Book Review: The Sherlock Holmes Handbook: The Methods and Mysteries of the World’s Greatest Detective

Title: The Sherlock Holmes Handbook: The Methods and Mysteries of the World’s Greatest Detective
Author: Ransom Riggs
Publisher: Quirk Books
Release Date: November 1, 2009

Although the first Sherlock Holmes mystery appeared in 1887, the unusual detective may be more popular today than ever before. With not one, but two major Hollywood motion pictures based on the infamous detective (Warner Bros.’s Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Rachel McAdams, and Columbia Pictures’s untitled Sherlock Holmes project starring Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen) scheduled for release in the next year or so, discussion and debate about Sherlock Holmes runs rampant on the web.

Sherlock Holmes demonstrating Japanese self-defense method known as Bartitsu.

Quirk Books’s November 1st release of The Sherlock Holmes Handbook: The Methods and Mysteries of the World’s Greatest Detective appears to be perfect timing. Lifelong Sherlock Holmes aficionado Ransom Riggs, a multitalented writer, filmmaker, and photographer and a regular contributor to mental_floss magazine, wrote the 224-page hardcover. Inside, readers will discover How to Examine a Body at a Crime Scene (p. 50), How to Fake Your Own Death (p. 110), How to Stage a Dramatic Entrance (p. 142), and How to Deal with Women (p. 177), among various other detective, survival and life skills. The Sherlock Holmes Handbook also includes a section on the life and times of Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle, wise and witty quotations from the detective, and a complete list of the Sherlock Holmes Canon.

Sherlock Holmes demonstrating self-defense through stick fighting.

The Sherlock Holmes Handbook is a great tool for those individuals unfamiliar with Sherlock Holmes and his many adventures. The book contains detailed information on each and every major aspect of the detective’s extensive history, including the creatures of the Sherlock Holmes world, a guide to Victorian firearms, the crimes of Sherlock Holmes, and Curious Maladies and Quack Medicines of the Victorian Era, among other things. For those well-versed in the world of Sherlock Holmes and his faithful companion, Dr. Watson, The Sherlock Holmes Handbook is the perfect way to refresh your knowledge of the series in a pinch (or in preparation for one of the forthcoming films, perhaps?).

An example of "brain fever," a condition attributed to "overindulgence of the passions."

The Sherlock Holmes Handbook: The Methods and Mysteries of the World’s Greatest Detective will be available wherever books are sold starting November 1st. Thanks to Quirk Books for hooking me up with an advance copy!

Rating: 4 / 5 Stars