The Baker Street Irregulars (BSI) has completely overhauled its website. The BSI was founded in 1934 and was the very first Sherlockian literary society. From 1934 until 2000, the BSI had no dedicated website, but that all changed when the original BSI site was created in 2001. As stated on the site, “The Baker Street Irregulars website is your source for official information from the Baker Street Irregulars.” The new and improved site is separated into sections based on the major activities of the BSI including the Baker Street Journal, the Baker Street Press, and BSI Events.

If you’d like to read more about the site and its history, there is an excellent article on I Hear Of Sherlock Everywhere. Be sure to check out the new website, and if you would like to explore content on Sherlockian.net related to the BSI, visit the featured links below!

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For the sixth annual John H Watson Society Treasure Hunt, dubbed TH6: Every Link Rings True, three-time Treasure Hunt Master Margie Deck presented a different type of challenge in style and structure for the hunters, and they certainly rose to meet it. In fact, the team earning High Honors submitted their hunt before the month was half over.

That team, ‘Experience of Canon,’ comprised of Beth Gallego, Paul Hartnett, and Ron Lies, earned 66 of 74 available points. The ever capable ‘Uno Studio in Holmes’ team earned Honors at 65 points; team members included Stefano Guerra, Michele Lopez, Vera Mazzotta, Gianluca Salvatori, and Enrico Solito.

Two returning teams earned the O.V.E. (Order of the Valiant Effort) award: ‘The Retired Beekeepers of Sussex,’ with 60 points, and ‘The Sound of the Baskervilles’ with 58 points. The Beekeepers team was comprised of Elinor Gray, Rowan MacBean, and Cheryl LeBlanc-Weldon. Cameron Brandon, Lauren Messenger, Sunny Even, and Francis Bond represented the SOBs.

For the third consecutive year, High Honors in the Individual Category went to Michael Ellis with 70 points. Treasure Hunt veteran Denny Dobry earned Honors in this category with 66 points. Two competitors new to the individual category received the O.V.E. award: Brad Keefauver with 52 points and Carmen Savino with 50 points.

Honorable Mention went to first time participant Paul Thomas Miller and returning competitor Gerry Turnbull who each earned 35 points before their time ran short. A Shout-Out went to returning participant Anne Nelson who managed 16 points while traveling across South Korea.

Sheila Holtgrieve worked with the Treasure Hunt Master again this year, proofreading, and serving as question-tester. In her test run of the hunt, she matched the individual category High Honors point totals.

With Treasure Hunt six successfully over, planning is underway for Treasure Hunt seven. There is a possibility that Michele Lopez, master of the very challenging 2017 edition, will return for 2019, and the talented Australian artist Phil Cornell has graciously agreed to create a very special memento for the 2019 participants. The fun, fellowship, and scholarship of the Treasure Hunt, as envisioned by Treasure Hunt founder, the late Don ‘Buttons’ Libey, continues in good form thanks to a group of dedicated volunteers.

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After a seasonal break, The Greek Interpreters of East Lansing, Michigan are up and running once more. This scion is composed largely of Michigan State University faculty and alumnus, with roots embedded in several MSU departments including Criminology, Chemistry, and Spanish. Additionally, these connections are supported by a relationship with the University library. This summer, the Greek Interpreters were honored to be given permission to make scion pins out of the 1993 Royal Mail Sherlock Holmes stamp collection.

Please visit the Greek Interpreters website if you would like more information about the dinners, history, or members of this particular scion. Each meeting consists of dinner, a quiz and discussion about the the chosen story, and readings including canonical toasts and a sonnet. Explore the Greek Interpreters website to learn more and become involved.

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The Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes (ASH) will be hosting their annual Autumn Luncheon on November 18, 2018! Based in New York City, ASH was founded in the late 1960s by a group of women students from Albertus Magnus College. With values rooted in inclusion, persistence, and perseverance, they are the oldest women’s Sherlockian Society in the world. In addition to their Autumn Luncheon, ASH regularly hosts formal and informal events in New York City all year long. They also publish The Serpentine Muse, a Sherlockian/Victorian journal that is open to all.

To read more about ASH’s fascinating origins, including their 25-year history of holding a dinner on the same night of the BSI annual dinner, visit their website.  

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Overlooked among the deluge of other holiday films, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly delivered yet another adaptation of the Great Detective and his trusted Dr. Watson. Written by Etan Cohen, who is best known for writing and directing Idiocracy and Tropic Thunder, Holmes and Watson attempts to put a humorous spin on Conan Doyle’s infamous pair. This new film attempts to bridge the gap between fans of Step Brothers and Talladega Nights and those who are familiar with the Holmes canon. However, to those not in the section of the venn diagram which overlaps, the film may seem confusing, unfunny, and downright boring.

Since its Christmas release, the movie has garnered a measly 8% from critics, and 28% from the audience on Rotten Tomatoes. Most reviews claim that the movie is not worth watching and breaks from tradition for Ferrell and Reilly. However, it seems that fans of the canon and other Holmesian adaptations might at least enjoy the references placed throughout. Additionally, the promise of a musical number and cameos from British names like Hugh Laurie, Steve Coogan, and Rob Brydon are almost tempting enough to inspire some Sherlockians to give it a shot.

Do you have any thoughts to share with the community about this film or other Sherlock Holmes adaptations? Let us know your thoughts via Twitter @Sherlockiannet or on our Sherlockian.net Facebook page.

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You’re sitting comfortably reading or watching something Sherlockian, and you stumble upon a line or passage so compelling that you must share it with someone. In a moment of pure literary elation, you pick up your phone only to realize that you don’t know a single soul who could possibly appreciate this excerpt as much as you. Well, you’re in luck, as this years 221B Convention is right around the corner.

This coming April—from the 5th to the 7th—in Atlanta, GA there will be a congregation of all things Sherlock Holmes as well as a myriad of people to nerd out in unison with. The event is affectionately dubbed 221B Con and, from the description on the website, sounds like it will be quite the time. There will be a great deal of activities ranging from panels that discuss the various iterations of Holmes and examine of the role of women in canonical literature to dance parties, and much more in between. 221B Con will also be proudly hosting authors Lyndsay Faye, internationally best-selling author of Dust and Shadow, and Nancy Springer who has written over fifty books.

You can join the conversation before the event by interacting with 221B Con on twitter @221bcon. Their twitter account has a plethora of great information dealing with other events/fun stuff pertinent to Sherlock Holmes. You can register for 221B Con now at 221bcon.com, and for all things Sherlockian, be sure to meander around our very own sherlockian.net. Happy sleuthing!

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There’s no shortage of people forming groups, or participating in already formed groups, to study and share their knowledge of, interest in, and passion for literature and fiction. This is obviously the case for the Sherlock Holmes stories, apparent in the existence of this very website, but the first and most notable literary society pertaining to The Great Detective is the Baker Street Irregulars, or BSI for short.

Affectionately named after the young London residents who serve as Sherlock Holmes’ intelligence probes, The BSI, as I will refer to them for the rest of this article, was founded in 1934 with the modus operandi of publishing, producing, and sharing a range of scholarship pertinent to Sherlock Holmes. The culmination of this presents itself in the Baker Street Journal, which is a subscription based print collection of musings and articles published by the BSI. The Baker Street Journal was founded in 1946 by Edgar W. Smith and, as stated by the BSI’s website, “is essential reading for anyone interested in Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and a world where it is always 1895.”

The most recent release of the Baker Street Journal is the 2018 Christmas Annual, which features content by Nicholas Utechin, author of Sherlock Holmes at Oxford, and Mattias Boström, the award-winning author of From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon. If the Baker Street Journal has peaked your interest, you can head to the BSI’s website to procure your very own subscription.

The BSI also publishes manuscript series, and recently, there was a controversy surrounding what what they would or would not publish. You can read more about that in a post by The Baker Street Babes.

For anything else Sherlock Holmes related, don’t hesitate to wander about sherlockian.net.

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The original Sherlockian texts were composed some 130 years ago, and though they are foundational to the “Detective-Mystery” genre, they hold very few agreements with “genre writing.” Finishing a Holmes piece without the taste of decorative Victorian English on your tongue is inconceivable, and this has set the general tone for the way in which the original canon is classified and approached by scholars. Literary groups such as the Baker Street Irregulars are an example of this approach to the canon, so to speak, accentuating the perceived literary merit of Holmes in their essays and opinions. With the emergence of contemporary TV and film adaptations and the genesis of the Sherlockian fandom, other lovable aspects of Holmes have emerged, and forward-thinking literary groups such as the Baker Street Babes take all facets into account.

The Baker Street Babes are a literary society dedicated to the classical elements of Sherlockian literature as well as the contemporary subjects apparent within the texts—and all through a refreshing female perspective. As stated by their website, the BSB are working to “help provide a bridge between the older and often intimidating World of Sherlockiana and the newer tech savvy generation,” a cause that benefits us all. Members of the BSB also host a podcast, which you can find (along with all of their social media) on their website.

Among the ranks of the BSB is Lyndsay Faye, an award winning author of historical thrillers and Sherlockian pastiches. Recently, there was a controversy regarding the BSI’s choice to deny one of Faye’s pieces publication, stating the “timeliness” of her text as a justification. Visit this post published by the Baker Street Babes to learn more. For more information regarding the BSB, BSI, or anything else Sherlockian, feel free to drift through our very own Sherlockian.net.

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In lieu of the situation regarding Chris Redmond, the Sherlockian.net team is reassessing roughly 100+ pages of content and 500+ links. While we are contractually obligated to keep his name on our site and keep him on our board of advisors until October 2019, know that we stand with and support the survivors. We will no longer be his publisher. We will provide more information as it becomes available.

If you have any concerns or questions, please contact us.

-Sherlockian.net Team

In reading Sherlock Holmes for however long you have, has there ever been a time when you felt an inclination to become a great detective yourself? It’s understandable, really. Through reading Dr. Watson’s accounts, you are just as involved and pertinent as any character moving within the pages. At a certain age, you likely dismissed this adolescent fantasy, or if you didn’t discover Holmes until later, the thought likely never carried any legitimacy. But, for those of you who haven’t abandoned your youthful tenderness or your adoration for all things Holmes, we here at Sherlockian.net know just the place for you to live out your fantasy.

In Portsmouth, England there’s a museum – creatively named the Portsmouth Museum – which houses an interactive Sherlock Holmes case. You can solve “The Case of the Portsmouth Doctor” at the amusingly named “A Study in Sherlock” exhibit by downloading the Portsmouth Writers app on your smartphone. Through this app, you can follow Holmes and even Arthur Conan Doyle himself, who famously lived and worked in Portsmouth. After solving the case, you’re presented with a conclusory exhibit titled “The Story of Portsmouth,” which chronicles the history of the city and how it’s changed over time. For those of you that don’t have a smartphone, there are interactive screens lining the exhibit, allowing everyone to take part in the case.

More than just Sherlock Holmes, the Portsmouth Museum is rich in local history. Better yet, admission is entirely free. For more information on the museum, and specifically the Holmes exhibit, you can read their explanation at the Portsmouth Museum website, and for anything else Sherlockian, be sure to investigate the innumerable other pages on our very own, Sherlockian.net

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