The Speckled Band Analysis

Sherlock Holmes novels are the face of mystery, featuring literature’s greatest detective, but one might ask, how does The Hound of the Baskervilles fit into the genre’s common conventions? Mystery being a sub genre of genre fiction novels, it has many common conventions found throughout the majority of the novels. In the average mystery, the plot focuses around a crime, commonly a murder or a robbery, in which the culprit must be found by the protagonist. The crime in Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles is that Sir Charles Baskerville has been murdered, or frightened to the point of death. Generally the protagonist who solves the mystery, has a dominant character flaw and/or defining characteristic which aids them in cracking

Conan Doyle in “The Speckled Band” allows Sherlock Holmes to discover clues that he relays to Watson allowing the reader to get a feeling for what is to come. The clues that are discovered may not help the reader solve the mystery, but that is why Doyle’s stories have lasted for ever because they keep the readers guessing. During the story, Holmes points out several important clues including the dummy bell pull connected

Another way Doyle creates suspense in his stories is that he makes deliberate culprits that seem suspicious; straight away the readers will think they have found whoever Holmes is looking for, but in the end the story is twisted around and the real offender is found the total opposite to what the reader was probably thinking. In Silver Blaze, to everyone it seems as if ‘Fitzroy Simpson’ was the culprit but everyone soon found out that it was the actual horse ‘Silver Blaze’. No one would have even thought of it to be the horse, so this one of the main ways suspense is created. Also it has the readers guessing who the actual criminal is.

I have not attempted to identify a named suspect as a consequence of my conclusions. In the course of an objective appraisal it is quite wrong to start with a suspect and then attempt to make the facts fit as so many later day investigators have done. Such an approach unavoidably leads to a skewed interpretation. I have, however, given a broad idea as to the type of man that Jack the Ripper may have been, and although such a summary may be of use to others, it lies firmly in the realm of

“They tend to share certain key characteristics. They're manipulative, cold, and lack what we might call a moral compass--they know right from wrong but are not invested in that distinction. Their only concern with their ‘wrong’ behavior is getting caught, but because they are deceitful, callous and not subject to anxiety, they easily elude capture” (Spikol, 5). These sort of criminals were ones that the Chicago Police Department had never been introduced to before, causing them to change their entire perspective on cases once Holmes’ had passed. According to John Bartlow Martin, a writer for the “Harper’s Archive”, Holmes’ murder castle was filled with trapdoors, gas chambers, secret passageways, and even pits of acid used to get rid of bodies and other pieces of evidence. These were all things that the law enforcers had never even heard of in a story, much less seen or thought of in real life. It’s safe to say that Holmes drastically affected the police’s outlook on the cases in the near, and even far, future of criminals after his mystery; or at least part of his mystery had been

H.H. Holmes personifies the stereotypical murder. Throughout his killing spree, Holmes pretended to be a gentleman, even marrying some of his victims. When Holmes was interrogated later, he described himself as Satan.(6) Using a friendly outward appearance, Holmes was able to escape suspicion when the victims’ family questioned disappearances. Holmes gave those families false hope that the victims would be found, or had just run away and had not died. When in reality Holmes had brutally murdered each one and hid all of evidence.

Once the public believed that Frank was the killer, there was no turning back. The police and court had to make sure the evidence lined up to prove him guilty in order to prevent public uproar. For example, bloody fingerprints were found on the victim's jacket, but there is no indication that they were ever analyzed. Also, a trail in the dirt along which police believed Phagan had been dragged was trampled and no footprints were ever identified. The police feared that if this evidence did not line up against Frank, it would have caused a public uprising. Another suspect, Jim Conley (see p. ) never had his shirt tested for blood because he said he had been drunk and away from the factory the day that Mary was killed.

With the estimated 200 victims of Holmes 9 confirmed and 27 confessed, we could have pin pointed exactly if he was their murder and this would have eased so many families minds who wondered what had happened to their loved ones. In the late 1800s when identifying a body, family members would have to recollect on features such as, teeth or hair, if it was still available. For example, long black hair was used to describe Nellie Pietzal. In cases now, we use fingerprints to identify bodies and most of the time their killer simply because of evidence left on the victim. It is hard to tell how many people walked into Chicago’s fair daily, but with the help of today’s technology we could pin point every set of prints that were there. In fact, most of Holmes victims were lured from the fair to his very own hotel where the crimes were committed. This alone could have aided in the incarceration of H. H Holmes

One of the first steps in finding out whom the suspect is, is by obtaining and evaluating factual information. You must obtain as much information on the offense as you can.For instance, Harry Franks, a money-order collector, had just walked out of the Cute-Rate store in Fairmount where he was attacked by two guys. These two attackers had thrown acid in Mr. Franks face, beat him and then executed him with a gun. A third attacker pulled up to the side of the curb in a green car in which the other two attackers got into and all three attackers drove off. Information on the

Sherlock Holmes’s intelligence is demonstrated in both “The Red-Headed League” and “A Scandal in Bohemia”. During “A Scandal in Bohemia” he first demonstrates his intuitive thinking by figuring out that Count Kramm, the man introducing him on the case, is actually the King of Bohemia himself. This shows that he is able to make a quick determination about people’s lives just by having a brief conversation with them. This allows Holmes to solve mysteries that others cannot by simply looking at a suspect or location associated with the scenario. He uses this ability later in the story to find where the incriminating photo of the king with Adler is. He does this by creating a situation for himself where he will be able to get into Adler’s home. He then fakes a fire to see where Adler goes first so he can see where she keeps her most valuable possession, the photo. Holmes states “When a woman thinks that her house is on fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she values the most… Now it was clear to me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious to her then what we are questing for” (Doyle 19). This line of thinking shows that Holmes knows how to get people to inadvertently give him the information that he needs by putting them in the right situation and observing what they do. This skill

The Speckled Band by Sherlock Holmes Detective stories first became popular in the Victorian era following the emergence of organized police forces in the 1830's. Fascination with the criminal heros accompanied a corresponding interest in the methodical uncovering of crime. Public hangings were frequent and Victorian people feared crime greatly. This meant that when the detective stories came about they felt the fictional character that cracked every case became the perfect detective i.e. Arthur Conan Doyle's character, Sherlock Holmes. SherlockHolmes was actually an amateur detective not a member of the London plaice force and the Victorians had a deep resentment against the police, as they were

At the opening of this novel we meet Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes, whom has an unexpected visitor by the name of Dr. Mortimer, who introduces the detectives to a puzzling mystery of Baskerville

The homicide scene introduces Holmes's incredible reasoning processes. In a search to figure out the answer to a death, the local detectives call in Holmes. The man, who had a boarding pass for a flight that crashed the day before, appears suspiciously dead in the trunk of a car. Within thirty seconds of investigation, Holmes's observations lead him to over four conclusions. As Holmes searches through the contents found on the dead man's body, the point of view is placed directly through Sherlock's eyes. His eyes focus on intricate

When someone mentions the occupation of detective, a single image usually comes to mind, a man wearing a cape and deerstalker, holding a magnifying glass and smoking a pipe. This entire image can be contributed to one character: Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is considered by many to be the greatest detective to ever exist, even if he only exists in the pages of books and on movie and television screens. It is impossible to escape the influence of Holmes. Countless references are made to him in all types of media and he is used as an inspiration to may more fictional characters we have all grown to love. The cultural impact of Sherlock Holmes has spread to more than just fiction; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s

Holmes reads a disguised note with the clues 534...C2...13...’Holmes interprets this as some crime about to occur.