"Be as smart as Sherlock Holmes! Arthur Conan Doyle's original tales include many references to everyday Victorian life that are no longer part of current readers’ world.

What Holmes would have eaten from a can while searching for the hound of the Baskervilles, Watson's enjoyment of a yellow-back novel, or the proper use of a gasogene would have been common knowledge to the Victorian contemporary but compels modern readers to run to the nearest reference book.

These twenty-four short essays pull such items from the past and expand on their significance in the story. As an additional bonus, this book contains an essay on the role of scandal in Holmes' cases, originally appearing in a collected volume of essays on feminism and agency.

After enjoying these concise treatises on Holmes’ world, readers will have a deeper understanding and appreciation of both the times and the life of the world’s greatest consulting detective. Volume 4 essays cover:

• The Pinkerton Agency
• Victorian Firearms
• Handcuffs
• Gossip
• Canning
• Collecting
• Ears
• Stocks and Bonds
• Yellow Paperbacks
• Opium Dens
• Handkerchiefs
• Plaster of Paris
• Seltzer Water and Gasogenes
• Voodoo
• Curare
• Cocaine and Other Addictions
• Freemasonry
• Tweed
• Leprosy
• Whist
• Homelessness
• Chemistry
• The London Underground
• Scandal in the Canon