Sherlock Holmes, answered from the text.

Sherlock Holmes is a London consulting detective. Clients and official investigators bring him difficult cases, which he approaches through close observation, inference, specialist knowledge, and practical tests.

John Watson is a physician and former army surgeon who becomes Holmes's friend, flatmate, and chronicler. His practical sympathy and firsthand narration give readers a human view of Holmes at work.

Watson narrates most of the stories in the first person as records of cases he witnessed or learned from Holmes. A small number of later stories use a different narrator.

Holmes and Watson share rooms at 221B Baker Street in London when their partnership begins. Watson later establishes a separate household but remains a frequent visitor and companion on cases.

Holmes separates observation from assumption. He notices small physical details, compares them with relevant specialist knowledge, forms possible explanations, and tests those explanations against further evidence.

No. Holmes works independently as a consulting detective. Police inspectors sometimes seek his help, and he sometimes lets them receive public credit after he has resolved a case.

Watson trained as a medical doctor and then as an army surgeon. He served in Afghanistan before illness and injury brought him back to London, where he met Holmes.

Mrs. Hudson is Holmes's landlady at 221B Baker Street. She manages the household around his irregular hours, unusual experiments, clients, and frequent visitors.

Lestrade is a Scotland Yard inspector who repeatedly works on cases that involve Holmes. Holmes often criticizes his conclusions, but also recognizes his energy and experience as an investigator.

Irene Adler is an American singer and the central figure in A Scandal in Bohemia. Holmes's client fears a photograph she possesses, and Holmes comes to respect her intelligence and independence. The source story does not establish a romance between them.

Mycroft is Sherlock Holmes's older brother. Sherlock considers his powers of observation and reasoning exceptional, but Mycroft prefers a settled routine and rarely undertakes the active work of an investigation.

Professor Moriarty is a mathematician and the organizer of a large criminal network. Holmes sees him as a rare intellectual equal and as the coordinating mind behind crimes carried out by others.

The Baker Street Irregulars are street children whom Holmes pays to gather information. Their ability to move through London without attracting much notice makes them useful investigators.

Yes. Holmes plays the violin at Baker Street. His music can be deliberate and accomplished, but Watson also hears him improvise while thinking through a problem.

Holmes uses disguises to observe people without being recognized, enter places where a famous detective would be noticed, and encourage witnesses or suspects to behave naturally around him.

A mutual acquaintance introduces them in a hospital laboratory because each needs an affordable London flatmate. They compare habits and decide to share the rooms at 221B Baker Street.

They begin as flatmates and become close friends and investigative partners. Watson admires Holmes but challenges his coldness and secrecy, while Holmes trusts Watson's courage, medical judgment, and steady companionship.

Yes. Holmes uses chemical tests and pays close attention to traces such as footprints, ash, stains, handwriting, and damage to objects. The stories combine laboratory work with comparison and reconstruction.

For publication order, begin with A Study in Scarlet, then The Sign of the Four, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and The Return of Sherlock Holmes.