Sherlock Holmes for Dummies

by Steven Doyle, David A. Crowder

Get a comprehensive guide to this important literary figure and his author.

A classic literary character, Sherlock Holmes has fascinated readers for decades -- from his repartee with Dr. Watson and his unparalleled powers of deduction to the settings, themes, and villains of the stories. Now, this friendly guide offers a clear introduction to this beloved figure and his author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, presenting new insight into the detective stories and crime scene analysis that have has made Sherlock Holmes famous. Inside you'll find easy-to-understand yet thorough information on the characters, recurring themes, and locations, and social context of the Sherlock Holmes stories, the relationship of these stories to literature, and the forensics and detective work they feature. You'll also learn about the life of the author. It's elementary! Sherlock Holmes For Dummies is an indispensable guide for students and fans alike!

Genres: Nonfiction, Mystery, Reference, Crime

360 pages, Paperback

First published November 23, 2009

Reviews

[Laura L. Van Dam]

Obra de referencia muy completa, aunque orientada a principiantes. No hay casi nada que un viejo fan del detective no conozca ya. Aunque me parece muy bueno cómo está organizado por temas. Pocas fotos.

[Kim]

Quite the handy reference on all things Sherlock Holmes, covering all that inspired the character, an interesting analysis of the stories about him, and a host of other subjects. Really, about the only thing I could wish for is an updated version, since this was published back in 2010. So much more has been written and developed about Holmes in the last 15 years, and much of it would fit nicely into this book in some form or another.

[Shane Neri]

ANDERSON, this is for you.
-SH

[Sarah]

This solid reference work delves deeply into the canon and culture of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s immortal sleuth, Sherlock Holmes. From prefatory matters like Conan Doyle’s life and inspiration for creating his detective to the postscripts of the myriad Sherlockian societies and adaptations in all media, this book covers it all, albeit briefly. Then again, there would hardly be room for Victorian London and all of Holmes’ literary offspring if each of the short stories received the level of attention paid to The Hound of the Baskervilles. The authors are clearly serious fans, given the level of research and adulation, but they leaven the facts with humor.

[Portia Costa]

A wonderful guide to the world and the cases of Sherlock Holmes. Being a Dummies book, the information is presented in a lighter, easy to follow, slightly humorous way, but still the main author, Steven Doyle, shines through as meticulous Holmes scholar whose enthusiasm and love for the Great Detective makes for a super read.

Reading this has made me eager to read more of the original Sherlock Holmes stories, to discover how different they are from some of the cinematic interpretations.

[Ernest John]

Very thorough. Great read and very informative.

[Casey]

Picked this up for just a few of the sections as an easy/quick reference. However, while going through one of the sections (about "unsolved mysteries" within the canon), I found this:

Doyle seemed to forget that in A Study in Scarlet, Watson told Holmes that he had a dog. When they first meet, the two tell each other a bit about themselves to see if they’ll be good potential roommates. In addition to specifying various annoying habits, Watson says, “I keep a bull pup.” However, on moving-in day, the dog is gone, never to be seen. Ever. He’s not mentioned again in any story, not even by the most tenuously stretched reference.

The dog literally dies in the same book. The dog is on death's door and Holmes drugs the dog with poison found at the crime scene to show Watson and Lestrade what happened. I mean, the dog dies a pretty awful death. It's one of the few times in canon that Holmes outright did something horrid. Maybe for the author of this book it wasn't a big deal and thus didn't recall it. But, if the point of your book is to critique a piece of literature, perhaps diligence is best?

There's also some casual acephobia happening in regards to Holmes and Irene Adler, so there's that.

[Amy]

Decent book. Much better if you are reading it for a few sections rather than cover to cover like I did.

Each section is made to stand alone, so a lot of stuff is repeated.

It has some good information on the books, but I have yet to read all of them, so be careful if you don't want to be spoiled.

I liked the sections where it talked about the adaptations of different books/movies/series about Holmes, though this was written just before the Robert Downey Jr. movies and BBC's Sherlock started. Would have thought they would have delayed going to print a little so that those could be included. Maybe there will be an updated Dummies book soon?

So, it is a good resource for the casual fan. If you are a huge fan of the Doyle books, you will really like this - unless you know everything already ;)

[Emily]

So far so good, all of the chapters were very detailed and in depth. Going to finish it and see how the book is as a whole.

UPDATED

Just finished speed reading through the last few chapters and I have to say I'm impressed with the amount of information there is in just over 300 pages. It must have took ages to collaborate all the different information from different places. I especially liked chapter on the villains and other characters, the chapter on Sherlock Holmes's detective skills and strategies and the chapter on the top 10 Sherlock Holmes related places to visit! Definitely a 5 for this book!

[NJ Wong]

Excellent book about the Sherlock Holmes stories. Unlike other "For Dummies" books that I have read, I feel that the contents in this book is actually more useful for a reader who has already read the Sherlock Holmes stories, than one who has not. As the book provides a lot of analysis and backgrounder info about the stories and characters in general (i.e. trivia).

I will heartily recommend this book to anyone who is already a fan of the stories, and wants to know more about the character. This book will not be helpful to someone who is not already a Holmes fan.

[Richard]

More than you could ever imagine you would want to know about the Great Detective. Every time I thought I would quit reading this, something else would jump out at me that I had to find out about. Many explanations of all that Victorian stuff, the characters and everything else in the stories.

Excellent table of contents, index and list of Sherlock Holmes societies in North America, including two where I live.

[Ian]

Very informative. I do have a couple of nitpicks though. First of all, there are too. Many. Exclamation. Points. To quote Mr. Lippman from Seinfeld, "Get rid of the exclamation points. I hate exclamation points." Also, and I can't fault the book for this obviously, but it came out before the wonderful BBC series Sherlock, which I would've loved to have read more about. Besides those issues, not bad for the first ...for Dummies book I've ever read.

[Alice Doherty]

An all-together very interesting read for Holmesians and people who simply wish to understand the canon better. It's really informative, especially with historical references and breakdowns of each story. I will certainly use this book for further reference as I read more of Arthur Conan Doyle's works.

[Rozonda]

Excellent book. I have been a Sherlockian for nearly all of my life,. have read all of the Canon and lots of pastiches, parodies, and essays on the Great DEtective. And yet, I have learned a lot from this book and enjoyed it thoroughly. Reccomended.

[Grace Best-Page]

I bought this as a gift for someone, but perused it before wrapping it. I'm glad I did, as I had thought I knew all there was to know about my hero and his life and times, but was pleasantly surprised to learn even more about what surrounds him.

[Joanna]

One of the better resources actually. Full of information.

[Amy]

This is a great book for any Sherlock Holmes fan, old or new.

[Apokripos]

I'm such a dummy! 8`P

[Alison]

I found this book helpful in giving me background knowledge for Laurie R. King's mary Russel series.

[Romina Lambrecht]

Sherlock Holmes for dummies is an interesting and amusing book, for the fans.
You will discover a lot about the famous detective himself, and the other persona's out of the Sherlock Holmes world.

[Janet]

Filled with trivia. A good read.

[Amy J]

Full of fantastic information, I loved this book. I gathered a plethora of information for further investigations.

[Bikerider99]

Recommend for readers of his adventures.

[Melody]

I enjoyed the history of this book.

[Sue]

Can't think of a thing I would add here; guess I have to read up on Sherlock Holmes--seems like I've missed a lot of them . . . and forgot the rest . . .