HerlockSholmes

They tracked down his descendants but the science is inconclusive. The guy who bought the shawl is the same guy who recently claimed to have found the skull of Keith Bennett (victim of Brady and Hindley) on Saddleworth Moor. It wasn’t.

Sorry Hikari, I missed this post. Yes, Kosminski is a valid suspect but, like all suspects, doubts abound. There was an alleged ID parade which Sir Robert Anderson mentions in his book but it’s mentioned nowhere else so we can’t confirm it. He said that the witness wouldn’t identify him because he was a fellow Jew, but again, there’s just no evidence for this. Anderson’s subordinate was Donald Swanson, and in his copy of Anderson’s book (discovered in the 80’s) he’d pencilled in the margin “Kosminski was the suspect.” Its intriguing but there’s just not enough to convict. Like all suspects, 99% of whom are absolute nonsense. People who were simply alive at the time. We’ve had Sickert (as you’ve mentioned) Sir William Gull, Lewis Carroll, Vincent Van Gogh, Dr. Barnado, Frank Miles, Francis Thompson (poet) and even Arthur Conan Doyle!!! Eventually they’ll simply run out of men. In my opinion the only 3 that are worthy of much attention are Kosminski, Montague John Druitt and William Henry Bury. Followed by perhaps 5 or 6 lesser ones, then close to 200 ‘no chances.’

Hi Carol, Yes the shawl evidence is not considered very strong. We also have to consider the back story. It was claimed that it was taken by PC Amos Simpson who the family claim (I believe) discovered the body of Catherine Eddowes. The first issue is that Simpson was a Metropolitan Police Offices and the body was discovered in the City of London which had, and still has, it’s own police force. They claimed that he was on ‘special duty’ which isn’t impossible but there’s no evidence for it. And even though the police didn’t use modern day methods it’s hardly likely that he’d have been able to have taken crime scene evidence. Finally, and most importantly, Simpson definitely didn’t discover the body. It was discovered by a PC Watkins who then sent a nearby night watch man for assistance and we know which officers arrived until the doctors got there. No mention of Simpson in the entire case. The suspect, Kosminski, is a ‘possible,’ but the shawl is a bit of a red herring.

Hi Hikari, The eye infection sounds nasty so I hope your ok now? I hope you’re enjoying revisiting House because I have to say that I got a little (only a little) obsessed by it. I was watching 2 episodes every night until I finished it. It’s a great series and I’ve often wondered if there could be any doors open for any more of them although I don’t think they’d be the same without his Watson/Wilson. The Mentalist is another one that I’ve never seen so I’ll have to keep an eye out for it. (The ‘eye’ pun was unintentional.)😀

Hi Carol, I’m a month late. Yeah it’s over a mile. I’ve walked it and it feels like more. But I’m lazy🙂

If you type ‘Speedy’s Cafe flat’ you might be able to find the Daily Mail article which has more photos of upstairs. All this messing around and Carol will probably tell me “oh, someone posted the photo’s of the flat ages ago.”😄

Ok, I’ll try again. I found a picture of one of the upstairs room and clicked the ‘visit’ below which took me back to the original page….so here goes… https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9368549/Flat-Sherlock-Speedys-Sandwich-Bar-available-let-1-365-month.html Nope, that doesn’t work. I’ll try the individual picture.. https://www.google.com/search?q=speedy's+cafe+flat&rlz=1C9BKJA_enGB704GB704&hl=en-GB&prmd=misvn&sxsrf=ALiCzsbX33IzsAe1sVwZNdC-9xY8keXG9w:1667381538165&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjb8qWimI_7AhWHLMAKHYlVB6IQ_AUoAnoECAIQAg&biw=1024&bih=1247&dpr=2#imgrc=imiFyFQsfwUliM That works.👍

Hi all, this includes a few pics of the flat upstairs. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9368549/Flat-Sherlock-Speedys-Sandwich-Bar-available-let-1-365-month.html As Beasleybean says “definitely not cheap.” That’s $1568 per month. £16k a year is less than many people earn in many parts of the UK. ps. That’s weird. The link is saying ‘site can’t be reached.’ I just googled it again and clicked again to find the same message. Yet 5 minutes ago it showed the whole article with photos.

A Victorian gentleman….in the kitchen….the very thought Carol.😄

‘Dunkirk’ is a cracker of a story. I’ve called a temporary halt on pastiche buying too but you’re ahead of me on the MX series. I think I’m up to 9 or 10 so far although I do have all of David Marcum’s Solar Pons stuff plus his Holmes and Pons working together books that I know you haven’t gone for. So many to choose from. One individual story I’d have to recommend as a classic it’s The Adventure Of The Unique Hamlet by Vincent Starrett. Brilliant. You can read it here without needing to buy it. It’s not a long story. I’d recommend anyone to take a very few minutes and read it and see that it’s easily good enough to have been written by Doyle. And although I hate to say it, it’s better than some of Doyle’s stories. http://www.bestofsherlock.com/story/unique-hamlet-text.htm I know that you’ve read it of course Hikari.

I can try and get to Gower Street Carol but I’ll be with someone and we have a bit of an itinerary so I can’t be sure. The last time that I was there I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat outside. It was funny to see someone have to say “excuse me, can I get to my door please,” because people were having their photos took in front of the door.

Surely if a show is cancelled it’s done for reasons of poor viewing figures which certainly wasn’t the case with Sherlock? If the BBC decided for some reason that they wanted no more to do with the series, but Moftiss said that they were ready to do another one, then companies like Netflix would be falling over themselves to take it off the BBC’s hands. I don't know if there is any I’ll feeling between the cast members (Cumberbatch and Freeman) but I tend to think it’s simply a case of them both now being actors with a capital ‘A.’ Perhaps they now view Sherlock as a bit of a soap opera (their humble beginnings?) which they are now too big to appear in? Or maybe they both have a bit of Basil Rathbone syndrome (they don’t want to risk being mainly viewed as Sherlock and John?) Another series could still be a possibility of course but the death of Una Stubbs does leave a huge gap even though her role wasn’t a large one in terms of screen time. Also Mary’s death robs the programme of a strong character (I did like Mary) and we surely couldn’t hope for a another back-from-the-dead scenario? Moftiss made another series trickier with the addition of the baby though. To be honest I’m a little foggy on how the last series ended because I haven’t re-watched it but does the arrival of a baby hint at no plans for more episodes? I don’t know. So we have no real hints on the likelihood of another series but I seemed to recall one of them (or both) hinting at the possibility of a one-off? I’m perhaps a little surprised that they haven’t considered a movie? Either way we have a dearth of Sherlock and Sherlock Holmes. Apart from the next RJD movie I know of nothing on the horizon. I’ve only seen the first 4 series of Elementary so I guess that I could catch up on that and I’ve watched all of House. So all that I have to look forward to (and I’ll be alone in this one😀) is the eventual issue of the Eille Norwood silent movies which are being remastered at long last. Im off to London in 2 weeks time but it’s all quiet in Baker Street at the moment and for the foreseeable future sadly. You never really know though.🤞

Hi Carol, I hope you’re well?

Lots of great pastiche writers out there. If I had to suggest one I’d say checkout Denis O Smith. He’s done quite a few collections. Absolutely brilliant.

GLOR : 12 july 1874 MUSG : 2 october 1879 STUD : 4 march 1881 SPEC : 6 april 1883 RESI : 6 october 1886 NOBL : 8 october 1886 SECO : 12 october 1886 REIG : 14 april 1887 SCAN : 20 may 1887 TWIS : 18 june 1887 FIVE : 29 september 1887 IDEN : 18 october 1887 REDH : 29 october 1887 DYIN : 19 november 1887 BLUE : 27 december 1887 VALL : 7 january 1888 YELL : 7 april 1888 GREE : 12 september 1888 SIGN : 18 september 1888 HOUN : 25 september 1888 COPP : 5 april 1889 BOSC : 8 june 1889 STOC : 15 june 1889 NAVA : 30 july 1889 CARD : 31 august 1889 ENGR : 7 september 1889 CROO : 11 september 1889 WIST : 24 march 1890 SILV : 25 september 1890 BERY : 19 december 1890 FINA : 24 april 1891 EMPT : 5 april 1894 GOLD : 14 november 1894 3STU : 5 april 1895 SOLI : 13 april 1895 BLAC : 3 july 1895 NORW : 20 august 1895 BRUC : 21 november 1895 VEIL : october 1896 SUSS : 19 november 1896 MISS : 8 december 1896 ABBE : 23 january 1897 DEVI : 16 march 1897 DANC : 27 july 1898 RETI : 28 july 1898 CHAS : 5 january 1899 SIXN : 8 june 1900 THOR : 4 october 1900 PRIO : 16 may 1901 SHOS : 6 may 1902 3GAR : 26 june 1902 LADY : 1 july 1902 ILLU : 3 september 1902 REDC : 24 september 1902 MAZA : 1903 BLAN : 7 january 1903 3GAB : 26 may 1903 CREE : 6 september 1903 LION : 27 july 1909 LAST : 2 august 1914 Just for comparison this is William S. Baring Gould’s chronology. As you might guess there a fair few others. Hats off to Chronologist.👍

On the subject of tv detective adaptations I’ve recently watched three episodes of the series Maigret starring Michael Gambon. This is another series that I didn’t watch when it was released and I’ve never made any effort to catch up. I did watch, and loved, the recent versions with Roman Atkinson in the title role though so I was interested in comparing the two when I saw the older one being repeated over here. I was certainly impressed by Gambon’s laid back detective. As you would expect there were lots of parts for actors that made appearances in programmes like Morse and the Grenada Holmes series so it was a case of ‘spot the actor.’ I really enjoyed these three episodes. No car chases or gun battles, just good stories. Well worth a watch. Which one do I prefer? I think that the Roman Atkinson version shades it for me but that might change the more I see of Gambon.

I guess that a not very believable basic idea isn’t reason for simply dismissing a show but there was something about it that I never liked. Maybe if I gave it a second chance. Many shows have a strange basic ideas of course. Let’s face it, fewer people died at Agincourt than have died in Midsomer🙂 And then we had Rosemary and Thyme over here where 2 gardeners were forever tripping over bodies and insinuating themselves into investigations. Of all of the USA detectives shows I have to say that Columbo is number one for me although I couldn’t claim to have seen them all. When I was a kid I used to love Starsky and Hutch too. I could never bring myself to watch the remake though as I’m not a fan of remakes in general. I hated the re-make of True Grit and, much as I like Steve Martin, I hated his take on Clouseau. I never bothered watching his Bilko but I just can’t see Bilko as anyone but Phil Silvers.

I’ll have to reserve judgment until I’ve seen more episodes Carol.😄 I never liked Murder She Wrote even though it became staggeringly popular.

I just watched my first episode of Jonathan Creek although I didn’t note the title of the episode. It also starred UK comedy actor John Bluthall playing a Benny Hill type comedian who allegedly committed suicide. I really enjoyed it and will be looking for more. I also want to live in a windmill. There was one part of the episode where Caroline Quentin suggested an idea of how the suicide might have been staged which reminded me of The Problem Of Thor Bridge. That Holmes bloke gets everywhere.🙂

True Carol.👍

They could do a kind of final ‘Sherlock’ in the form of His Last Bow. In the Holmes story he’s retired of course and being looked after by a Martha. So maybe a one-off? Sherlock is far too young to retire of course but he could have left London, abandoning detective work, to take up some kind of research or secret work for the government (or Mycroft as it’s known.) One final adventure with John? I don’t know but I’m certainly starting to feel it less and less likely that they’ll do another series. Let’s hope I’m wrong.

I’ve also got Meyer’s Adventures Of The Peculiar Protocols to read. Plus he released a new Holmes story last year called The Return Of The Pharoah which I haven’t bought yet. So that’s 5 in total that he’s written so far.

No it doesn’t Carol.

That’s right Cays.

I’ve just read The Canary Trainer by Nicholas Meyer (who wrote 5 pastiches including The Seven Percent Solution of course) Irene Adler makes a re-appearance and her husband has died.