Sherlock Holmes in Context

Sam Naidu is Associate Professor in the Department of English, Rhodes University, South Africa. Her main research and teaching areas are crime and detective fiction and transnational literature. She has published widely on South African crime and detective fiction and also on indigenous folklore and ethnography in colonial South Africa.

“This collection is best for scholars interested in comparing Sherlock Holmes adaptations in their contexts to Sherlock Holmes in his canonical appearances. It is particularly strong for those studying the BBC’s Sherlock.” (Malcah Effron, cercles.com, June, 2018)“Sherlock Holmes in Context covers topics not found in other books about Holmes and offers new insights into Sherlock and other adaptations. As part of Palgrave Macmillan’s Crime Files series, this book should help scholars and fans (or those who are both at once) discover new interpretations of well-known stories, novels, films, and episodes and gain a deeper understanding of the multi-faceted Sherlock Holmes.” (Lynnette Porter, English Literature in Transition 1880-1920, Vol. 61 (3), 2018)“This was a very strong collection of essays, which were engagingly written, thought provoking and stimulating. They follow on well from one another, with essays often picking up similar themes from the previous one but discussing them in a different way. … I definitely recommend this collection for fans of Sherlock Holmes … .” (crossexaminingcrime, crossexaminingcrime.wordpress.com, May, 2017)

• Introduction.- Chapter 1. “All that Matters is the Work”; Ann McClellan.- Chapter 2. Clients who disappear and colleagues who cannot compete; Benedick Turner.-  Chapter 3. “I, Too, Mourn the Loss"; Charlotte Beyer.- Chapter 4. The Trickster, Remixed: Sherlock Holmes as Master of Disguise; Benjamin Poore.- Chapter 5. Holmes and his Boswell in Cosplay and Roleplay; Lynn Duffy.- Chapter 6. A “Horrific Breakdown of Reason”; Sam Naidu.- Chapter 7. Sherlock Holmes and the Fiction of Agency; Martin Wagner. Chapter 8. The Savage Subtext of The Hound of the Baskervilles; David Grylls.- Chapter 9. Holmes into Challenger.; Douglas Kerr.- Chapter 10. Modernising Holmes; Emily Garside.