On the Trail of Sherlock Holmes

On the Trail of Sherlock Holmes is an interesting and well written exploration of the actual physical locations included in the Holmes canon presented by Stephen Browning. Due out 31st March 2022 from Pen & Sword, it's 160 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats. 

A short introductory section covers the background history of Conan Doyle's life and family background, touching on his devotion to his mother throughout her life as well as the difficulties of boarding school and his father's substance abuse issues and decline, alongside his own medical studies and qualifications. 

The rest of the book encompasses 8 walking tours of areas immortalised in the stories. The walks vary in length from ca. 3 - 6 km as written. All of the tours include customisable side trips which can increase the length to readers' wishes/time constraints. All of the tours include greyscale maps with arrow directions and good descriptions of sites and points of interest along the route. The author has included comprehensive descriptions and tie-ins to the stories. Whilst most are localised to London and environs, there are descriptions of walking tours elsewhere in the UK as well.

The book also includes appendices with timelines for the canonical stories, a short alphabetical list of actors who have portrayed the Great Detective in film and other media, and an interesting glossary/bullet point list of concepts about Holmes himself. 

The writing throughout is accessible and enjoyable to read. Although it's not written as an academic treatise, the book is satisfyingly and precisely annotated and the chapter notes and bibliography will provide readers with hours of additional resources. 

Four and a half stars. This is a worthwhile and interesting read. I'm a self-admitted Sherlockian and there was quite a lot of minutiae of which I was previously unaware (Nicol Williamson played Holmes alongside a jaw-droppingly star studded cast? I never knew!).

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.