With the words "elementary, my dear watson …", the most famous detective of all time, sherlock holmes, starts to explain a crime to his friend, dr. watson. that phrase has now entered the english language. sherlock holmes first appeared in a book called 'study in scarlet'. he became famous in 'the adventures of sherlock holmes', first published in the 'strand magazine'. after that came a whole series of books about him: 'the memoirs of sherlock holmes, 'the return of sherlock holmes', 'the hound of the baskervilles', and many others. many thousands of the sherlock holmes books are still sold every year. who invented sherlock holmes? arthur conan doyle was his inventor. arthur conan doyle was born in scotland, of irish parents. he was a doctor. in 1882 he moved from scotland to england, to southsea near portsmouth, to set up a practice. one of the doctors he worked for, dr. joseph bell, was the model for sherlock holmes's friend, dr. watson. conan doyle's medical knowledge was a great help to him in his detective stories. conan doyle started the fashion of the detective story. today the fashion goes on — with simenon's inspector maigret stories and the stories of other writers. and what sort of man is sherlock holmes? we learn a lot about him from the stories in which he appears. he has a thin face and intelligent eyes. he speaks when he has something to say. he smokes a pipe (he has a collection of them). he plays the violin. he lives at 221 'b' baker street in
