As author Daniel Smith points out on the first page of his self-help-your-way-to-sleuthing guide, Sherlock Holmes is suddenly cool in a way he hasn’t been since his creation.
Between Messrs Downey Jr, Cumberbatch and Miller, the Great Detective currently has mainstream (sex-)appeal that he has never before been endowed with. After all, you don’t see thousands of Tumblr accounts celebrating the hot Deerstalker action of Basil Rathbone.
Capitalising on our love of Baker Street’s brightest, Smith has created How to Think Like Sherlock: a book that is a mixture of Holmes trivia, basic psychology, and the kind of vexing brain teaser work found in the quiz page section of a weekend newspaper. It’s all undemanding stuff but it slots together nicely, forming a brain-training book to help you replicate the analytical skills of Sherlock.
Smith takes us through Holmes’ detective skill set, highlighting examples of it in practise across the Conan Doyle adventures, before giving the reader chance to apply the same practices in fun little tests that hone skills including observation and code cracking. No corner of your cranium will be left un-exercised thanks to a fiendish gaggle of word puzzles, memory tests, and even speed-reading comprehension exercises.
How much of it can you apply to your everyday life? While some of the featured abilities are likely to remain redundant – only warlords fleeing the reach of The Hague may feel the need to read the ‘Disguises’ section – others, such as ‘Information Sifting’ and ‘Improving your Memory’ are the kind of good common-sense skills that can come in handy if you’re having to absorb vast amounts of information effectively. Persuading your kids to digest facts about trigonometry and photosynthesis in the same way Sherlock Holmes would might be the only way to get the little blighters to revise come exam time.
For the Holmes fan who has everything, save for the masterful mind of the Great Detective himself, How to Think Like Sherlock is a pleasant little gift, and the sort of thing that would make a great Christmas stocking filler for a fan of the novels or the onscreen incarnations.
As for trying to match the sex appeal of Sherlock? Well that’s something you’ll just have to work on yourself.
Published on Thursday 11th October 2012 by Michael O’Mara Books.
Watch the original launch trailer for BBC One’s Sherlock…