisted men were drawn from the local population.

V. Other Exotic Elements from India

India, in the Holmes stories also serve as a source of strange animals and eerie customs: monkey glands in “The Creeping Man,” hints of Eastern superstition in “The Sussex Vampire,” and the cheetah and baboon in "The Speckled Band."

Final Reflections: Why India Matters in Sherlock Holmes

India in Conan Doyle’s fiction functions as a narrative source of crime, a psychological trigger for trauma, and a cultural symbol of imperial anxiety and angst. These stories reveal the emotional and political entanglements of British colonialism, illustrating how the echoes of empire permeate even the most quintessentially British detective tales.

What’s your take on India’s presence in the Holmes stories? Have you noticed other colonial echoes in classic British fiction? That could be a topic for another day!

Announcing Holmes in the Heartland 2026

Mark your calendars!  Holmes in the Heartland will be back in St. Louis, Missouri on July 24-26, 2026!

This weekend-long event is a great chance to visit with other Sherlockians, enjoy fantastic speakers, shop a roomful of vendors, and experience some of the great things that St. Louis has to offer.  Registration for Holmes in the Heartland will open soon but we wanted everyone to get a taste of what’s coming next summer:

Friday night will kick the event off with a welcome reception in the evening, ending in time for everyone to venture out and enjoy dinner with friends old and new.

Saturday is a day full of events that include a full lineup of presentations under the theme of “Sherlock Haunts,” lunch, vendors, and a dinner banquet with toasts and a special presentation.

Sunday gets participants out and about in St. Louis with a trip to the Missouri History Museum in historic and beautiful Forest Park and lunch with friends.

More details will come soon about all of these great events, but we wanted to start off telling everyone about our event space and hotel for the weekend, The Cheshire Inn.

Our hotel is the charming Cheshire Inn and its British aesthetic will make every Sherlockian feel like they’ve hopped across the pond for the weekend!  King or Double Queen rooms can be reserved with the Holmes in the Heartland discount through this link: https://reservations.travelclick.com/98391?groupID=4787994

If you really want that British feel, The Cheshire Inn also offers themed suites!  You can choose from Peter Rabbit, Lord Byron, Gulliver’s Travels, James Bond, Romeo and Juliet, Treasure Island, Death on the Nile, or Brideshead Revisited (viewable at www.cheshirestl.com/).  To book one of these suites please contact the hotel directly to request a quote at 314-932-7858.

We recommend booking your room early as this is a boutique hotel and we don’t want anyone to miss out!

We are very excited about this new venue.  In fact, when one of the committee members toured it earlier this year, they said, "I didn't know I could fall in love again this late in life."  Here are a few pictures to give you a taste of where Holmes in the Heartland will take place:

Fox and Hounds pub is a re-creation of a gathering room in an English home

Hotel lobby

Event space dining room

Courtyard

Pool

And this is just the hotel and event space!  Just wait until you see our lineup of speakers.  But that's a post for another day...

A Night of Magic by Heather Hinson

“Spiritualism is the most important fact in life, and we much make this world accept it in the interest of both worlds!” - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Alton Illinois has a rich and unusual history. Well known for its limestone bluffs and being an important town for the abolitionists during the Civil War. It was the site for the seventh Lincoln-Douglas debate and housed the first penitentiary in Illinois which during the Civil War held 12,000 confederate Prisoners of War, many of whom died during the smallpox epidemic of 1863.

All of this is to say that Alton is haunted.  So, it makes Alton the perfect place to host an event titled, “The Ghosts of Arthur Conan Doyle.”

The event was located at the American Oddities Museum which is located inside the historic (and haunted) Mineral Springs Hotel. The event’s host was Master Magician and Mind Reader, Carlos David who amazed and spellbound his audience with history and magic.

While Arthur Conan Doyle was discussed, it wasn’t for his brilliant consulting detective, who, had he never explained his deductions, might have been mistaken for a spiritualist himself. Instead, it was the later part of Conan Doyle’s life when he was deep into his beliefs of spiritualism and his parting of the ways with Magician Harry Houdini.

Each of David’s points were accented with a magic trick. Turning on a light bulb inside a plastic bag and not attached to any electrical device. Calling out the correct cards of five different people without looking. Calling someone’s number whom he didn’t know because of a dream he had the night before.  Having five people pick a key from a bowl and then know which person had the correct key to a lock around a wine stem.

I am of the generation who saw David Copperfield at his height of popularity. Illusionists and magicians have a bit of whimsy for me. And watching Carlos David that night brought me back to those evenings watching Copperfield fly across a stage.

He spoke of how both Houdini and Conan Doyle were motivated by the need to speak to loved ones who had passed on. For Houdini, it was his mother. For Conan Doyle, it was his father and his son Kingsley. How this need of both men sent them decidedly different paths.

The most dangerous trick of the night was bringing a woman up front who had lost someone and “sending her a message” from her deceased husband. Watching David perform this, and he was very clear that this was a magic trick, brought home like no other trick how dangerous this could be. Especially for people who want to believe and the magicians out there who prey on vulnerable people.

Even in the early 20th century, when Houdini was at his height, according to David, Conan Doyle and others believed that magicians were just trained in the art of illusions, but instead they were true spiritualists, being guided by the other side and merely refused to tell anyone the truth.

David’s final trick was sweet if not a little sad. David spoke of when Conan Doyle was on his deathbed, his final words to his wife were “You are wonderful”.  As David spoke he flipped around two old-fashioned chalkboards used in schools to show they were empty. He then placed a stick of chalk between the two and placed a bell on top of them. Bells, he said, had meaning to the spirits and the spirit realm and were used a great deal. After the ringing of the bell, he lifted both boards and the words “You are” were written on one board and the world “wonderful” was written on the second. It is magic at its simplest. And a show that I’m sure Arthur Conan Doyle, if he were alive today, would have insisted the spirits were in fine form for that evening.

I Spy Sherlock Everywhere by Kristen Mertz

After going to 221bcon and the Midwest BSI Canonical Conclave is April, I thought I would have a ton of material in my brain to do a blog post. Of course, that didn’t work out for me at all. I wracked my brain for things and then it kind of occurred to me that there is SO MUCH Sherlock everywhere right now! 

First, the Sherlock & Co podcast that has become quite the rage among Sherlockians and has created a fandom all its own as well. I have recommended it to several people outside the Sherlock world who have told me they loved it. This year at 221bcon, there was a panel for where we all got to meet the creators via Zoom and ask questions. It was really cool to get to hear them answer questions from everyone; AND, we got big news. I guess this isn’t a spoiler by now. They announced a spin-off podcast about Raffles! I’m really looking forward to hearing those adventures as well. Sherlock and Daughter on CW premiered as well. I haven’t had a chance to see this one, but I’ve heard promising things from other Sherlockians. 

There so many shows, podcasts, comics, music with Sherlock references. Heck there are so many books with just lists of this stuff, but I’m thinking now about all the little things we might just miss, unless we weren’t as keyed in to hearing Sherlock’s name.  There are so many references to that use Sherlock phrases are just everyday vernacular. We all know, and some hate, the phrase “no sh*t Sherlock”. And of course, we hear phrases like “elementary my dear Watson” despite how non-canonical it is. The name Sherlock has come to mean anyone that is extremely smart, and that uses logic and deduction to solve problems. Sherlock is even, in fact, in the Oxford English Dictionary as both a noun and a verb *https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=Sherlock.

Then there are all Sherlock references that I see randomly everywhere, even when I least expect it. Walking back to the train station in Tokyo after the Sherlockian dinner, I just happened to find the 40th Anniversary edition of the Railway Detective, with a very nice likeness of our venerated Holmes.

The video games, the comics, the podcasts, endlessly putting in cute little nods to our favorite detective or someone that played him or a favorite line from Watson. Like in Dr. Strange when Benedict Cumberbatch flips up the collar of his cloak, *wink* we Sherlock fans know what you did and yes, Benedict, you do look cool. I watched The Residence recently and I loved that they named all the episodes for detective stories. Including titled “The Adventures of the Engineer’s Thumb”, which (NO SPOILERS), is actually about an engineer. There was no hydraulic press, rather a pressure issue that he solved and no murder attempt on his life in which he lost a thumb, but I loved the reference all the same.  

And then, while watching a Japanese show about a team of forensics pathologists who solves murders, I saw a more twisty reference that ended up tying the entire episode together. A young student had been murdered at his school and a classmate challenged one of the pathologists, Mikoto, to determine his cause of death through only video while and the clues he would give her, while live-streaming the entire interaction. She is under pressure to solve the mystery because he has threatened to kill another student once his stream reaches 100,000 viewers. Whew, what a challenge! The final clue is a reading from a novel (pictured below) where he obscured the character’s names by using only their initials. Just as Mikoto and team were gathering what seems to be the most confusing evidence ever and she attempts to put things together, the name of the story the live streamer is reading is revealed to be “Thor Bridge”. Mikoto immediately goes to the library, as one does, gets a copy of Sherlock Holmes and reads “The Problem of Thor Bridge” and with that figures out how the events unfolded. Yes, dear readers, it was indeed a suicide cleverly hidden by a block pulling the murder weapon into a hiding place to seem as though his death was caused by a student who had been relentlessly bullying him. No river, no bridge, no affair, but a very updated version of the same sad tale.

I submit, dear readers, that based upon the evidence presented if you are looking for more Sherlock or just some mysteries to solve in Sherlockian style, dig around. You might be surprised by what you find. So, I invite you to play I Spy Sherlock edition and post all the Sherlock references you have found today in the comments.

PS. I will be back in the fall to share more statue hunting adventures!