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Who created the fictional detective 'Sherlock Holmes'?
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Answer: Option B — Arthur Conan Doyle
Detailed Solution
Sherlock Holmes, the world's most famous fictional detective, was created by the Scottish writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
About Sherlock Holmes:
- He first appeared in the novel "A Study in Scarlet", published in 1887 in "Beeton's Christmas Annual".
- He is a brilliant consulting detective living at 221B Baker Street, London, known for his powers of observation, logical deduction, his violin, his pipe and his deerstalker cap.
His stories are narrated by his friend and companion, Dr. John Watson, a former army doctor who served in Afghanistan.
His greatest enemy is Professor James Moriarty, the "Napoleon of crime".
Other characters include Mrs. Hudson (his landlady), Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard, Irene Adler and his brother Mycroft Holmes.
Conan Doyle wrote 4 novels and 56 short stories about Holmes:
- Novels: "A Study in Scarlet" (1887), "The Sign of the Four" (1890), "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (1902) and "The Valley of Fear" (1915).
- Short story collections include "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (1892) and "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes".
In "The Final Problem" (1893), Conan Doyle "killed" Holmes, who fell with Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland. Because of public demand, he brought Holmes back in "The Adventure of the Empty House" (1903).
About Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930):
He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and trained as a doctor.
The character of Holmes was partly inspired by his university teacher, Dr. Joseph Bell, who was known for his skill in observation.
His other works include "The Lost World" (1912), featuring Professor Challenger, and historical novels.
He was knighted in 1902.
Other famous fictional detectives:
- Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple: created by Agatha Christie.
- Auguste Dupin: created by Edgar Allan Poe in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841), often called the first detective story.
Father Brown: created by G. K. Chesterton.
Indian detectives: Byomkesh Bakshi (Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay) and Feluda (Satyajit Ray).
Why not the other options?
- ✗Agatha Christie created Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.
Edgar Allan Poe created C. Auguste Dupin.
- K. Chesterton created Father Brown.
Quick tip
Remember: Sherlock Holmes (221B Baker Street; Dr. Watson; Moriarty; first in "A Study in Scarlet", 1887) = Arthur Conan Doyle; Poirot = Agatha Christie; Byomkesh = Sharadindu; Feluda = Satyajit Ray.
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Books & Authors — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Books & Authors, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers famous books and their authors, including ancient Indian texts, works of the freedom struggle, classic and modern literature, autobiographies of famous people, and recently published books by well-known personalities. Questions usually name a book and ask for its author, or the other way round. Ancient and historical books, such as Arthashastra (Kautilya), Indica (Megasthenes) and Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore), are tested most often. Autobiographies are another favourite, so learn titles such as 'My Experiments with Truth' (Mahatma Gandhi) and 'Wings of Fire' (A. P. J. Abdul Kalam). Practise the books and authors questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.