Detective fiction detective fiction. Doyle attempted to kill the character off after twenty-three stories, but by popular request, he continued to write the Sherlock Holmes series. Sherlock Holmes is not only referenced as the titular character, but has also influenced many other areas outside of detective fiction. For example, the BBC-produced TV series Sherlock gained a very large fandom after first airing in 2010, imbuing a renewed interest in the character in the general public. Because of the popularity of Holmes, Conan Doyle was often regarded as being “as well-known as Queen Victoria”. Hercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian private detective, created
Gentleman detective gentleman than Holmes, yet has no social reservations about beginning his long association with the detective. In the best traditions of the gentry, Holmes proves to be physically brave, and competent with fists, sword and pistol. Like the earlier Dupin and the later Lord Peter Wimsey (see below), Holmes is also a competent cryptanalyst (for instance, The Dancing Men, 1903). Conan Doyle never gave much background about Holmes' family, but his hero was apparently born in 1854 (estimated from His Last Bow, 1917). He also has an eccentric older brother, Mycroft Holmes, a senior public servant and member of the