Nicholas Utechin

Amazing & Extraordinary Facts: Sherlock Holmes brings to life the most celebrated fictional character in history, through all of Arthur Conan Doyle’s 59 stories, to his transition onto stage, radio, television and the big screen that continues today, along with the actors who have played him. Every aspect of the pipe-smoking, deer stalkered character is explored, including his relationships with Dr Watson, his long-suffering landlady Mrs Hudson, Scotland Yard detectives, and his nemesis Professor Moriarty, as well as Holmes’ literary and musical tastes, bad habits, and his preferred disguises. Whether you enjoy the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle or the television shows and films that they have inspired, this latest title in the Amazing & Extraordinary Facts series celebrates the timeless detective who will continue to be a firm part of popular culture for generations to come.

Nicholas Utechin is a Sherlock Holmes expert who together with Austin Mitchelson wrote the two fun Holmes pastiches The Earthquake Machine and Hellbirds.

Here he has collected some essential and curious facts about the world’s greatest (fictional) detective.

This little book might look lightweight at first sight, but it is filled with fascinating information. Even if you believe you already know everything about Sherlock Holmes you might be surprised. An ideal gift for newcomers and experts alike.

Here is one of the things I learned:

What’s it called?

Not deduction. Throughout all the Sherlock Holmes stories he wrote, Conan Doyle got the word wrong: what Holmes did was in fact induction. Deductive reasoning works from the more general down to the more specific; inductive reasoning is the reverse. Thus in one story Holmes tells Watson that since he knows how he normally ties the laces on his boots, the fact that they have been “fastened with an elaborate double bow” means that he must have attended a Turkish bath. From the specific – the double bow – to the general – the Turkish bath: this is induction.