While I simply loved the recent staff article on Sherlock Holmes (found here )
I did notice that Dex left out one glaring argument for why The Seven Percent Solution should be completely disregarded.
As anyone who has read the book or Dex’s column knows, the book takes place in 1891 and explains the mysterious disappearance of Holmes claiming he was recovering from his cocaine addiction with the aid of the esteemed Sigmund Freud. What they may have missed, however, is that one of the characters instrumental in Holmes’ recovery is Freud’s dear daughter Anna, a girl of seven or eight. Unfortunately our dear Anna was born in 1895, which would make it a little difficult to listen to Holmes play the violin in 1891, as she was wont to do in the book. According to the timeline given us, Holmes was off solving more mysteries before Anna was even a glimmer in Sigmund’s eye. While some time discrepancies can be attributed to Watson’s notoriously bad memory (if you pay attention, he often forget’s which body part he injured in the war), a four year difference is a little difficult to swallow. Therefore, The Seven Percent Solution must be purely fictitious, and moreover, complete hogwash. 