The Sherlock Holmes Handbook: The Methods and Mysteries of the World's Greatest Detective

This is a great little book of Holmesian trivia and techniques: a sort of How-to-be-Sherlock-Holmes manual. Sadly, it cannot give one a genetic predisposition to deductive genius!

Light-hearted and fairly slight, it should nevertheless be a fun read for both the Holmes enthusiast and the general reader. Oh, and the particular hardback edition I have on my shelf is nicely put together, which adds to the overall bibliophilic experience.

[b: The Sherlock Holmes Handbook|6778502|The Sherlock Holmes Handbook|Ransom Riggs|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1266875812s/6778502.jpg|6979554] is an entertaining look at the world's most famous consulting detective. The book is amusingly written, full of wry humor and little asides to the experienced Sherlockian. It is broken up into various sections of lessons to be learned from Sherlock. Included herein are: How to Fake Your Death, How to Break a Cipher, How to Defend Yourself, and How to Track Footprints. While not comprehensive, it would prove a funny addition to any enthusiasts library.

[a: Ransom Riggs|3046613|Ransom Riggs|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1475462673p2/3046613.jpg] is clearly well versed in the lore of show more Sherlock, and the illustrations are quite nice. The book is a quick read, and would likely strike the interest of anyone unfamiliar with the canon, while being especially funny to those who are well-versed in it. People have complained about spoilers, but I find it difficult to believe that anyone wouldn't enjoy the stories even with knowing how things end on that fateful waterfall. Sherlock is fairly pervasive, anyway...

So, while I wouldn't exactly recommend this book to everyone, it was a fun read, and that was more than enough for me. The actual book itself is lovely, hardbound with nice inserts, beautiful illustrations, and high quality paper. So, if you think it would amuse you feel free to pick it up - but if you're looking for something comparable to like... [b: The Seven Percent Solution|77378|The Seven-Percent Solution|Nicholas Meyer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388958854s/77378.jpg|980414] or [b: House of Silk|11093329|The House of Silk (Sherlock Holmes, #1)|Anthony Horowitz|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327877129s/11093329.jpg|16015218] view this as a very hard pass. It's a fun little thing to pique the interest, but it's not a pastiche and is strictly reference. show less

A breezy overview of some of the methods used by Sherlock Holmes during his investigations. There's some background information about Victorian times, like the probable guns used in several of the stories, and even the possible real-life influences for Holmes and his arch-nemesis Moriarty. There are some neat tips, but often they are too brief (and sometimes dated, like "How to Analyze Typography") to be useful. There's nothing groundbreaking here, so while it is an interesting read, it's not essential except for absolute completists.

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LT Haiku:

A few skills in here
to let you deduce like Holmes:
book seems more for kids.

The Sherlock Holmes Handbook is a step-by-step instructional manual on how anyone can mold themselves into a consulting detective just like Arthur Conan Doyle's creation. More than that, Riggs provides the reader with trivia, factoids, and beautiful drawings of the detective in action. This book is excellent for anyone whether they're just being introduced to the famous detective or if they've been a diehard fan for many years. It's always fun to revisit old friends and bone up on the tricks of the trade. ;-)

I am going to repeat what another reviewer said and say, "Who is this written for?" It is a bit too superficial for people who know the canon well, but it spoils everything as if you should know everything already. I kinda felt, why am I reading this? It is beautiful, though, and entertaining enough for me to finish it. I thought it would be more like those silly "How to Survive A..." books. Oh well.

So Ransom Riggs wrote a book detailing how to be as good as Sherlock Holmes when it comes to solving crimes. A rather good one at that. It'll definitely help me if I want to add any elements of crime investigation in my stories. How did I not know of this book until three weeks ago?

Nothing in here any self-respecting Sherlockian wouldn't already know. I got the impression tfe author just felt like he'd like to try his hand at publishing a book. Not recommended.