Would you like to tread in the footsteps of your favourite fictional detective heroes, exploring where they lived, scrutinising the actual scenes of the crimes they investigated, or visiting the pubs and clubs where they went to unwind after a hard day counting the bodies? Of course you would!
So – how do you go about it? It's elementary, my dear reader....just follow the clues and then click on your mouse!
London – Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes
Holmes’ cold, penetrating gaze could sweep the scene of the crime like a Victorian Darth Vader, but he also played the violin, injected drugs and wore a deerstalker cap in the middle of the West End. He was a true English eccentric with a razor-sharp brain. His loyal sidekick, Watkins, grounded him in the real world thus allowing the brainy sleuth to indulge in mind games, music and morphine.
At the Sherlock Holmes Museum, 221b Baker Street you will find a replica of Holmes’ fictional rooms where he found board and lodging with his long-suffering landlady, Mrs Hudson. The Museum is extremely realistic and also has an imitation blue-plaque on the outside wall – but remember, Holmes and Watson were figments of the great Arthur Conan Doyle’s brilliant imagination and not real people, as many people believe! The Museum is open every day of the year (except Christmas Day) from 9.30am - 6pm.
There is a fascinating walk led by experienced leaders of a well-established company, London Walks. Called In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes, the walk follows Holmes and Watson from Charing Cross, through to The Strand and on to the wonderful Covent Garden area.
At the end of this walk, there is a visit to a reproduction of Holmes’ study. Here you can see many artefacts that have been donated by the Conan Doyle family. This walk takes place every Friday at 2 pm and you meet your guide, either Richard IV or Corinna, outside Embankment Tube Station.
Conan Doyle based Sherlock Holmes on a real life forensic scientist, Dr Joseph Bell whom he knew from his student days in Edinburgh. This Edinburgh clue leads us nicely on to our next fictional favourite.
Edinburgh – Ian Rankin’s Inspector John Rebus
Like Robert Louis Stevenson’s Edinburgh-based novel, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Rankin creates a sleazy underbelly for the seemingly conservative and respectable Scottish city. He places his dysfunctional detective, John Rebus, not only geographically within Edinburgh’s famous sites and real-life situations, but takes the reader into its dark heart, both physically and psychologically.
Rebus is a dishevelled loner, a drinker, a divorcee and an outsider – in other words, a compelling character who is all too human, a man with a tough shell masking a hidden vulnerability. Any tour of Rebus’ Edinburgh will therefore reveal the fictional duality of both the city and the detective.
There are two guided Rebus walks organised by the well-respected Rebustours. Hidden Edinburgh and Secret Edinburgh are both two hours long and are led by the enthusiastic and extremely well-informed Scottish actor, Colin Brown. Readings from the novels are given at the appropriate locations, which include amongst others the Old Town, Holyrood Scottish Parliament, Arthur’s Seat and not least, the Oxford Bar where Rebus likes to drown his sorrows.
Divorced, dishevelled and drunk are not words that are ever associated with our next impeccably dressed Belgian bloodhound.
Bloomsbury and the British Pullman Train – Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot
Poirot, the famous Belgian detective, could so easily be perceived as an annoying little man. His immaculate appearance, carefully waxed moustache, obsession with neatness and order, and his high self-regard for himself and his abilities could lead to loathing. But in fact, readers love him! The main reason for this is because Poirot regards himself, in the main, completely dispassionately. He often refers to himself as "Poirot."
Poirot’s neurotic attention to detail with regard to his clothes and his personal space extend to the way he utilises his "little grey cells" to retrieve psychological order from criminal chaos. And who couldn’t be intrigued by a famous detective who won’t go to dinner with his assistant, Captain Hastings, because he has to finish collating his stamp collection!
Many people who have read the books also enjoy David Suchet’s portrayal of the little detective in the television series, Poirot. Suchet is regarded as the finest interpreter of the brainy Belgian. But equally interesting is the part played by that area of London known as Bloomsbury where many of the Poirot episodes are filmed. A firm called Detective Tours specialises in tailor-made tours, including the Bloomsbury of Poirot, and this might include an imposing building which in the books is known as Whitehaven Mansions. This is Poirot’s fictional flat, which for the television series is, in reality, Florin Court, Charterhouse Square, London WC1.
Dedicated Poirot fans can suspend reality completely by boarding a Pullman Train at London’s Victoria station. Whilst enjoying a five-course lunch, glass of champagne and half a bottle of wine you will relive the atmosphere of Murder on the Orient Express, complete with suspicious fellow passengers, a dreadful murder and the opportunity to help the Belgian sleuth solve the mystery! This tour doesn’t come cheap at around £300 but, after all, for Poirot only the best is good enough!
Now you have solved the mystery of where to find your favourite detectives – the game's afoot!
Sources:
- "Scenes of the Crime," Daily Telegraph, 12th May 2007
- "The Edinburgh of Rankin and Rebus," Undiscovered Scotland: The Ultimate Online Guide
- "Whitehaven Mansions," Hercule Poirot Central
- Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Penguin Classics, 2003.
- Arthur Conan Doyle, Complete Sherlock Holmes, Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 2008
- Ian Rankin, Rebus: The Early Years (includes Knots and Crosses, Hide and Seek, Tooth and Nail) Orion, 2000.
- Agatha Christie, Poirot: The Perfect Murders (includes The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, Murder in the Mews, Hercule Poirot’s Christmas), Harper Collins, 2004.
