Doyle and Sherlock Holmes – Letters To The Editor – Letter to the Editor
Steve Chandler
Your latest piece on Houdini, Massimo Polidoro’s “Houdini’s Final Days” (November/December 2003) reminds me of an old question about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that I’ve been curious about for a long time. Given Doyle’s apparently strong and sincere belief in spiritualism, I’ve always thought it strange that his detective, Sherlock Holmes (so far as I know; I haven’t read all the stories), never resorted to any paranormal means for solving a crime. That character prided himself on relying solely on empirical evidence and rational deduction, didn’t he? Do any of you know? Did Doyle ever resort to spiritualism in any of his mysteries? If not, I wonder why not, since I presume he would have thought it a perfectly normal natural phenomenon.
Steve Chandler
Moscow, Idaho
Massimo Polidoro replies:
Thank you. This has given me an idea for one of my next columns, when 1 will deal with exactly this problem.
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