"You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive."  

With this curious almost offhand remark, Sherlock Holmes introduces himself to Dr. John H. Watson in A Study in Scarlet, the first novel by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887. And so began the career of the eccentric and egotistical detective, who would become perhaps the best-known character in all of literature.

Although surely not the model for Dr. Watson, Doyle himself was a medical doctor. And Sherlock, who was originally named, Sherringford Holmes (thank goodness Doyle gave up on that idea), was based on his old teacher, Dr. Joseph Bell; who apparently possessed amazing deductive abilities.

In an 1890s article in The Bookman, Dr. Bell extols the virtues of the deductive method, so aptly learned by Doyle and resultantly portrayed in Holmes. But Doyle, it seems, took a somewhat different tack. While Holmes was often at pains to explain his methods to, the often rather dull, Dr. Watson, Doyle portrays Holmes’ amazing abilities to be at least as much hereditary as learned—as witnessed in Sherlock’s older and more perceptive brother, Mycroft, whom we first meet in The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter and see in three other adventures.

Times do change though, and astute modern-day readers of the adventures will wonder if a Sherlock Holmes could succeed outside of the ordered world of Victorian England—in the relative chaos that marks the early twenty first century. Would it really matter today that he could identify 114 varieties of tobacco ash? Some have certainly speculated on the subject and a 1987 made-for-TV movie, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, staring Margaret Colin, is perhaps best representative of the effort. But that really isn’t the point. The Sherlock Holmes adventures are a trip back in time and need to be regarded as such. There is no modern-day equivalent. Holmes is Holmes. There will never be another.

And speaking of a trip back in time; many things that would have been considered scandalous in that age would hardly be noticed today. And (caution to readers) some things that didn’t raise an eyebrow then are considered appalling today: condescension toward women and racism are two examples. Astute readers may gain a small insight into the mindset that was apparently widespread enough in Europe to allow the atrocities that occurred in the 1930s and 40s.

All objections aside though, Sherlock Holmes remains one of the most beloved and most portrayed characters in all of fiction. And you can get the adventures here for free.

Getting the Adventures

All you need to do is sign-up for the adventures. Why would you want to do that when you can find and read them on the web? Because I have reduced all of the adventures and novels to PDF files that you can download and either read on-line or print out in an already paper friendly format. As far as I know, I am the only one doing this and these are the best on the web.

Why do I want you to sign up? Simple, I want to get you on my mailing list. Every month you’ll receive an e-mail from me with a link to the place where you can download the adventure-of-the-month. You will also be presented a portal where you can purchase my books and maybe the books of some of my author friends. However, you are under no obligation to purchase anything. You can just download the Sherlock Holmes adventure every month for the next five years and we’ll all be happy.

Also, I make you this promise: I will respect your privacy. I will NEVER rent, sell, give away, or in any other way share your personal information. It will only be used in the way stated above. I may occasionally send you more than one e-mail per month, if something special pops up, but I will not spam you. Believe me, I hate it as much as you do.

So that’s the deal. If you’re interested, click here to go to my home page and sign-up. As an added bonus I’ll send you “Sherlockian Quotes,” My collection of some of Holmes’ most famous sayings.

Oh, and one last thing, tell your friends! Thanks.

Andy

Contents copyright © 2008-2010 by Andrew E. Van Loenen III