Sherlock Holmes Weekend – October 14-16, 2024

History of Sherlock Holmes Weekend

When Scottish writer, Arthur Conan Doyle, began writing detective fiction, the world was largely unused to crime capers. There were prolific writers — Edgar Allan Poe, Émile Gaboriau, among others — whose detective novels were enormously popular before Sherlock, but this popularity was only nascent at the time.

And so, Doyle began creating his detective novels, featuring a lone character solving crime with science and a magnifying glass — the very first writer (and character) to do so, ever. The inspiration behind the character, Sherlock Holmes, is often thought to be Doyle’s old teacher at the medical school of Edinburgh University, Dr. Joseph Bell. Dr. Bell would diagnose patients much like Holmes solved his cases, by deducing facts from their clothing, manner of speech, bearing, and general disposition. Doyle went on to dedicate a collection of short stories on his fictionalized detective, “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”’ to Dr. Bell.

A counter-theory suggests that Holmes might have been inspired by something else — namely, a sensational London case where a London baker went missing. The audience favoring this theory cites that the real-life police were helped by a professional ‘consulting detective,’ a term later used to describe Holmes in Doyle’s stories. There are still others who cite books, popular stories, etc., as the catalyst that sparked the idea of Holmes in Doyle’s mind. The author himself was never forthcoming about his inspiration, choosing to take this secret to his grave.

Whatever and whomever the muse behind this fictional detective, the world (including us) is very thankful to have a Sherlock Holmes. And we prove it too, by making, then devouring countless Holmes-inspired shows, movies, plays, books, and events — more so than any other (human) detective ever before.