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85-416: In his stories, Hole is a brilliant, introverted, and obsessively driven detective. He has few friends and often clashes with colleagues, but his work and skill are so widely known and respected that he is considered a specialist, leading him to sometimes consult on cases in other cities and countries. Throughout the novels, he sometimes uses unorthodox and illegal methods in his investigations. A common focus of

170-530: A knighthood "for services which may perhaps some day be described". However, he does not actively seek fame and is usually content to let the police take public credit for his work. The first set of Holmes stories was published between 1887 and 1893. Conan Doyle killed off Holmes in a final battle with the criminal mastermind Professor James Moriarty in " The Final Problem " (published 1893, but set in 1891), as Conan Doyle felt that "my literary energies should not be directed too much into one channel". However,

255-579: A police officer with the Oslo Crime Squad. Born in 1965, Harry's mother, a descendant of the Sami people , dies due to cancer while he is in his twenties. Harry never has a close relationship with his father Olav, a former teacher, but is deeply attached to his younger sister Søs, who has Down syndrome . Taxi driver Øystein Eikeland is an old school friend of Harry's and one of the few people he

340-586: A Mark III Adams revolver , issued to British troops during the 1870s). Holmes and Watson shoot the eponymous hound in The Hound of the Baskervilles , and in "The Adventure of the Empty House", Watson pistol-whips Colonel Sebastian Moran . In " The Problem of Thor Bridge ", Holmes uses Watson's revolver to solve the case through an experiment. The Leopard (Nesb%C3%B8 novel) The Leopard

425-481: A central theme of " The Yellow Face "). Though Holmes is famed for his reasoning capabilities, his investigative technique relies heavily on the acquisition of hard evidence. Many of the techniques he employs in the stories were at the time in their infancy. The detective is particularly skilled in the analysis of trace evidence and other physical evidence, including latent prints (such as footprints, hoof prints, and shoe and tire impressions) to identify actions at

510-435: A couple of scenes in the book. One of the main characters, Kaja Solness, may be a reference to The Master Builder , one of Henrik Ibsen 's most well known plays. The play centres on a man named Halvard Solness, whose son is engaged to a woman named Kaja. Nesbø is likely to be familiar with the play, which is a classic of Norwegian culture (and of world theatre in general). The writer has not, however, made any statement on

595-402: A crime scene, using tobacco ashes and cigarette butts to identify criminals, utilizing handwriting analysis and graphology , comparing typewritten letters to expose a fraud, using gunpowder residue to expose two murderers, and analyzing small pieces of human remains to expose two murders. Because of the small scale of much of his evidence, the detective often uses a magnifying glass at

680-502: A father figure, sometimes calling him "dad." After the seventh novel The Snowman , Harry's relationship with Rakel suffers. This, along with recent trauma, compels Hole to leave Oslo and the police force. The next novel The Leopard shows Harry living in self-imposed exile in Hong Kong . Kaja Solness, a new Norwegian Crime Squad officer, asks him to return to Oslo to help investigate a possible serial killing. Learning his father Olav

765-503: A glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain. All my years of humble but single-minded service culminated in that moment of revelation. After confirming Watson's assessment of the wound, Holmes makes it clear to their opponent that the man would not have left the room alive if he genuinely had killed Watson. Holmes' clients vary from the most powerful monarchs and governments of Europe, to wealthy aristocrats and industrialists , to impoverished pawnbrokers and governesses . He

850-404: A knowledge of Latin . The detective cites Hafez , Goethe , as well as a letter from Gustave Flaubert to George Sand in the original French. In The Hound of the Baskervilles , the detective recognises works by Godfrey Kneller and Joshua Reynolds : "Watson won't allow that I know anything of art, but that is mere jealousy since our views upon the subject differ." In " The Adventure of

935-416: A park. Contrary to Bellman's conclusions, Hole believes that this murder is connected to the other two. Hole and Solness, teaming up with his former colleagues at Crime Squad, begin a discreet investigation without the knowledge of Kripos. While working together, Hole and Solness are drawn to each other and begin a tempestuous love affair. The two discover that all three victims stayed at the same ski lodge on

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1020-483: A person's clothes and personal items are also commonly relied on; in the stories, Holmes is seen applying his method to items such as walking sticks, pipes, and hats. For example, in "A Scandal in Bohemia", Holmes infers that Watson had got wet lately and had "a most clumsy and careless servant girl". When Watson asks how Holmes knows this, the detective answers: It is simplicity itself ... my eyes tell me that on

1105-446: A salesman with a wager: "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet ... I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of him, that man would not have given me such complete information as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a wager." Maria Konnikova points out in an interview with D. J. Grothe that Holmes practises what

1190-513: A series for Netflix , with Øystein Karlsen directing. Tobias Santelmann will play Harry Hole. Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes ( / ˈ ʃ ɜːr l ɒ k ˈ h oʊ m z / ) is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle . Referring to himself as a " consulting detective " in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and logical reasoning that borders on

1275-589: A strong aptitude for acting and disguise. In several stories (" The Sign of Four ", " The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton ", " The Man with the Twisted Lip ", " The Adventure of the Empty House " and " A Scandal in Bohemia "), to gather evidence undercover, he uses disguises so convincing that Watson fails to recognise him. In others (" The Adventure of the Dying Detective " and " A Scandal in Bohemia "), Holmes feigns injury or illness to incriminate

1360-553: A thumbprint to solve a crime in " The Adventure of the Norwood Builder " (generally held to be set in 1895), the story was published in 1903, two years after Scotland Yard's fingerprint bureau opened. Though the effect of the Holmes stories on the development of forensic science has thus often been overstated, Holmes inspired future generations of forensic scientists to think scientifically and analytically. Holmes displays

1445-447: Is a crime novel by Norwegian novelist Jo Nesbø . Its Norwegian title is Panserhjerte , which does not directly translate to The Leopard; it rather means something along the lines of "armoured heart". Moreover, "leopard" refers to the stealthy tread of the killer in the book, while "armoured heart" is what Harry Hole himself gains by his experiences. Panserhjerte is also a Norwegian term for Constrictive pericarditis . The Leopard

1530-647: Is also ill and likely to soon die, Hole agrees to help and returns to Oslo. During the story, Olav asks his son to assist in his suicide in order to end his pain, but Harry cannot bring himself to do so. At the end of the book, Harry has a brief reunion with Rakel before then visiting the imprisoned killer of The Snowman . It is implied that Harry then aids in the criminal's own suicide. Disturbed by his recent experiences, Harry determines to return to Hong Kong for good. The next book Phantom depicts Harry returning to Oslo yet again some time later, this time because Rakel's son Oleg has been arrested for murder. Harry finds out

1615-405: Is as inhuman as a Babbage 's Calculating Machine and just about as likely to fall in love." Holmes says of himself that he is "not a whole-souled admirer of womankind", and that he finds "the motives of women ... inscrutable. ... How can you build on such quicksand? Their most trivial actions may mean volumes". In The Sign of Four , he says, "Women are never to be entirely trusted—not

1700-415: Is close to. Introverted and prone to depression, Hole is a chain-smoker alcoholic when first introduced, though he later recognizes his addiction and is considered a recovering alcoholic in later books. His encounters with assassins, corruption, and serial killers throughout the novels often strengthen his cynical views and his desire to escape reminds of his experiences and traumas. Harry Hole's home address

1785-415: Is done with police work, but finds himself drawn into another investigation in the following novel The Thirst . The seventh novel in the series, The Snowman , was adapted as a film in 2017 and starred Michael Fassbender as Harry Hole, with Rebecca Ferguson , Charlotte Gainsbourg , Ronan Vibert , Val Kilmer and J.K. Simmons . Nesbø himself will adapt the fifth Hole novel The Devil's Star as

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1870-422: Is generally acknowledged as the first detective in fiction and served as the prototype for many later characters, including Holmes. Conan Doyle once wrote, "Each [of Poe's detective stories] is a root from which a whole literature has developed ... Where was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?" Similarly, the stories of Émile Gaboriau 's Monsieur Lecoq were extremely popular at

1955-402: Is his most significant relationship. When Watson is injured by a bullet, although the wound turns out to be "quite superficial", Watson is moved by Holmes's reaction: It was worth a wound; it was worth many wounds; to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught

2040-479: Is implied that wealthy clients habitually pay Holmes more than his standard rate. In " The Adventure of the Priory School ", Holmes earns a £6,000 fee (at a time where annual expenses for a rising young professional were in the area of £500). However, Watson notes that Holmes would refuse to help even the wealthy and powerful if their cases did not interest him. As Conan Doyle wrote to Joseph Bell, "Holmes

2125-733: Is in Sofies Gate in Bislett located in the author's own home city of Oslo . Many of the stories involve detailed background and descriptions of real locations such as the actual Oslo Police Department headquarters. Hole regularly interacts with city residents and immigrants from a variety of ethnic and social backgrounds. Many of the novels feature his favorite "watering hole," Restaurant Schrøder (Schrøder's, for short) in St. Hanshaugen. Along with standard police training, Hole undertakes specialized training in interrogation techniques and firearms at

2210-400: Is in the middle of a power struggle with Kripos and its power-hungry head, Mikael Bellman, who seeks to put his agency in sole charge of the country's murder cases. Hole finds himself the target of Bellman's hostility, though Bellman is keen to take credit for the results of Hole's work. Hole is reluctant to take part in the investigation until a female MP , Marit Olsen, is found murdered in

2295-682: Is kept alive by the photograph of Adler that Holmes received for his part in the case. Shortly after meeting Holmes in the first story, A Study in Scarlet (generally assumed to be 1881, though the exact date is not given), Watson assesses the detective's abilities: In A Study in Scarlet , Holmes claims to be unaware that the Earth revolves around the Sun since such information is irrelevant to his work; after hearing that fact from Watson, he says he will immediately try to forget it. The detective believes that

2380-524: Is known only in select professional circles at the beginning of the first story, but is already collaborating with Scotland Yard . However, his continued work and the publication of Watson's stories raise Holmes's profile, and he rapidly becomes well known as a detective; so many clients ask for his help instead of (or in addition to) that of the police that, Watson writes, by 1887 "Europe was ringing with his name" and by 1895 Holmes has "an immense practice". Police outside London ask Holmes for assistance if he

2465-554: Is known to charge clients for his expenses and claim any reward offered for a problem's solution, such as in " The Adventure of the Speckled Band ", " The Red-Headed League ", and " The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet ". The detective states at one point that "My professional charges are upon a fixed scale. I do not vary them, save when I remit them altogether." In this context, a client is offering to double his fee, and it

2550-441: Is maintained by their landlady, Mrs. Hudson . Holmes works as a detective for twenty-three years, with Watson assisting him for seventeen of those years. Most of the stories are frame narratives written from Watson's point of view, as summaries of the detective's most interesting cases. Holmes frequently calls Watson's records of Holmes's cases sensational and populist, suggesting that they fail to accurately and objectively report

2635-734: Is nearby. A British prime minister and the King of Bohemia visit 221B Baker Street in person to request Holmes's assistance; the President of France awards him the Legion of Honour for capturing an assassin; the King of Scandinavia is a client; and he aids the Vatican at least twice. The detective acts on behalf of the British government in matters of national security several times and declines

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2720-443: Is no known contemporaneous source for this; the earliest known reference to such events comes from 1949. However, the recorded public reaction to Holmes's death was unlike anything previously seen for fictional events. After resisting public pressure for eight years, Conan Doyle wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles (serialised in 1901–02, with an implicit setting before Holmes's death). In 1903, Conan Doyle wrote " The Adventure of

2805-468: Is now called mindfulness, concentrating on one thing at a time, and almost never "multitasks". She adds that in this he predates the science showing how helpful this is to the brain. Holmes observes the dress and attitude of his clients and suspects, noting skin marks (such as tattoos), contamination (such as ink stains or clay on boots), emotional state, and physical condition in order to deduce their origins and recent history. The style and state of wear of

2890-476: Is really very showy and superficial." Nevertheless, Holmes later performs the same 'trick' on Watson in " The Cardboard Box " and " The Adventure of the Dancing Men ". Though the stories always refer to Holmes's intellectual detection method as " deduction ", Holmes primarily relies on abduction : inferring an explanation for observed details. "From a drop of water," he writes, "a logician could infer

2975-565: Is tacitly suggested that Hole helps the Snowman to commit suicide out of remorse for having failed to follow his father's request for him to perform euthanasia . Because of the fresh traumas stemming from the case, Hole is determined to return to Hong Kong for good. Compared to the other novels in the series, The Leopard has a more cinematic and action-orientated style, taking place across three continents. The Leopard also contains significant amounts of violence. Nesbø has expressed regret for

3060-555: Is the eighth novel featuring Nesbø's crime detective , Inspector Harry Hole . Following the traumatic Snowman case , former police inspector Harry Hole has exiled himself in Hong Kong. Kaja Solness, a new Norwegian Crime Squad officer, tracks down Hole and asks for his help investigating possible serial killings in Oslo . He is convinced to return when told that his father, Olav, is dying. Upon his return, Hole finds that Crime Squad

3145-427: Is the frequent subject of pastiche writing. The beginning of the story describes the high regard in which Holmes holds her: To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. ... And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman

3230-519: The Diogenes Club . Holmes says that he first developed his methods of deduction as an undergraduate; his earliest cases, which he pursued as an amateur, came from his fellow university students. A meeting with a classmate's father led him to adopt detection as a profession. In the first Holmes tale, A Study in Scarlet , financial difficulties lead Holmes and Dr. Watson to share rooms together at 221B Baker Street , London. Their residence

3315-613: The FBI . His problematic and often unsocial behavior, as well as his obsessive tendencies during investigations, brings him into repeated conflict with his superiors and some colleagues. Bjarne Møller, head of the Oslo Police Department , often shields Hole from being fired, believing he is a brilliant detective and vital to certain investigations. This repeated protection results in Harry feeling loyal and close to Møller. Other in

3400-568: The University of Edinburgh Medical School , is also cited as an inspiration for Holmes. Littlejohn, who was also Police Surgeon and Medical Officer of Health in Edinburgh, provided Conan Doyle with a link between medical investigation and the detection of crime. Other possible inspirations have been proposed, though never acknowledged by Doyle, such as Maximilien Heller , by French author Henry Cauvain. In this 1871 novel (sixteen years before

3485-470: The Victorian or Edwardian eras between 1880 and 1914. Most are narrated by the character of Holmes's friend and biographer, Dr. John H. Watson , who usually accompanies Holmes during his investigations and often shares quarters with him at the address of 221B Baker Street , London, where many of the stories begin. Though not the first fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes is arguably the best-known. By

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3570-471: The "science" of his craft: Detection is, or ought to be, an exact science and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner. You have attempted to tinge it [ A Study in Scarlet ] with romanticism, which produces much the same effect as if you worked a love-story or an elopement into the fifth proposition of Euclid . ... Some facts should be suppressed, or, at least, a just sense of proportion should be observed in treating them. The only point in

3655-456: The 1990s, over 25,000 stage adaptations, films, television productions, and publications had featured the detective, and Guinness World Records lists him as the most portrayed human literary character in film and television history. Holmes's popularity and fame are such that many have believed him to be not a fictional character but an actual individual; numerous literary and fan societies have been founded on this pretence . Avid readers of

3740-484: The British war effort. Only one other adventure, " The Adventure of the Lion's Mane ", takes place during the detective's retirement. Watson describes Holmes as " bohemian " in his habits and lifestyle. Said to have a "cat-like" love of personal cleanliness, at the same time Holmes is an eccentric with no regard for contemporary standards of tidiness or good order. Watson describes him as in his personal habits one of

3825-629: The Bruce-Partington Plans ", Watson says that "Holmes lost himself in a monograph which he had undertaken upon the Polyphonic Motets of Lassus ", considered "the last word" on the subject—which must have been the result of an intensive and very specialized musicological study which could have had no possible application to the solution of criminal mysteries. Holmes is a cryptanalyst , telling Watson that "I am fairly familiar with all forms of secret writing, and am myself

3910-411: The Empty House "; set in 1894, Holmes reappears, explaining to a stunned Watson that he had faked his death to fool his enemies. Following "The Adventure of the Empty House", Conan Doyle would sporadically write new Holmes stories until 1927. Holmes aficionados refer to the period from 1891 to 1894—between his disappearance and presumed death in "The Final Problem" and his reappearance in "The Adventure of

3995-693: The Empty House"—as the Great Hiatus. The earliest known use of this expression dates to 1946. In His Last Bow , the reader is told that Holmes has retired to a small farm on the Sussex Downs and taken up beekeeping as his primary occupation. The move is not dated precisely, but can be presumed to be no later than 1904 (since it is referred to retrospectively in " The Adventure of the Second Stain ", first published that year). The story features Holmes and Watson coming out of retirement to aid

4080-437: The Holmes stories helped create the modern practice of fandom . The character and stories have had a profound and lasting effect on mystery writing and popular culture as a whole, with the original tales, as well as thousands written by authors other than Conan Doyle , being adapted into stage and radio plays, television, films, video games, and other media for over one hundred years. Edgar Allan Poe 's C. Auguste Dupin

4165-596: The London slavey. In the first Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet , Dr. Watson compares Holmes to C. Auguste Dupin , Edgar Allan Poe's fictional detective, who employed a similar methodology. Alluding to an episode in " The Murders in the Rue Morgue ", where Dupin determines what his friend is thinking despite their having walked together in silence for a quarter of an hour, Holmes remarks: "That trick of his breaking in on his friend's thoughts with an apropos remark ...

4250-523: The Missing Three-Quarter ", Watson says that although he has "weaned" Holmes from drugs, the detective remains an addict whose habit is "not dead, but merely sleeping". Watson and Holmes both use tobacco, smoking cigarettes, cigars, and pipes . Although his chronicler does not consider Holmes's smoking a vice per se , Watson—a physician—does criticise the detective for creating a "poisonous atmosphere" in their confined quarters. Holmes

4335-418: The absence of stimulating cases. He sometimes used morphine and sometimes cocaine , the latter of which he injects in a seven-per cent solution; both drugs were legal in 19th-century England. As a physician, Watson strongly disapproves of his friend's cocaine habit, describing it as the detective's only vice, and concerned about its effect on Holmes's mental health and intellect. In " The Adventure of

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4420-510: The author of a trifling monograph upon the subject, in which I analyse one hundred and sixty separate ciphers." Holmes also demonstrates a knowledge of psychology in "A Scandal in Bohemia", luring Irene Adler into betraying where she hid a photograph based on the premise that a woman will rush to save her most valued possession from a fire. Another example is in " The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle ", where Holmes obtains information from

4505-541: The best of them", a feeling Watson notes as an "atrocious sentiment". In "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane", Holmes writes, "Women have seldom been an attraction to me, for my brain has always governed my heart." At the end of The Sign of Four , Holmes states that "love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true, cold reason which I place above all things. I should never marry myself, lest I bias my judgement." Ultimately, Holmes claims outright that "I have never loved." But while Watson says that

4590-410: The case which deserved mention was the curious analytical reasoning from effects to causes, by which I succeeded in unravelling it. Nevertheless, when Holmes recorded a case himself, he was forced to concede that he could more easily understand the need to write it in a manner that would appeal to the public rather than his intention to focus on his own technical skill. Holmes's friendship with Watson

4675-616: The city's underclass. These agents included a variety of informants , such as Langdale Pike, a "human book of reference upon all matters of social scandal", and Shinwell Johnson, who acted as Holmes's "agent in the huge criminal underworld of London". The best known of Holmes's agents are a group of street children he called "the Baker Street Irregulars ". Holmes and Watson often carry pistols with them to confront criminals—in Watson's case, his old service weapon (probably

4760-423: The detective becomes engaged under false pretenses in order to obtain information about a case, abandoning the woman once he has the information he requires. Irene Adler is a retired American opera singer and actress who appears in " A Scandal in Bohemia ". Although this is her only appearance, she is one of only a handful of people who bests Holmes in a battle of wits, and the only woman. For this reason, Adler

4845-404: The detective has an "aversion to women", he also notes Holmes as having "a peculiarly ingratiating way with [them]". Watson notes that their housekeeper Mrs. Hudson is fond of Holmes because of his "remarkable gentleness and courtesy in his dealings with women. He disliked and distrusted the sex, but he was always a chivalrous opponent." However, in " The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton ",

4930-593: The detective. A statement of Holmes' age in " His Last Bow " places his year of birth at 1854; the story, set in August 1914, describes him as sixty years of age. His parents are not mentioned, although Holmes mentions that his "ancestors" were " country squires ". In " The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter ", he claims that his grandmother was sister to the French artist Vernet, without clarifying whether this

5015-492: The development of the character in 1912, Conan Doyle wrote that "In the first one, the Study in Scarlet , [Holmes] was a mere calculating machine, but I had to make him more of an educated human being as I went on with him." Despite Holmes's supposed ignorance of politics, in "A Scandal in Bohemia" he immediately recognises the true identity of the disguised "Count von Kramm". At the end of A Study in Scarlet , Holmes demonstrates

5100-513: The doctor that during two years at college he made only one friend: "I was never a very sociable fellow, Watson ... I never mixed much with the men of my year." The detective goes without food at times of intense intellectual activity, believing that "the faculties become refined when you starve them". At times, Holmes relaxes with music, either playing the violin or enjoying the works of composers such as Wagner and Pablo de Sarasate . Holmes occasionally uses addictive drugs, especially in

5185-551: The fantastic, which he employs when investigating cases for a wide variety of clients, including Scotland Yard . The character Sherlock Holmes first appeared in print in 1887's A Study in Scarlet . His popularity became widespread with the first series of short stories in The Strand Magazine , beginning with " A Scandal in Bohemia " in 1891; additional tales appeared from then until 1927, eventually totalling four novels and 56 short stories . All but one are set in

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5270-526: The first appearance of Sherlock Holmes), Henry Cauvain imagined a depressed, anti-social, opium-smoking polymath detective, operating in Paris. It is not known if Conan Doyle read the novel, but he was fluent in French. Details of Sherlock Holmes' life in Conan Doyle's stories are scarce and often vague. Nevertheless, mentions of his early life and extended family paint a loose biographical picture of

5355-514: The first novel, The Bat , he travels to Sydney, Australia to aid the Australian police (who refer to him as "Harry Holy"). In the second novel, Cockroaches , he is called to Thailand to investigate the murder of the Norwegian ambassador . Outside of the department, Hole develops a serious relationship with Rakel Fauke. Her son from a previous relationship, Oleg, comes to view Harry as

5440-458: The first three murders, Iska Peller. However, Peller is in Australia and refuses a request to be bait for the killer. Hole and Solness instigate a sting operation to draw out the killer, which almost costs them their lives when the killer outsmarts them. Hole comes to believe that the murderer is someone he knows, but the person he suspects is exonerated upon arrest. Hole and Solness then pursue

5525-524: The guilty. In the latter story, Watson says, "The stage lost a fine actor ... when [Holmes] became a specialist in crime." Guy Mankowski has said of Holmes that his ability to change his appearance to blend into any situation "helped him personify the idea of the English eccentric chameleon, in a way that prefigured the likes of David Bowie ". Until Watson's arrival at Baker Street, Holmes largely worked alone, only occasionally employing agents from

5610-403: The inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting specimen of

5695-462: The law as a means for righting a wrong, contending that "there are certain crimes which the law cannot touch, and which therefore, to some extent, justify private revenge." His companion condones the detective's willingness to do this on behalf of a client—lying to the police, concealing evidence or breaking into houses—when he also feels it morally justifiable. Except for that of Watson, Holmes avoids casual company. In "The Gloria Scott " , he tells

5780-475: The mind has a finite capacity for information storage, and learning useless things reduces one's ability to learn useful things. The later stories move away from this notion: in The Valley of Fear , he says, "All knowledge comes useful to the detective", and in "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane", the detective calls himself "an omnivorous reader with a strangely retentive memory for trifles". Looking back on

5865-407: The most untidy men that ever drove a fellow-lodger to distraction. [He] keeps his cigars in the coal-scuttle , his tobacco in the toe end of a Persian slipper, and his unanswered correspondence transfixed by a jack-knife into the very centre of his wooden mantelpiece. ... He had a horror of destroying documents. ... Thus month after month his papers accumulated, until every corner of the room

5950-533: The novel series is Hole's struggles with alcoholism and depression, as well as how his mental health suffers as a result of his morally questionable actions and the brutal nature of the crimes he investigates. The novel series eventually shows Hole recognizing the harmful nature of his work and increasingly problematic behavior, prompting him to leave the police force. Despite this, later novels show Hole continually finding reason to return to Oslo and assist new criminal investigations, despite his own initial reluctance and

6035-447: The police department whom he comes to trust include as friends Beate Lønn and Bjørn Holm (both in the forensics division), Katrine Bratt (a Bergen detective who helps secure specialist information), and Gunnar Hagen (Harry's former senior officer prior to Phantom ). Hole's skills become renowned enough that he is considered a specialist, leading him to be sought for occasional consultation by authorities in other cities and countries. In

6120-504: The possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other." However, Holmes does employ deductive reasoning as well. The detective's guiding principle, as he says in The Sign of Four , is: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Despite Holmes's remarkable reasoning abilities, Conan Doyle still paints him as fallible in this regard (this being

6205-485: The possible connection between Ibsen's character and his own. The Leopold's Apple device that is a central feature of the novel is an invention of Nesbø's that stems from a childhood memory of accepting a dare to eat a whole apple while it was still attached to the tree. Upon release, The Leopard was generally well-received. On The Omnivore , an aggregator of British press reviews, the book received an "omniscore" of 3 out of 5. Globally, Complete Review saying on

6290-458: The protests of his loved ones. Critics liken the personality of Harry Hole to those of the famous literary detectives such as Sherlock Holmes , Hercule Poirot , Jules Maigret , and Nero Wolfe . According to Jo Nesbø himself, the character is inspired by and a tribute to Michael Connelly 's character Harry Bosch . The novels are frequent bestsellers. Harry Hole is introduced in The Bat as

6375-480: The reaction of the public surprised him very much. Distressed readers wrote anguished letters to The Strand Magazine , which suffered a terrible blow when 20,000 people cancelled their subscriptions to the magazine in protest. Conan Doyle himself received many protest letters, and one lady even began her letter with "You brute". Legend has it that Londoners were so distraught upon hearing the news of Holmes's death that they wore black armbands in mourning, though there

6460-495: The real killer into the Congo . There, they are kidnapped by associates of the killer. Hole manages to escape and, following clues given by one of the associates, finally confronts and kills the culprit at the lip of a live volcano . Later, at the funeral of his father, Hole is reunited with his former lover, Rakel Fauke, and her son, Oleg. Hole visits the Snowman in custody, who is gravely ill and feels some remorse for his crimes. It

6545-455: The same night. Hole deduces that the murders are part of the killer's attempts to cover his tracks. Suspicion initially falls on a man known to have been at the ski lodge at the time, Elías Skog, but he is eliminated from the enquiry when he is murdered by the killer. After Hole forces Bellman to include him on the Kripos team, he finds that another person had been at the ski lodge at the time of

6630-454: The scene and an optical microscope at his Baker Street lodgings. He uses analytical chemistry for blood residue analysis and toxicology to detect poisons; Holmes's home chemistry laboratory is mentioned in " The Naval Treaty ". Ballistics feature in "The Adventure of the Empty House" when spent bullets are recovered to be matched with a suspected murder weapon, a practice which became regular police procedure only some fifteen years after

6715-406: The story was published. Laura J. Snyder has examined Holmes's methods in the context of mid- to late-19th-century criminology, demonstrating that, while sometimes in advance of what official investigative departments were formally using at the time, they were based upon existing methods and techniques. For example, fingerprints were proposed to be distinct in Conan Doyle's day, and while Holmes used

6800-503: The time Conan Doyle began writing Holmes, and Holmes's speech and behaviour sometimes follow those of Lecoq. Doyle has his main characters discuss these literary antecedents near the beginning of A Study in Scarlet , which is set soon after Watson is first introduced to Holmes. Watson attempts to compliment Holmes by comparing him to Dupin, to which Holmes replies that he found Dupin to be "a very inferior fellow" and Lecoq to be "a miserable bungler". Conan Doyle repeatedly said that Holmes

6885-624: The truth behind the murder, but is then shot and the book ends without clarifying if he will survive or not. Harry is revealed to be alive and living again in Oslo in the tenth novel Police . Deciding his obsessive pursuit of criminals has cost him too much, he now lectures at the Police College and resumes a relationship with Rakel. A series of killings leads his former colleagues to seek him out for help. Following these events, Harry marries Rakel and legally adopts Oleg as his son. He promises he

6970-406: Was Claude Joseph , Carle , or Horace Vernet . Holmes' brother Mycroft , seven years his senior, is a government official. Mycroft has a unique civil service position as a kind of human database for all aspects of government policy. Sherlock describes his brother as the more intelligent of the two, but notes that Mycroft lacks any interest in physical investigation, preferring to spend his time at

7055-470: Was inspired by the real-life figure of Joseph Bell , a surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh , whom Conan Doyle met in 1877 and had worked for as a clerk. Like Holmes, Bell was noted for drawing broad conclusions from minute observations. However, he later wrote to Conan Doyle: "You are yourself Sherlock Holmes and well you know it". Sir Henry Littlejohn , Chair of Medical Jurisprudence at

7140-412: Was stacked with bundles of manuscript which were on no account to be burned, and which could not be put away save by their owner. While Holmes is characterised as dispassionate and cold, he can be animated and excitable during an investigation. He has a flair for showmanship, often keeping his methods and evidence hidden until the last possible moment so as to impress observers. Holmes is willing to break

7225-512: Was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory. Five years before the story's events, Adler had a brief liaison with Crown Prince of Bohemia Wilhelm von Ormstein. As the story opens, the Prince is engaged to another. Fearful that the marriage would be called off if his fiancée's family learns of this past impropriety, Ormstein hires Holmes to regain a photograph of Adler and himself. Adler slips away before Holmes can succeed. Her memory

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