“This professor is the sort of teacher who makes learning a pleasure.”

Marino Alvarez’s A Professor Reflects on Sherlock Holmes is a fascinating collection of essays and writings about Sherlock Holmes. In their current newsletter, The Sherlock Holmes Society of London reviews this new book.

“The title of A Professor Reflects on Sherlock Holmes by Marino C Alvarez (MX Publishing; £9.99/ $16.95/ €12.99) deliberately echoes that of A Doctor Enjoys Sherlock Holmes by Edward J Van Liere. The twelve
essays make you think, but they also entertain you.

Dr Alvarez compares the writing styles of Watson and Holmes, but stresses that only the reader can say which was the better storyteller. He considers Holmes’s potential as a teacher and as an academic. He distinguishes between the logical and the empirical.

In the second section, Dr Alvarez follows Holmes to Meiringen and the Reichenbach Falls, and then visits Trinity College, Oxford, preceding the Society’s time there by a month. This professor is the sort of teacher who makes learning a pleasure. I’m sorry our visits didn’t coincide!”

A Professor Reflects On Sherlock Holmes is available through all good bookstores including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble USA with advanced copies available from The Mysterious Bookshop and Classic Specialities.