The game is afoot. Baker Street, Moriarty, Watson, and sixty stories of deduction. Think you know Sherlock Holmes?
Ten questions on Arthur Conan Doyle's greatest creation. From the fog of Baker Street to the Falls of Reichenbach, this quiz tests the canon, not the adaptations.
Pick your level
Sherlock Holmes first appeared in "A Study in Scarlet," published in 1887. Arthur Conan Doyle went on to write four novels and 56 short stories featuring the detective and his companion Dr John Watson. The character became one of the most recognised fictional figures in the world, and one of the most adapted on film and television.
This quiz focuses on the original Conan Doyle canon: characters, locations, key cases and the kind of detail that defines a genuine reader from someone who just watched the TV version. How sharp is your eye?
All ten easy level questions, with the answer and the reasoning behind it.
Correct answer: John
John, with the middle initial H., though his wife once calls him James. Scholars enjoy that sort of thing.
Correct answer: Martin Freeman
Martin Freeman, opposite Benedict Cumberbatch.
Correct answer: Lucy Liu
Lucy Liu, opposite Jonny Lee Miller, in modern New York.
Correct answer: Millie Bobby Brown
Millie Bobby Brown, with Henry Cavill as Sherlock.
Correct answer: Police inspector
Police inspector, frequently wrong and sometimes grateful for it.
Correct answer: A hound
A hound, the terrifying creature of the Baskerville legend.
Correct answer: London
London, at a door that was not actually numbered 221 in Victorian times.
Correct answer: By observation and deduction
By observation and deduction, which he finds very simple once he has told you.
Correct answer: Belgian
Belgian, and Agatha Christie's creation is not at all pleased to be mistaken for French.
Correct answer: Baker Street
Baker Street, and there is a Tube station with his silhouette on the tiles.
Want to warm up before playing or double-check something? Open any question to reveal the correct answer and a short explanation.
Correct answer: Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle created Holmes in 1887, partly inspired by Dr Joseph Bell, a professor at the University of Edinburgh known for his acute observational skills and capacity for logical deduction from physical details alone.
Correct answer: 221B Baker Street
221B Baker Street has become the most famous address in detective fiction. In the stories, the building is owned by Mrs Hudson, who rents the first-floor flat to Holmes and Watson. A real address on Baker Street now hosts a museum in Holmes's honour.
Correct answer: The Final Problem
"The Final Problem" (1893) ends with Holmes and Moriarty falling together into the Reichenbach Falls. Conan Doyle intended to kill the character for good, but public outcry was so intense that he brought Holmes back in "The Empty House" in 1903.
Correct answer: The Napoleon of Crime
Holmes refers to Professor James Moriarty as "the Napoleon of Crime", a criminal genius who organises London's underworld from behind the scenes without ever appearing to be directly involved. He appears in person in only one original story but dominates the mythology.
Correct answer: Violin
Holmes plays the violin, often late at night while working through a difficult problem, to Watson's considerable annoyance. Conan Doyle specifies that Holmes owns a Stradivarius, which he purchased for a small sum at a broker's in Tottenham Court Road.
Correct answer: A Study in Scarlet
"A Study in Scarlet" was published in Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887 and is the first story featuring Holmes and Watson. It introduces both characters and establishes the Baker Street setting that defines the entire canon.
Correct answer: Holmes's housekeeper and landlady at 221B Baker Street
Mrs Hudson is the landlady of 221B Baker Street, who tolerates Holmes's nocturnal violin playing, chemical experiments and habit of keeping tobacco in a Persian slipper. Conan Doyle portrays her as quietly indispensable throughout the stories.
Correct answer: Mycroft Holmes
Mycroft Holmes works for the British Government and is, according to Sherlock himself, even more gifted analytically than his younger brother. He is a founding member of the Diogenes Club, a gentlemen's club for the most unsociable men in London.
Correct answer: The Woman
Holmes refers to Irene Adler simply as "The Woman", one of the few people ever to outmanoeuvre him. She is a former opera singer and adventuress.
Correct answer: Dartmoor, Devon
"The Hound of the Baskervilles" (1902) is set on Dartmoor in Devon. The bleak, foggy landscape is central to the novel's atmosphere of dread, and the story is widely considered Conan Doyle's finest achievement in long form.
Stuck on one, or just curious how nasty it gets? Every hard mode question is here with its answer and the reasoning behind it.
Correct answer: Silver Blaze
Silver Blaze: the dog did nothing in the night-time, and that was the curious incident.
Correct answer: Public pressure
Public pressure. Readers were furious, and some are said to have worn black armbands.
Correct answer: A Scandal in Bohemia
A Scandal in Bohemia, the first short story in The Strand, in 1891.
Correct answer: Cocaine
Cocaine, in a seven-per-cent solution, to Watson's considerable disapproval.
Correct answer: A snake
A snake, a swamp adder sent through a vent and down a bell-rope by Dr Roylott.
Correct answer: Jeremy Brett
Jeremy Brett, still held by many as the definitive Holmes.
Correct answer: Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone, with Nigel Bruce as a rather bumbling Watson.
Correct answer: Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini, who debunked mediums while Doyle firmly believed in them.
Correct answer: Andrew Scott
Andrew Scott. Mark Gatiss, the show's co-creator, plays Mycroft.
Correct answer: Beekeeping
Beekeeping, on the Sussex Downs. Ian McKellen plays that very man in Mr. Holmes.