Foreign connections in the Sherlock Holmes canon

‘The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor' Re-Imagined

Sherlock Holmes is consulted by Lord Robert St. Simon whose wife, Hatty Doran, disappeared shortly after their wedding. Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard is convinced that culpability rests with Miss Flora Millar, a former acquaintance of Lord St. Simon. Holmes, though, quickly discerns the true fate of Miss Doran as he realizes that the solution to this delicate problem resides in her past back in the United States.

“She was ejected by the butler and the footman.”

Villains and clients from abroad

Sherlock Holmes and the adventures he shared with Dr Watson are intimately associated with Victorian England and London in particular, as mentioned in last week’s post. However, throughout the Sherlock Holmes canon, many references are made to people and places, as well as the sometimes nefarious activities that took place, abroad. Included among these foreign locations are the United States, and also Australia and India, both colonies of the British Empire during the late nineteenth century. In the current story, the intended wife of the titular noble bachelor, Lord St Simon, hails from the USA, and her apparent disappearance is tied to earlier events in her native country. Australia and India also feature in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, namely in the ‘The Boscombe Valley Mystery’ and ‘The Adventure of the Speckled Band’ respectively, as does America again in ‘The Adventure of the Five Orange Pips’.

“The gentleman in the pew handed it up to her.”

Although Sherlock Holmes is not present, I think perhaps my favourite illustration from ‘The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor’ Re-Imagined is the photograph of Flora Miller being escorted from the premises of Lord St Simon by the butler and footman (see first photo above). I quite like the composition of the illustration as well as the various colours utilized in the model. LEGO® produces many more colours for their bricks and parts than the six primary ones from my childhood 30 years ago (read, yellow, blue, green, black, white). Some of the more useful of these additional colours when creating the models for the Sherlock Holmes Re-Imagined book series include several shades of brown (brown, reddish brown, dark brown), used to build wooden floors and furniture, as with the church pew in the photo above. Other rather new colours appearing frequently in illustrations throughout the book series include darker shades of various colours such as dark red, dark orange, and dark bluish grey (see first photo above for examples), as well as dark green (suit of Frank Moulton in photo above) and dark tan (hair of Lord St Simon in photo above).

Can I see more information about your book series?

Please visit our webpage and Facebook page for more information regarding the Sherlock Holmes Re-Imagined book series, including news, reviews and free downloads.

All 12 books in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Re-Imagined book series, as well as a complete collector’s edition incorporating all of the stories, are available for purchase on Amazon UK, the Book Depository (with free worldwide delivery), and the MX Publishing website.

LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of Companies. The LEGO Group has not been involved in nor has it in any other way licensed or authorized the publication of this book series.