Sherlock Holmes is back. With a new novel

LONDON – Sometimes they return, other times they never left. The latter is the case of Sherlock Holmes“the man who never lived and who never died”, according to a well-known definition: after the four novels and fifty-six short stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle at the end of the nineteenth century, in fact, the Guinness World Record assigns him the title of most depicted literary character in history thanks to thousands of theatrical, television and cinema adaptations and to the retellings entrusted to dozens of authors, from Anthony Burgess a Stephen Kingnot to mention the stories he unintentionally inspired, some of which include “The Name of The rose” Of Umberto Ecothe name of whose protagonist, father William of Baskervillewas a clear reference and homage to “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, one of the novels about the famous detective of Victorian London with a curved pipe, hunting cap and checkered cape. A character so popular that many think he really existed when they go to visit him Sherlock Holmes Museum, al 221 b di Baker Street, in the belief that it was really his London home. And to have made the phrase become a proverbial motto “elementare, Watson”although Holmes never uttered it in this form, at least in Conan Doyle’s novels that started the saga.

For the umpteenth time, now, the descendants of the Scottish writer announce a new book about the father of all private detectives. Is titled “Holmes and Moriarty” is the work of Gareth Rubinan established English mystery writer, and in the foreground, next to Sherlock and Doctor Watson, his inevitable sidekick, puts his archenemythe professor James Moriarty, combining Holmes’ investigative skills with that of his greatest adversary, the criminal who runs a network of thieves, murderers and blackmailers, without ever leaving his own traces. “We want to raise awareness of the other characters created by Conan Doyle,” he says Richard Pooleyone of the three great-grandchildren of the writer who hold the rights, toObserver, the Sunday newspaper that published the news. Welcomed with enthusiasm by the many Sherlock Holmes fans around the world: translated into all the languages ​​of the Earthoriginal or reproduced stories about the inventor of the method of deduction are guaranteed best-sellers.

The last two authorized novels by the heirs to be defined as “sequels” were released in 2011 and 2014, both signed by Anthony Horowitzanother writer specializing in thrillers, then there were only film or TV series: so there is great anticipation for a return of the detective with the cape in book form. Sherlock Holmes is the best known, but not the only literary character whose life is extended by copyright holders as they would a successful commercial brand: just think of the films about James Bond. And the phenomenon seems to be growing.

A few weeks ago the heirs of Roald Dahl have announced a new series of novels about the author’s most popular characters “The Chocolate Factory” and many other stories for children, each assigned to a different writer. Likewise, the descendants of Agatha Christie they entrusted to a mystery writer, Sophie Hannahthe task of bringing about rebirth Hercule Poirot on the pages of a book, while new film and television adaptations based on the queen’s novels are planned whodunit (who was – implied to commit a crime). Having written much else and cultivated vast ambitions, Conan Doyle was famously disappointed by the idea that his own world famous was linked so closely and exclusively to Sherlock Holmes. Her great-grandchildren, and their followers, do not appear equally displeased.