221B Baker Street: A Dissertation

When the death of Sherlock Holmes was first announced in Tit-Bits on 24 November 1893, there was an outcry. Letters were sent to the proprietors of the Strand Magazine imploring them to use their influence to persuade Conan Doyle to revoke the sentence of death, and others went to him direct. “I never thought they would take it so much to heart,” he said later. “I got letters from all over the world reproaching me on the subject. One, I remember, from a lady whom I did not know, began ‘You Beast.’