Network diagram of The Sign of the Four, chapter 1. Holmes’s eccentricity is countered by Dr Watson who is more relatable to the average reader and can explain Holmes’s crime-solving method of deductive reasoning. This pair dynamic was foundational for crime fiction at the time. Doyle added several innovations to the crime fiction genre such as the close relationship between the highly intelligent detective and his by comparison normal companion. However, Arthur Conan Doyle revolutionised crime fiction and is largely responsible for the genre as it is known today. The beginnings of crime fiction likely lie in Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories, most notably ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ (1841) as well as Willkie Collins’s novel The Moonstone (1868). In this adventure, they attempt to solve a case which unfolds to reveal a complex web of criminal activity involving murder, corruption and theft with its origins stretching across the globe to India but also firmly rooted in Britain. Her research interests are late Victorian gothic fiction, the literature of the fin de siècle, and the aesthetic movement.įirst published in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine in 1890, The Sign of the Four was Arthur Conan Doyle’s second tale featuring detective Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr Watson. Helen studied English at University College Dublin. Today’s feature is a guest post on social networks in the Sherlock Holmes novella The Sign of the Four, by former student Helen Kirrane.
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