The Professional Detective; Sherlock Holmes

One of my favorite visits on the journey across England after the Scotland Tour was our visit to Sherlock Holmes house, 221b Baker Street London. Despite many of the problems with Arthur Conan Doyle and even his hero in the stories, The Sherlock Holmes mysteries have been one of the most captivating series of books I have read. I had not been the mystery-adventure-loving-type until I first read Doyle's A Study In Scarlet. This was the first "Holmes" adventure I had read and it sent thrills up my back to see the magnificent way Doyle had interwoven the past and present of the main character's life into Holmes and Watson's adventures.

Sherlock Holmes was a famous fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He first appeared in publication in 1887, the creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (another Scot). An ingenious detective living with his friend Dr. Watson at 221b baker street London, Holmes is probably best known for his method of detection, deductive reasoning and abductive reasoning plus an amazing sense of observation, giving him the ability to solve the most difficult cases.The original Holmes stories cover the period of 1878 through 1903, with a final case in 1914.

As one person notes on the character of Holmes,

Holmes is always fearless. He dispassionately surveys horrific, brutal crime scenes; and does not allow superstition (as in The Hound of the Baskervilles) or grotesque situations to make him afraid. He intrepidly confronts violent murderers, and is generally unfazed by threats from his criminal enemies, and indeed Holmes himself remarks that it is the danger of his profession that has attracted him to it. The only thing that truly bothers Holmes is boredom.

When we went in to the home of the Detective and the Doctor it was like stepping into a time capsule. The house was every thing I had ever imagined it could be. The rooms and furnishings, unlike the houses portrayed in all the old (and new) films, was perfect to every detail in the original books, down to the inch. One of the things that you see immediately on coming in to home is the giant "V. R." which stands for "Victoria Regina" (the Queen of England) shot into the wall with his revolver. It was funny to think of a time when that is the sort of thing men would do for target practice. The main room is gloriously manly! With their revolver on the desk and all sorts of equipment in the room it was like stepping into a world of the past.

One of the things that I appreciate about the character created in Holmes is the fact that he has trained himself to take dominion of the mind that God has given him and even with all his faults he understands how to use what he has to the fullest extent.