Irregulars: Sherlockian Youth as Outsiders

This chapter explores the ways several series now take as their point of departure the early life—or developing character(s)—of Sherlock Holmes: how did he become “the” detective? Stephen Peacock’s The Boy Sherlock Holmes (2007–12) series and Andrew Lane’s equally excellent series, Young Sherlock Holmes (2010–15), trace the developing, particularised and nonconformist education of the young man that convincingly foreshadow the later man in the fictions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It has also arisen in neo-Victorian mysteries for young adults that young female detectives are literally and/or figuratively the offspring of Sherlock Holmes. The second section focuses on Enola Holmes to demonstrate that neo-Victorian narratives of crime use the differing experiences of a young woman who is nonconformist in her actions and agency uses her strengths of observation and detailed consideration to take up the Sherlockian legacy.