Customer Reviews

The Sherlock Holmes Handbook

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There is another Sherlock Holmes Hanbook out there, but this is the one to get if you wish to study Holmes's methods. The material and illustrations are excellent, but the book's design is outstanding. I love the size, color, cover design, everything makes it look like it might have come from 1890.

The book consists of short articles on items such as "how to search a dead body" or "how to survive a plunge over a waterfall", "how to sniff out a hoax", "how to stage a dramatic entrance" and the most mind-boggling, "How to outwit a criminal mastermind". Each one of these receives three to six of the rather small pages on the book, and in those pages the author describes incidents where Holmes did that particular thing, and makes a few comments on how such a thing might have been done in Victorian times. Most of the book is made up of these brief articles. At the end, there are brief sections of five pages or so with a biography of Doyle, Holmes quotes, and a few words about The Canon as a whole. note that you can look at the table of contents under "search inside this book" above.

The book is worth the low price, it's an entertaining brief read, and the numerous short articles would make it a good bathroom book for a Holmes fan. The author knows his subject, and I suspect I'd love to sit and talk and (mostly) listen to him in a discussion of Holmes and his times. But there's nothing profound or insightful here. I'm baffled at the numerous five-star reviews.

Ransom Riggs artfully guides the reader through the deductive and intellective realm of Holmes. Eugene Smith's illustrations compliment Riggs' discourse perfectly. After reading this clever book, I longed to visit a 19th century crime scene. I highly recommend that you purchase this book.

This was gift for my son and he loves it. Buy it and you'll see why! It describes detective methods, etc. and really adds to the enjoyment of reading the Sherlock Holmes stories. Our son is a reluctant reader and he asked for this book specifically, so of course, we complied, LOL.

This is a little gem filled with tongue and cheek advice and insights embedded in brief overviews of many stories in the canon. It is also handsomely bound.

This would make a great present for a new police investigator, or anyone who's got an interest in Sherlock Holmes.

I love Sherlock Holmes, and I thought this delivered on all fronts. Highly recommended it to other fans of this legendary detective. Look forward to more work from Ransom Riggs.

Gift for my little brother - could barely put it down on Christmas. No Holmes lover is a complete person without it.

The Sherlock Holmes Handbook complements Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes works. In this volume, some techniques are explained, as are many arcane aspects of the original detective stories. It provides context for some of the now obscure terms and adds to the Holmes experience.

Especially if you give the Holmes stories to a younger reader, this makes a great follow on gift, making their understanding and appreciation for the books much richer.

E.M. Van Court

It is an absolute tour de force! Love this "quirky" take on grand old Sherlock.