Sherlock Holmes Quiz
Baker Street, Moriarty, Reichenbach and the Hound: 15 questions on the world's most famous detective.
At which London address do Holmes and Watson share lodgings?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
221B Baker Street
Holmes and Watson rent rooms at 221B Baker Street from their landlady Mrs Hudson, starting in A Study in Scarlet. The address did not exist when Conan Doyle wrote the stories.
The Sherlock Holmes Museum in Baker Street now holds the 221B address, even though it physically sits between numbers 237 and 241.
Which actor plays Holmes in the BBC series Sherlock?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Cumberbatch played a modern-day Holmes opposite Martin Freeman's Watson in Sherlock, which ran for four series and a special on the BBC between 2010 and 2017.
Jonny Lee Miller played Holmes in the American series Elementary, and Cumberbatch was best man at Miller's wedding years before either role.
Who is Holmes's archenemy, described by him as 'the Napoleon of crime'?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Professor James Moriarty
Professor Moriarty is a mathematical genius who secretly runs a criminal network across London. Holmes gives him the Napoleon nickname in The Final Problem, the story in which they fight to the death.
Moriarty appears directly in only two stories, yet he has become the template for the criminal mastermind in popular fiction.
Which novel first introduced Sherlock Holmes to readers in 1887?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887 and shows Watson meeting Holmes for the first time at Bart's Hospital. Conan Doyle was paid 25 pounds for all rights.
A copy of the 1887 Beeton's Christmas Annual is now one of the most valuable magazines in the world, with sales well above 100,000 dollars.
Which Holmes novel is set on Dartmoor and involves a spectral dog said to haunt a family?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Hound of the Baskervilles was serialised in The Strand from 1901 to 1902 and brought Holmes back, in a story set before his death, after Conan Doyle had killed him off eight years earlier.
Conan Doyle got the idea during a golfing holiday in Norfolk with the journalist Bertram Fletcher Robinson, who told him West Country legends of ghostly hounds.
Who is the landlady at 221B Baker Street?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Mrs Hudson
Mrs Hudson keeps house for Holmes and Watson, puts up with chemical experiments and indoor pistol practice, and is called by Watson the long-suffering landlady of Baker Street.
Despite her fame, Mrs Hudson is never given a first name in Conan Doyle's stories, and she speaks only a handful of lines.
What is the name of Holmes's older brother, who works for the British government?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Mycroft
Mycroft Holmes is seven years older than Sherlock and, according to his brother, has even greater powers of deduction but no energy for legwork. He is a founder of the Diogenes Club.
Holmes claims in The Bruce-Partington Plans that Mycroft occasionally is the British government, acting as its living index of policy.
Which woman does Holmes refer to only as 'the woman' after she outwits him?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Irene Adler
Irene Adler, an opera singer from New Jersey, sees through Holmes's disguise in A Scandal in Bohemia and escapes with the compromising photograph. Watson says Holmes always called her the woman.
Adler appears in only that one story, yet adaptations routinely rewrite her as Holmes's love interest, which Conan Doyle never suggested.
At which Swiss waterfall do Holmes and Moriarty struggle in The Final Problem?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Reichenbach Falls
Conan Doyle, tired of his creation, sent Holmes over the Reichenbach Falls near Meiringen in 1893. Public outcry eventually forced him to resurrect the detective in The Empty House.
Around 20,000 readers reportedly cancelled their Strand subscriptions after Holmes died, and Londoners wore black armbands in mourning.
What does Holmes call the gang of street children he pays to gather information?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
The Baker Street Irregulars
The Baker Street Irregulars, led by a boy named Wiggins, first appear in A Study in Scarlet. Holmes pays them a shilling a day because they can go everywhere and hear everything.
The name was adopted in 1934 by a New York literary society devoted to Holmes, which is still active today.
Which drug does Holmes inject as a 'seven-per-cent solution' in The Sign of the Four?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Cocaine
Watson watches Holmes inject cocaine three times a day and lectures him about the damage to his brain. Holmes replies that he cannot bear the dull routine of existence without stimulation.
Cocaine was legal in Victorian Britain and sold in tonics and lozenges, and Watson later claims to have weaned Holmes off it.
Which Scotland Yard inspector appears more often in the stories than any other police detective?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
G. Lestrade
Lestrade turns up in 13 of the stories, from A Study in Scarlet to The Three Garridebs. Holmes calls him and Gregson the pick of a bad lot, yet relies on him to make the official arrests.
Conan Doyle never reveals what the G in Lestrade's name stands for, and Watson describes him as a little, sallow, rat-faced fellow.
Which actor starred in 14 Sherlock Holmes films between 1939 and 1946?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone played Holmes with Nigel Bruce as Watson, first in two Fox films in 1939 and then in twelve Universal pictures that moved the detective into the wartime present day.
Rathbone quit the role in 1946 because he felt the part was smothering his career, and Nigel Bruce stayed on the radio series without him.
How many full-length Sherlock Holmes novels did Conan Doyle write?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Four
The four novels are A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Valley of Fear. The other 56 stories in the canon are short stories.
Conan Doyle wrote the final Holmes story, The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place, in 1927, forty years after the detective first appeared.
In which story does Holmes point to 'the curious incident of the dog in the night-time'?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Silver Blaze
In Silver Blaze a racehorse vanishes and its trainer is found dead. Holmes notes that the stable dog did not bark, which proves the night visitor was someone the dog already knew.
The line gave Mark Haddon the title for his 2003 novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, later a hit stage play.
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All Literature quizzes →About the Sherlock Holmes Quiz
Arthur Conan Doyle introduced Sherlock Holmes in 1887 and went on to write four novels and 56 short stories about the detective, most of them for The Strand Magazine. Holmes has since been played on screen more often than almost any other character, from Basil Rathbone to Benedict Cumberbatch.
These 15 questions start at 221B Baker Street and work through the canon: Dr Watson, Mrs Hudson, Mycroft, Irene Adler, the Baker Street Irregulars and the fatal struggle at the Reichenbach Falls. A few questions test the famous adaptations, and the final ones reward readers who know the stories line by line. Perfect for mystery fans, book clubs and anyone who has ever shouted at the television during a whodunnit.
You will find 15 multiple choice questions here, each with four options. Difficulty: Medium. Most people finish in about 6 minutes, and every answer comes with a short explanation and one extra fact worth keeping.
How to play
Read the question and pick one of the four answers. The correct answer is revealed straight away with a short explanation, then press Next question to keep going. At the end you get your score out of 15 and a full review of your round. Play again any time and the questions arrive in a fresh order. There is no timer and no account.
Good to know before you play
How many questions are in the Sherlock Holmes Quiz?
There are 15 multiple choice questions with four options each, and every answer comes with an explanation and an extra fact from the stories.
Does the quiz cover the BBC series Sherlock and the films?
A couple of questions cover the best known adaptations, including the BBC series and the Basil Rathbone films, but most questions come from Conan Doyle's original stories.
How hard is the Sherlock Holmes Quiz?
It is rated Medium. The first questions are easy for anyone who knows the character, and the last few are deeper cuts from the canon for devoted Sherlockians.
Answer key: all 15 questions with explanations
- At which London address do Holmes and Watson share lodgings?
221B Baker Street Holmes and Watson rent rooms at 221B Baker Street from their landlady Mrs Hudson, starting in A Study in Scarlet. The address did not exist when Conan Doyle wrote the stories. The Sherlock Holmes Museum in Baker Street now holds the 221B address, even though it physically sits between numbers 237 and 241. - Which actor plays Holmes in the BBC series Sherlock?
Benedict Cumberbatch Benedict Cumberbatch played a modern-day Holmes opposite Martin Freeman's Watson in Sherlock, which ran for four series and a special on the BBC between 2010 and 2017. Jonny Lee Miller played Holmes in the American series Elementary, and Cumberbatch was best man at Miller's wedding years before either role. - Who is Holmes's archenemy, described by him as 'the Napoleon of crime'?
Professor James Moriarty Professor Moriarty is a mathematical genius who secretly runs a criminal network across London. Holmes gives him the Napoleon nickname in The Final Problem, the story in which they fight to the death. Moriarty appears directly in only two stories, yet he has become the template for the criminal mastermind in popular fiction. - Which novel first introduced Sherlock Holmes to readers in 1887?
A Study in Scarlet A Study in Scarlet appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887 and shows Watson meeting Holmes for the first time at Bart's Hospital. Conan Doyle was paid 25 pounds for all rights. A copy of the 1887 Beeton's Christmas Annual is now one of the most valuable magazines in the world, with sales well above 100,000 dollars. - Which Holmes novel is set on Dartmoor and involves a spectral dog said to haunt a family?
The Hound of the Baskervilles The Hound of the Baskervilles was serialised in The Strand from 1901 to 1902 and brought Holmes back, in a story set before his death, after Conan Doyle had killed him off eight years earlier. Conan Doyle got the idea during a golfing holiday in Norfolk with the journalist Bertram Fletcher Robinson, who told him West Country legends of ghostly hounds. - Who is the landlady at 221B Baker Street?
Mrs Hudson Mrs Hudson keeps house for Holmes and Watson, puts up with chemical experiments and indoor pistol practice, and is called by Watson the long-suffering landlady of Baker Street. Despite her fame, Mrs Hudson is never given a first name in Conan Doyle's stories, and she speaks only a handful of lines. - What is the name of Holmes's older brother, who works for the British government?
Mycroft Mycroft Holmes is seven years older than Sherlock and, according to his brother, has even greater powers of deduction but no energy for legwork. He is a founder of the Diogenes Club. Holmes claims in The Bruce-Partington Plans that Mycroft occasionally is the British government, acting as its living index of policy. - Which woman does Holmes refer to only as 'the woman' after she outwits him?
Irene Adler Irene Adler, an opera singer from New Jersey, sees through Holmes's disguise in A Scandal in Bohemia and escapes with the compromising photograph. Watson says Holmes always called her the woman. Adler appears in only that one story, yet adaptations routinely rewrite her as Holmes's love interest, which Conan Doyle never suggested. - At which Swiss waterfall do Holmes and Moriarty struggle in The Final Problem?
Reichenbach Falls Conan Doyle, tired of his creation, sent Holmes over the Reichenbach Falls near Meiringen in 1893. Public outcry eventually forced him to resurrect the detective in The Empty House. Around 20,000 readers reportedly cancelled their Strand subscriptions after Holmes died, and Londoners wore black armbands in mourning. - What does Holmes call the gang of street children he pays to gather information?
The Baker Street Irregulars The Baker Street Irregulars, led by a boy named Wiggins, first appear in A Study in Scarlet. Holmes pays them a shilling a day because they can go everywhere and hear everything. The name was adopted in 1934 by a New York literary society devoted to Holmes, which is still active today. - Which drug does Holmes inject as a 'seven-per-cent solution' in The Sign of the Four?
Cocaine Watson watches Holmes inject cocaine three times a day and lectures him about the damage to his brain. Holmes replies that he cannot bear the dull routine of existence without stimulation. Cocaine was legal in Victorian Britain and sold in tonics and lozenges, and Watson later claims to have weaned Holmes off it. - Which Scotland Yard inspector appears more often in the stories than any other police detective?
G. Lestrade Lestrade turns up in 13 of the stories, from A Study in Scarlet to The Three Garridebs. Holmes calls him and Gregson the pick of a bad lot, yet relies on him to make the official arrests. Conan Doyle never reveals what the G in Lestrade's name stands for, and Watson describes him as a little, sallow, rat-faced fellow. - Which actor starred in 14 Sherlock Holmes films between 1939 and 1946?
Basil Rathbone Basil Rathbone played Holmes with Nigel Bruce as Watson, first in two Fox films in 1939 and then in twelve Universal pictures that moved the detective into the wartime present day. Rathbone quit the role in 1946 because he felt the part was smothering his career, and Nigel Bruce stayed on the radio series without him. - How many full-length Sherlock Holmes novels did Conan Doyle write?
Four The four novels are A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Valley of Fear. The other 56 stories in the canon are short stories. Conan Doyle wrote the final Holmes story, The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place, in 1927, forty years after the detective first appeared. - In which story does Holmes point to 'the curious incident of the dog in the night-time'?
Silver Blaze In Silver Blaze a racehorse vanishes and its trainer is found dead. Holmes notes that the stable dog did not bark, which proves the night visitor was someone the dog already knew. The line gave Mark Haddon the title for his 2003 novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, later a hit stage play.
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