Sherlock Holmes: Trifles

"quarter day is at hand" [WIST] 

There are at least two instances in the Sherlock Holmes stories when we come across a mention of quarter day. Just what is quarter day, and what is the significance…

"To Sherlock Holmes, she is always the woman" [SCAN]

It is the first story in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and it is also the first of what we might call the stories of legend: those Canonical…

"you could not celebrate him without being known yourself" [HOUN] 

With mid-March upon us, we thought it was high time to investigate some of the Irish connections in the Sherlock Holmes stories. F…

"He was clad in his dressing gown" [CREE]

You'll find Sherlock Holmes lounging in his dressing gown in no fewer than 14 of the original stories. And yet, its color changed from story to story. Sher…

"embrace the true faith" [STUD] 

We see glimpses of religion in a number of stories, from plot devices to red herrings, saintly inferences to clever disguises. What role did religion play in the Sher…

"it is a very sweet little problem" [BERY] 

  One of the more comical openings to a story occurred in "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet," in which the banker Alexander Holder raced his way through …

"what's amiss with the names?" [VALL] 

One of the most puzzling passages in the Sherlock Holmes stories is when Mrs. Watson referred to her husband, the good Doctor, as "James." However, we know th…

"a puzzled quarter of an hour" [MISS]

The Sherlock Holmes stories are filled with hints of dates, places and people that cause them to be intertwined with reality. It is therefore natural to think t…

Charles Augustus Milverton was considered by Sherlock Holmes to be "the worst man in London." Watson tried to shield the date of the case — not to protect Milverton, but to protect his victims.

And H…

Sir Eustace Brackenstall met with a grisly, if appropriate end in "The Abbey Grange." Ultimately, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson let his killer go free.

But was Captain Crocker solely responsible f…

Dr. Watson tells us that he and Sherlock Holmes visited one London restaurant two times. And while the gustatory habits of the famed Baker Street duo are not entirely well-documented, we have a good …

The opening lines of A Study in Scarlet are rich with details about Dr. Watson's past. His medical degree, his army service, even his injury. He recalls how he came to London without knowing anyone i…

The new year usually brings resolutions and offers a new beginning. In our new podcast which begins in January 2017, we thought it was the ideal time to look at optimism in the Sherlock Holmes storie…