In Reply to: Sherlock Holmes book idea posted by Brian A on July 14, 2010 at 13:23:21:
perhaps to have been used as somewhat of a template at least in the opinion of this Professor for Doyle's designing of the Great Detective's Methods.C8822. Kellogg, Richard L. "Holmes and the Notorious Muller," Calabash, No. 3 (March 1983), 42-47.
In the 1860's Inspector Michael Kerressey of the London Metropolitan Police did a masterful job of tracking down the railway killer, Franz Muller. A review of the Muller case suggests that Holmes was familiar with the investigation and applied some of Kerressey's methods in his own cases. Kerressey and Holmes were both pioneers in adapting the scientific method to the field of criminal investigation.
While he does get his first name wrong, it was Walter I honestly think it is kind of a strech from my reading of the Court Transcripts available on-line. This Inspector's testimony is brief and limited and I;d have to imagine not so terribly innovative beyond those of general Police methods in common use. I'd be inclined to suspect the Professor just wanted to be published and strung this theory together but it was neat to see this association made and to find an ancestor was a London Police Detective.
Edits: 07/17/10
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- An old distant relative on Father's side appears - ArdRi 13:56:10 07/17/10 (0)