Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the Canon Reading

Sort of. I'm working on a Professor Moriarty story for an anthology of same and the editor would like the stories to be based in the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlockian canon. Le Sigh. First, the bad professor appears only once on stage and is merely mentioned elsewhere a few times in the original stories. Second, it means I can't do fun stuff, like making him and Irene Adler the same character (I love this approach in Elementary, just saying, and would much rather mess with canon).  I have read a number of the original stories, but up until recently, just the ones almost everyone else reads. So for this project, I decided to rectify this by reading ALL the stories. For those keeping score at home, that's 4 short novels and 60 short stories. I'm on page 950 of Vol. 1, with another 150 pages to go, to be followed by 752  pages of Vol. 2, Why? I like to do immersive research. Plus some of it is quite interesting.

What I've learned so far:

• There were vegetarian restaurants in London in the late 1800s. Sure, maybe you knew this, but I did not.
• When in something approaching doubt and filled with a need to distract coworkers and associates to buy time, look cryptic and say, "You know my methods." You can always berate them afterwards when they mess it up.
• Apparently, Holmes' favorite weapon was a "loaded riding crop." This will send you to Google and, if familiar with a contemporary riding crop, leave you baffled on how effective this might be. Near as I can tell, it was kind of like a blackjack, only much longer, but not as flappy as the contemporary implement.
• Amongst the more interesting stories (at least to me) is the "The Adventure of the Yellow Face," in which the mystery hinges on the fact that the main female character, a widow, has a mixed-race child from a previous marriage who she's hiding from Hubby #2 because she's afraid he'll divorce her and leave her unable to support herself or her child. Doyle is sympathetic and supportive (remember this was published in 1893) and has Hubby #2 do the right thing and accept the little girl, after some moving speeches all around. Holmes also tells Watson to remind him that he was wrong about this case the next time he's being a bit too full of himself (Holmes has been assuming that this was a case of blackmail). Bearing in mind that this was published the same year as Kate Chopin's wrenching story, "Desiree's Baby," in which the main female character and her mixed race child are driven into the bayous to die, Doyle's spin on things is wildly progressive (though still rather Victorian, just saying). But then Chopin was writing about injustice, race and gender while Doyle was writing about his notion of decent behavior for a gentleman of his time in the context of a mystery plot. Also, American South vs. Great Britain at the height of the Empire. Interesting to compare and contrast.
• Never show your work. You'll look like a genius when you trot out your deductive reasoning after you've spent a fortnight on the docks disguised as a tar or three hours meeting with local tradesmen to gather clues. Your factotum/recorder/sidekick will be totally wowed and the reader will never, ever be able to solve the mystery because it's almost all off stage.
• Plot, who needs plot? Character-driven all the way!
• Random stuff. So far, despite requests to the contrary, there are no cats. Odd, since Holmes seems like a cat kind of guy. As does Moriarty. Also, Watson occasionally tries to encourage Holmes to develop an interest in a few of the stronger female characters, which I hadn't realized. Closest modern equivalent: oddly enough, the Robert Downey, Jr./Jude Law steampunk Holmes movies are closest to the spirit of the stories in a lot of ways. BBC's Sherlock toes more of the line with the original canon in terms of story plot. Rathbone/Bruce - Bruce's just too bloody dumb. Elementary - love it, but it's a very difference set of stories.

There may be more when I finish up. And possibly an entire book of essays on this as a learning experience. :-)