Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character in the novel.

Sherlock Holmes is a talented fictional detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle, a British detective novelist at the end of the 19th century. Holmes himself described himself as a "consulting detective," meaning that other private or official detectives often turned to him for help when they were in trouble. The story reveals that Holmes can often solve many difficult problems without leaving home, but most of the stories focus on more difficult cases that require Holmes to go out to investigate. Holmes is good at solving problems through observation, deductive reasoning and legal knowledge.

Arthur Conan Doyle wrote 4 novels and 56 short stories in the Sherlock Holmes series. The first two articles were "A Study in Scarlet" published in Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887, and "Four Signatures" published in Lebencott's Monthly in 1890. A series of short stories serialized in the Strand magazine starting in 1891 made Sherlock Holmes' popularity explode. But it was not until 1927 that Mr. Conan Doyle wrote another sequel. The story takes place approximately from 1875 to 1907. His last case occurred in 1914.

Most of the stories are told from the perspective of Holmes' friend and biographer Dr. John H. Watson. Only two are narrated by Holmes himself, and two are written from a third-person point of view.