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This week’s lesson features the famous Sherlock Holmes—the detective’s detective. Holmes was everything an investigator should be: brilliant, calculating, determined, and creative in his investigation techniques.

This was one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s favorite stories. It presents the consummate Sherlock Holmes.

 Before we move into the particulars of the story, read on to learn about our author and his great detective.

Author….surgeon… spiritualist…. There are quite a few dimensions to Arthur Conan Doyle that many people don’t know.

For example, did you know that his work as a mystery writer was influenced by his training as a surgeon?

When he was a medical student at University of Edinburgh’s Medical School, Conan Doyle honed his skills of observation regarding the smallest details of his patients’ conditions. His diagnostic process as a physician parallels Sherlock Holmes impressive line of deductive reasoning.

Conan Doyle’s medical career shows up in several other works, including a collection of medical short stories (Round the Red Lamp, 1894), and several semiautobiographical novels, The Firm of Girdlestone (1890) and The Stark Munro Letters (1895).

Although Conan Doyle was a strong believer in scientific evidence, interestingly he also believed in paranormal phenomenon and spiritualism. He believed that spirits of the dead existed and contacted the living. He spent much of his later life writing about and supporting spiritualism.

When he died in 1930, the spiritualist community held a celebration rather than a funeral. This included a large séance held in Royal Albert Hall in London.

Conan Doyle was married twice, and had five children.

As for the “Sir”: he was knighted in 1902 for his work during the Boer War in South Africa.

When he was engrossed in a case, he was obsessed. He didn’t let his cases overlap; he followed each one through to its resolution.  He had few friends. He had no romantic interests. He found that solitude and isolation were necessary in order to fully focus on his cases.

To solve his cases, he often stepped into an actor’s role and took on various disguises. This helped him engage with the criminal mind, as well as create a particular situation and see how characters behaved. Although he doesn’t go into character for this story, he does call for local help and he conducts research to learn the background of suspects and characters (including Silver Blaze).

Fun trivia: In 1966, jigsaw manufacturer Springbok released a circular puzzle called "Silver Blaze - From the Memories of Sherlock Holmes". The goal was to solve the mystery using an enclosed story booklet combined with scenes depicted in the puzzle. A sealed solution was also included.

As you read the story, notice how it invites you in and proceeds to engage you as Sherlock Holmes pursues his line of inquiry.

Mr. Watson is our narrator, and true to his role of sidekick, he lags a step behind Holmes in the discovery of clues and progress toward solving the mystery.  We readers lag too, but I don’t feel too stupid when I see that Mr. Watson is confused too.

Consider the opening dialogue:

“I am afraid, Watson, that I shall have to go,” said Holmes, as we sat down together to our breakfast one morning.

“Go! Where to?”

“To Dartmoor; to King's Pyland.”

I was not surprised. Indeed, my only wonder was that he had not already been mixed up in this extraordinary case, which was the one topic of conversation through the length and breadth of England…”

I don’t know about you, but this opening makes me feel as if I’m missing something big! Many questions come to mind: what is the extraordinary case? Why isn’t Watson surprised? Who the blazes is Silver Blaze?

Conan Doyle often uses the London news as the basis of Sherlock Holmes cases.

Conan Doyle goes on to use the next paragraphs to provide exposition (the story plot) and introduce the important characters.

Make sure you are clear on the cast of characters.  We have:

• Silver Blaze, our equine hero

• Colonel Ross, the horse’s owner (and Holmes’ client)

• Inspector Gregory of Dartmoor, “who is looking after the case”

• John Straker, Silver Blaze’s trainer, who has been found murdered. What do we know about him?

• Mrs. Straker, the recent widow

• Fitzroy Simpson, the suspect: once well-off, he blew his fortune and now is a known bookie

• Silas Brown, the owner of nearby larger horse training establishment

• Ned Hunter, stable boy

The Plot:

There are a couple of mysteries for Holmes to solve. The public is probably more concerned about the disappearance of the Wessex Cup favorite (a horse doesn’t just disappear), but John Starker’s murder is also troubling.

What might be the motive for both these mysteries?

Other clues (and possible red herrings):

• The stable boy’s curry dinner

• Madam Derbyshire

• The envelop sticking out of the stranger’s pocket

•  The stable dog didn’t bark at the intruder

• A red and black cravat (if you don’t know what a cravat is, look it up!)

• A very sharp instrument—knife with thin long blade

This is a clever piece that shows us the genius of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Some homework:

• See if you can map out the plot lines

• Think about the implied themes (greed is most obvious)

• Write your own last scene, especially the dialogue of what must have transpired between Holmes and the Colonel

I confess that I had to read the abrupt ending a couple times—I thought I had mistakenly left off a paragraph!

Whether this is your first Sherlock Holmes story, or you have read stories over and over, this is a good one to ponder. Following his standard approach, Conan Doyle lays out the plot through dialogue between Holmes and Watson.

We gradually gain insight about our characters and their actions. Sir Conan Doyle usually wraps up the case with a twist and a lesson learned.

Perhaps now you can better see the influence of this story’s style (and even content) on future generations of mystery writers.

The Adventure of Silver Blaze. (2025). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventure_of_Silver_Blaze

Sherlock Holmes (2021). Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sherlock-Holmes

Sherlock Holmes (2020). Retrieved from https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/Sherlock_Holmes

The Sherlock Holmes Encyclopedia. (2022). Retrieved from From The Sherlock Holmes Encyclopedia

Wilson, P. (2020). Arthur Conan Doyle. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arthur-Conan-Doyle