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Holmes' arch-enemy, and popularly-supposed nemesis was Professor James Moriarty, who pushed Holmes over the [Reichenbach Falls]?. Conan Doyle intended the story where Holmes is pushed over the cliff to be the last that he wrote about Holmes; however the mass of mailings he received demanding that he bring Holmes back convinced him to continue. The next Holmes story had Conan Doyle explaining that Holmes did not in fact die, but managed to grab hold of some vegetation on the side of the cliff; this explanation originated the term "cliffhanger." |
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Holmes' arch-enemy, and popularly-supposed nemesis was Professor James Moriarty, who pushed Holmes over the [Reichenbach Falls]?. Conan Doyle intended the story where Holmes is pushed over the cliff to be the last that he wrote about Holmes; however the mass of mailings he received demanding that he bring Holmes back convinced him to continue. The next Holmes story had Conan Doyle explaining that Holmes did not in fact die, but managed to grab hold of some vegetation on the side of the cliff; this explanation originated the term "cliffhanger." Notably, Moriarty does not appear directly in the stories; Watson never encounters Moriarty, and so the encounters between Holmes and his nemesis are described by Holmes. |
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Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories about Sherlock Holmes. (Or, as some would have it: Dr. John H. Watson wrote four long accounts and fifty-two short accounts of Holmes's cases, while Holmes wrote two of his own and a third, unnamed person -- possibly Conan Doyle -- wrote two more.) |
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Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories about Sherlock Holmes. (Or, as some would have it: Dr. John H. Watson wrote four long accounts and fifty-two short accounts of Holmes's cases, while Holmes wrote two of his own and a third, unnamed person -- possibly Conan Doyle -- wrote two more.) The stories appeared in magazine serialization, notably in The Strand, over a period of forty years. |
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*[The Valley of Fear]? (serialized 1914-1915) |
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*[The Valley of Fear]? (serialized 1914-1915) (features Dr. Moriarty) |
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::The Adventure of the "Gloria Scott" ::The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual |
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::The Adventure of the "Gloria Scott" (Holmes's first case, described to Watson) ::The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual (another early case, told by Holmes to Watson) |
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::The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans |
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::The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans (Mycroft appears) |
"The Hiatus"Holmes fans refer to the period from 1891 to 1894 -- the time between Holmes's disappearance and presumed death in "The Final Problem" and his reappearance in "The Adventure of the Empty House" -- as "the Hiatus". It is notable, though, that one later story ("The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge") is described as taking place in 1892. For Conan Doyle, writing the stories, the period is ten years. Conan Doyle, wanting to devote more time to his historical novels, killed off Holmes in "The Final Problem", which appeared in print in 1893. After resisting public pressure for eight years, Conan Doyle wrote "The Hound of the Baskervilles", which appeared in 1901. The public, while pleased with the story, were not satisfied with a posthumous Holmes, and so Conan Doyle resuscitated Holmes two years later. Many have speculated on Conan Doyle's motives for bringing Holmes back to life, notably writer-director [Nicholas Meyer]?, who wrote an essay on the subject in the 1970s, but the actual motives are not known. For whatever reason, Conan Doyle continued to write Holmes stories for a quarter-century more (or, as some would have it, acted as Watson's agent for publication of Watson's memoirs for that period). |
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