Point of View

All of these stories are told from the point of view of Watson, Sherlock Holmes's friend. Sometimes the narrative will take the course of Watson recounting to the reader past events or sometimes the narrative will seem to come directly from Watson's present point of view, though he is clearly still recounting the events of the story. Watson's own prejudices and sentiments color his presentation of the cases and Sherlock scolds him sometimes for injecting too much sensationalism into the stories.

The stories will often begin with Watson either dropping in on Holmes and being sucked into to some engrossing mystery or by Watson directly telling the reader about some past event that might be of interest. Once united with Holmes, some concerned person will recount the details of their story. Holmes will listen and then question then before sending them away. Sometimes Holmes will investigate...