[Edited because I'm too much of a big-mouth for the automatic post-cutting feature, but if I can keep things to one post, even if only for appearances, I prefer to do it.]

...probably because, even as a kid, I was thinking "come on, there must be something behind it if they're making him just copy the encyclopedia!

My first thought was, well they didn't have photocopiers back then. Thankfully my second thought reminded my first thought that the printing press had been around since like the 15th century or so.

...got it confused with "bohema"

You mean a domesticated animal?

Only in my memory, it was but a glance in a direction, nothing so far as actually opening the safe.

I like your memory better. A person as savvy as Irene should have at least noticed Holmes watching her as she revealed the exact location of her most prized secret.

I don't think I've ever seen a Holmes movie, so obviously I can't comment on that, but I think it's unjust to portray Watson as an idiot.

I agree completely. I think Watson, as the narrator, deliberately diminishes his own intelligence to make Holmes seem that much smarter. I like to think there's a little harmless exaggeration in there.

Also, you must see "Without a Clue." It's a cute little comedy with a really funny Holmes reversal.

ION, has anyone else finished "Band" and "Carbunkle"?

I read "Band" but I still have to read "Carbunkle".

I think Watson, as the narrator, deliberately diminishes his own intelligence to make Holmes seem that much smarter. I like to think there's a little harmless exaggeration in there.

Yes, this.

I think Watson, as the narrator, deliberately diminishes his own intelligence to make Holmes seem that much smarter. I like to think there's a little harmless exaggeration in there.

Plus Watson was probably brought up not to brag about himself. I doubt Holmes would abide living with an idiot.

I always laugh at references to "doctor is a great profession for a writer, because of all the free time between patients." Not anymore, for sure. I've gained a lot of respect for how much work doctors do.

I've gained a lot of respect for how much work doctors do.

Me too. And the more the HMOs put the squeeze on them, the harder their burdens become and the lower the quality of care gets. But that's another rant.

So, I'm no-talking girl this time, but I'm enjoying reading everyone else's comments.

Yeah, Nilly, I do feel that Holmes, like, Agatha Christie is a "gateway" to mystery/ procedural fiction.(damn me and my drug metaphors) Christie felt it, both with Poirot's Hastings, and with "Roger Ackroyd" that completely jerked the "Watson" thing out of shape. Philip Marlowe is a loner, like Holmes.Even now, I think a detective's inner circle is pretty small. Early FrankenTim, in Homicide, could be characterized by a Holmes and Watson dynamic, I think, but unlike Watson, Tim was allowed to find his identity as an investigator. But, you know, Frank's moody, intense, not one of the guys(even Kay is more one of the guys than he is) doesn't like going on unattended deaths because they are boring to him, and he tells the idealistic Bayliss point-blank that he doesn't need him. Uh, Munch is a big pothead still haunted by his high school sweetheart?(Ok, so all the examples aren't so serious... oy vey is mir. I'm so meshuggenah I could plotz.) I'll, uh, get ahold of the rest of those stories now. And maybe those Adler books.

I was watching an episode of Remington Steele this afternoon when it struck me that only in detective fiction are detectives famous (and for very good reason).

Yeah. Ask Park Dietz. Although I don't really think that is the sort of peril Sumi was talking about.

The peril I'm talking about is that most PI work is about sitting in a car waiting for somebody to do something that they're not supposed to do.

Difficult when you're surrounded by papparazzi.