Holmes and Watson : A Study in Friendship

Scrupulously searching out the clues and uncovering all the shreds of evidence in the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, Holmesian scholar and crime writer June Thomson explores and illuminates one of English literature's most celebrated friendships in this fictional biography of the inscrutable sleuth Sherlock Holmes and his redoubtable companion, Doctor Watson. Speculative only when precise data is wanting, Thomson examines in striking detail the personalities of Watson and Holmes, traces the development of their partnership in crime detection, and addresses such long disputed issues as the possible homosexual implications of their relationship, Holmes's disappearance for three years, and the identity of the second Mrs. Watson.
With theories as to the location of 221B Baker Street, the actual person of the King of Bohemia, the dating of The Hound of the Baskervilles, and other matters much debated by Sherlock Holmes experts, Thomson offers fans of the Great Detective a fascinating companion volume to Conan Doyle's tales. And for anyone who has enjoyed the Holmes stories in print or in their adaptations for film, television, and radio, she provides an engaging biographical account of the immortal literary friendship born of a bond between a sleuth and a physician that thrived for forty-six years.

British crime novelist Thomson, author of four collections of Holmes short stories, combines the canonical facts with the best of recent scholarship in this winning dual biography of that Victorian odd couple, Sherlock Holmes and his chronicler, Dr. John H. Watson. Unlike many Holmes biographers, the author trips lightly over data where it is vague, inconsistent or nonexistent, consigning discussion of such pedantic matters as problems of dating and the location of 221B Baker St. to appendices. In her prologue she just as deftly puts to rest the claim that the relationship between the two men was homosexual. Not content simply to cite higher authorities, Thomson with unobtrusive modesty puts forward her own theories on such hotly debated issues as the identity of the king of Bohemia and the second Mrs. Watson. Applying modern psychology, she makes the elementary deduction that the great detective was manic-depressive, but is also diligent in documenting other sides of his complex character such as the sentimental keeping of Irene Adler's picture. One advantage of the book's chronological approach is that the reader sees Holmes's character mature, from the impetuous young man of A Study in Scarlet to the mellow 60-year-old who takes his last bow at the start of the Great War. This is one of the finer case studies of one of literature's most celebrated friendships. (Mar. 1) Forecast: A future classic of Holmesian higher criticism, this book will attract ordinary fans looking for a readable narrative, not just Baker Street Irregular diehards.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Even readers with only a passing knowledge of Sherlock Holmes and his chronicler, Dr. John H. Watson, must be aware that this isn't the first "biography" of the great detective. Many books about the world's most famous fictional detective, however, are weighed down with scholarly apparatus. This dual biography of Holmes and Watson avoids such pedantry and, like Philip Jose Farmer's similar "lives" of Tarzan and Doc Savage, imaginatively melds fiction and nonfiction. While Thomson refers to the Holmes canon often, she doesn't spend a lot of time quoting from Conan Doyle's stories: she assumes that anyone reading this book is already familiar with the Holmes tales. Even better, she doesn't waste a lot of time with speculating about Holmes or developing outlandish theories about his character; except where it's absolutely necessary to hypothesize a bit, she sticks strictly to what Conan Doyle has told us, giving the recorded facts the organization and coherence of traditional biography. This plausible, engaging, intelligent addition to Holmesian literature is definitely a must-read for the detective's fans. David Pitt
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