Sleuthing Secrets: Delving into Canadians' Enduring Love for Sherlock Holmes

From the brilliant mind of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle came Sherlock Holmes, the world’s most famous fictional detective and a master of deduction capable of solving even the most complex of puzzles. Conan Dyle featured Sherlock Holmes in four novels and fifty-six stories, which sparked an exuberant idolatry with the sleuth in Canada.

The Bootmakers of Toronto, Canada’s National Sherlockian Society, have compiled essays and writings featuring canonical persons and all things related to Holmes and Canada in a book Canada and Sherlock Holmes, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg of stories and legends that have sparked what seems to be an undying love for Sherlock Holmes felt across the Great White North.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Tour of Western Canada

Even though you won’t find any Sherlock Holmes cases set in Canada in the canonical works of Conan Doyle, the writer’s four visits to the country have certainly made an indelible mark on his work.

In 1894, Conan Doyle did a literary tour in Canada, which was his first visit to the country. However, it was the 1914 visit that probably made the biggest impression on the author of Sherlock Holmes.

Namely, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was invited by the Canadian government to travel on the newly-built Grand Trunk Pacific Railway from Montreal to Jasper National Park. Traveling through Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, and Winnipeg, he wrote a poem called “The Athabasca Trail” about his time in Alberta, proclaiming, “The mighty voice of Canada will ever call to me.”

Sherlock Holmes’ Hidden Study Emerges in Toronto Reference Library

The fifth floor of the Toronto Reference Library holds a secret gem. The study that’s the spitting image of Sherlock Holmes’ apartment at 221B Baker Street in London, England, is home to the library’s modern collection of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work.

The Victorianesque room features a fireplace, a pipe on the mantel, and thousands of books, essays, and collectibles, which makes it one of the largest of its kind in the world.

The library first acquired 500 books in 1969 from a private collector, Arthur Vincent Baillie, whose fondness for Doyle’s work seems to have caught on like wildfire in Toronto. The collection features the first edition of The Hound of the Baskervilles, and the first book Holmes appeared in print.

Image Credit: GraphicMama team from Pixabay

The Bootmakers — Sherlock Holmes’ Legacy Lives On

A Toronto-based fan base called The Bootmakers numbers more than 200 members that have been meeting since the collection of Doyle’s work first appeared in the Toronto Reference Libary.

The group meets nine times a year, with each meeting differently structured around Sherlock Holmes stories. They have quizzes and write stories and songs about the sleuth, through which the legend carries on.

The society also publishes journals and stories centred around Sherlock Holmes. Canada and Sherlock Holmes is a selection of the best Holmesian writers from all of Canada, including an article called “Birth and Scandal – Ms Holmes of Baker Street,” which deals with Alan Bradley’s infamous notion of Holmes being a woman.

The society’s offshoot group, The Friends of the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection, in addition to their focus on raising funds for the library’s collection, also publishes a literary journal and newsletter, The Magic Door.

Canadians Love Holmes’ Power of Sheer Logic and Intelligence

Fans across the world, as well as their peers from The Bootmakers, profess that the love they hold for Sherlock Holmes as a character stems from the power of his intellect. He is incredibly logical, observant, and has personal integrity, which seems to be in high demand these days.

The famous quotes and lines from Conan Doyle’s work are so on point in many areas of life that even the Supreme Court judges have been heard using them to illustrate a point.

Fans are quick to point out that through the power of one’s logic and rationale, not diluted with emotion, one can accomplish anything and solve any mystery.

Holmesian Logic: Can You Apply It in All Walks of Life

All of Sherlock Holmes' stories begin with a bravura display of his immense power of deduction. Holmes observes the details like a few others. A darker skin tone on a person’s face compared to the lighter tone of his wrists would indicate that the person had visited a tropical country.

Relying on all of your senses for input and sometimes even removing yourself from the current predicament can be great sources of ideas and solutions.

A similar approach is applicable virtually anywhere. Consider how your gambling performance can be greatly improved if you rely on data and develop that Holmesian ability to notice even the smallest details and fluctuations in line movements that can be a sign of something most bettors will overlook. In today’s day and age, with various portals like LegalBetCanada on your side to provide valuable insights into the betting market and stats, leveraging such information is even easier. Still, you need an astute betting mind to be successful long-term, and Holmseian deduction is one of the tools that can help you get there.

Canada's Sherlock Holmes — John Wilson Murray

As it turns out, the bond between Canada and Sherlock Holmes is not a product of chance. John Wilson Murray, a former real-life Scottish-born Canadian detective, has earned the title of Canada’s Sherlock Holmes. Even before Doyle wrote his first Sherlock Holmes story, Inspector Murray had been serving as the detective appointed by the Ontario government to handle all the most serious crimes throughout the province.

His earliest arrests involved tracking a church organist wanted for fraud all the way to Veracruz, Mexico. His trip back took him four months to complete as he stayed clear of the U.S.

Murray was among the first detectives in the country to use forensic sciences for evidence. He relied on microscopic examination to detect the presence of a human at crime scenes and put emphasis on the significance of footprints and autopsies, weapon testing, and many other methods in crime scene reconstruction. He was appointed to the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) of what would later become known as the Ontario Provincial Police.

His stories were documented in a book by a detective-turned-writer, Andrew F. Maksymchuk, where he takes the reader from the earliest days of crime in the country.

(Devdiscourse's journalists were not involved in the production of this article. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)