FCS wrote:
> I note in today's THE TIMES that Ben
> Hoyle (Arts Re****ter) believes "...the cult
> of the detective peaked with the creation
> of Sherlock Holmes".
>
> I can't see this go unchallenged, much as
> it is quite cleverly couched. Has the guy
> never read any Isaac Asimov? Or any of
> the countless other works of detective fiction
> which still sell more than Conan Doyle?
>
*SNIP
>
> And nor can the "cult" of the detective have
> peaked a century ago: purely in numeric terms
> there are far more narratives in far more media
> now than ever before. And folk still visit Lodnon's
> Baker Street daily to see the door of 221B.
>
Thus proving Mr Hoyle's point that the detective cult peaked with the
creation
of Sherlock Holmes, which I doubt you intended to do.
Admittedly, many people visit Oxford to see the haunts of Inspector Morse
but,
as you say, people still go to see 221b even after all this time.
You seem to be thinking of sales of detective fiction peaking in which
case,
have you allowed for population growth, improved access, etc.?
Isaac Asimov? You do have a sense of humour.
--
Blue Sow
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