Holmes and Watson

June Watson has written several books of Holmes short stories (under the titles 'The Secret of Sherlock Holmes' - File, Chronicles, Journals) but here writes a biography of both Holmes and Watson, with especial attention to their friendship.In writing this book, she draws heavily upon the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (things written by anyone else is ignored) and establishes a chronology of the stories, espouses her own theories and makes reference to those of other Holmesians and Sherlockians.This is a well-trodden path - first treader, as far as I know was Baring-Gould - but Ms. Thomson does a good job. The whole thing hangs together wonderfully - she foreshadows future ideas, she refers back to her previous views, and has plainly thought this project through.And, yes, she addresses the age-old questions - was Watson shot in the shoulder or the leg, why does Mrs. Watson call her husband John "James", how many times was Watson married and to who, who was Mrs. Turner, which university did Holmes go to, etc.If you are interested in the Holmes canon (as opposed to the stories) you may want to read this one.

Excellent "biography" (originally published in 1995) of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson from an accomplished mystery writer and Sherlockian scholar. The details and discussions are drawn directly from the original Holmes stories and features none of the unfounded or fanciful speculations that clog so many other Holmes "biographies". Thomson does offer other scholars' differing or dissenting opinions and interpretations, conjectures, and so on, where appropriate for a well-rounded text. The writing style is excellent and eminently readable, avoiding the dry scholarly style of some other studies. Well documented and footnoted, this is almost as entertaining to read as the actual Holmes stories themselves. Highly recommended.