The First Annual Sherlock Holmes Symposium took place on Tuesday, January 24, 2023, and was held at the Hannah Block USO Community Arts Center. The Symposium began at 6:30pm, and adjourned at 8:45pm. ​Twelve people attended the Symposium in person, with another 12 on ZOOM.

Our 65th meeting was conducted on Tuesday, September 20, 2022, and began at 7pm. This was a ZOOM only meeting. Attending was Vinny P., Tom Joel H., C., Steve M., Elaine L., Steve S., Paul S., Ed G., Tram C., Rich K., Michael E., and Maurie G.​

The began with a discussion of local interests, specifically baseball. But soon, we were on track with our primary reason for gathering. After brief introductions, Tom C. reported some of the results of a project he is conducting called, "Who would you be". The project asked people to choose which Character's identity they would choose to be from the Canon. Tom said that he had received 19 entries, but that the final results would be posted next month.

Next, we conducted a show and tell session, where each person was able to display their favorite Sherlockian books in their collection. It was both enlightening and entertaining. 

Our mystery tonight was "Sock it to me", and took about 12 minutes for this group of Sherlockians to solve. It was definitely a group effort!

Our assigned story tonight was The Adventure of the Lion's Mane, and was presented by Maurie. She used Power Point to tell the story, and then led the group in a great discussion. 

All in all, it was a great meeting, with a great group of people!

After some small talk, and a short show and tell segment, we attempted to solve this month's mystery. After about 10 minutes, Ed deduced that the person who died was an airplane pilot, and Carol suggested that the windsock had been starched to indicate a different wind direction, the plane to crash, killing the pilot. Well done!

The highlight of this meeting was Maurie's presentation of The Adventure of the Lion's Mane. She did a wonderful job telling the story, and then led the group in a discussion of the finer points. Again, well done!

We started the meeting talking about all things Sherlockian, including some of the up and coming events, as well as some of the on-going events. We agree that for details, all one has to do is visit "The Stranger's Room" on Facebook

Just before we turned the meeting over to Kirk to present tonight's story, Tom moderated the solving of the mystery that was assigned this week.  Not to difficult, but had a twist!

Kirk read his summary of the assigned story, which was THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLANCHED SOLDIER, then led us in an interesting discussion, which lasted over 30 minutes!

I venture to say that a good time was had by all who attended!

Our 62nd meeting was conducted on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, and began at 7pm. This was a ZOOM meeting, attended by Ed, Tom, Steve M., Rich, Marc, Tram, Peter, Kirk, Steve S., Michael, Elaine, Maurie, and Susan.

As attendees gathered for this month's ZOOM meeting, the discussion was all about the upcoming John H. Watson's Treasure Hunt. It seems to me that participation in the Treasure Hunt is a "must" for all dedicated Sherlockians everywhere.

After brief introductions, Tom officially started the meeting with our Show and Tell segment, where members can share their Sherlockian collectibles. That was followed by the presentation of tonight's mystery to be solved, named CAPITAL CRIME.  It turned out not to be so easy to solve.

​Rich was up next, with his presentation of tonight's story THE ADVENTURE OF THE THREE GABLES. 

It is clear to everyone that Rich went above and beyond what is typically expected for a story presentation.  His organization, fun facts about the story, and his captivating delivery was quite entertaining. Well done, Rich!

Tom announced that there would be future IN-PERSON meetings, but that July and August would be skipped. That means the next IN-PERSON meeting will be in September.

​Our 61st meeting was conducted on Tuesday, June 21, 2022, and began at 7pm. This was a ZOOM only meeting. Attending was Steve M., Tom, Kirk, Rich, Barry, Tram, Sandy, Marc, Peter, Steve, Elaine, Jane, Ed, Vincent, Maurie, Carol, and Susan.

We began our meeting with introductions, and then went right into a general discussion of news and events relative to SH. We also shared collectibles, which was alot of fun.  

The assigned story for tonight was THE ADVENTURE OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS CLIENT.  Tom led us through a discussion of the story, until he turned the meeting over to Rich, who gave us a wonderful presentation as shown below:

Due to scheduling conflicts, there will NOT be an IN-PERSON meeting in July.  However, there will be a ZOOM only meeting, which will take place on July 19, 2022, at 7pm.  Tom will send everyone an email with the link to join the meeting.  If you are not on the email list, then please complete the form on the HOME page.

The assigned story will be THE ADVENTURE OF THE THREE GABLES, and will be presented by Rich.

The mystery that we will attempt to solve is as follows:

Our 60th meeting was conducted on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, and began at 7pm. This was an IN-PERSON meeting. Attending was Tom and Ed.

When only two people show up for a Sherlock Holmes meeting, the planned agenda sort of goes out the window.  Instead, Ed and I enjoyed good conversation about Sherlock Holmes, and the assigned story, THE ADVENTURE OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS CLIENT.

The next meeting will be a ZOOM only meeting, and will take place on June 21, 2022, at 7pm.  The story will be the same as it was for this meeting, ADVENTURE OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS CLIENT.

Until futher notice, the Sherlock Holmes Society of the Cape Fear will conduct TWO meetings each month - an IN-PERSON meeting and a ZOOM meeting.  We are doing this to accommodate all of our loyal Sherlockians who enjoy meeting together and discussing the Greatest Detective of all time!

The story to be discussed at BOTH the IN-PERSON meeting and the ZOOM meeting is THE ADVENTURE OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS CLIENT.  Ed has volunteered to present the story and lead the discussion at BOTH meetings.

Each meeting, we attempt to solve a mystery. ​Tom will moderate the discussion to solve the mystery, which is presented below:

Our 57th meeting was conducted on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, and began at 7pm. This was a ZOOM only meeting. Attending was Steve M., Tom C., Tom F., Tram, Marc, Barry, Steve S., Kirk, Peter, Sandy, Jaymes, Jane, Maurie, Michael, and Rich.

At this meeting, we experienced a lively discussion about Holmes, Watson, and Conan Doyle, including a wonderful presentation of our story (The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire) by Rich. Several attendees provided both interesting facts about the Canon, as well as some of their prized Sherlockian collectibles. Credit for solving the mystery presented by Tom at tonight's meeting goes to Maurie, who guessed correctly that the murder victim died when he breathed in the poison from his birthday balloon, thinking it was just Helium. Well done, Maurie!

There will be TWO meetings in the month of May - an IN-PERSON meeting in Wilmington, NC, and one on ZOOM. The story to be discussed at BOTH meetings is THE THREE GARRIDEBS.  Kirk will present the story on the ZOOM meeting, and Tom will present the story at the IN-PERSON meeting.

At BOTH meetings, Tom will present the following mystery to be solved:

Our 56th meeting was conducted on Tuesday, March 15, 2022, and began at 7pm. This was a ZOOM only meeting. Attending was Barb, Rick, Tom, Marc, Michael, Barry, Steve, Sandy, Brian, Kirk, Rich, Carol, and Linda.

This was one of our longer meetings, due to (a) Barry's exemplary presentation of the ADVENTURE OF THE CREEPING MAN, and (b) Carol's very interesting video presentation of the animated version of the same story.  We also were pleased to hear Rich's toast about ACD's use of "creeping" throughout the Canon. In addition, Marc provided very interesting presentation of the Sherlock Holmes Hotel located in the Ukraine. Everyone went above and beyond in their assignments for this meeting! Well done!

The April meeting will take place on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, at 7pm. The meeting will be conducted on ZOOM.

Meeting ID: 733 380 7303
Passcode: 12345

Here are the assignments for the April meeting:

We will also attempt to solve the following mystery:

​Our 55th meeting was conducted on Tuesday, February 22, 2022, and began at 7pm. This was a ZOOM only meeting. Attending was Bill, Tom, Rich, Steve, Ian, Rick, Barb, Barry, Marc, Steve, Carol, Sandy, and Jane.

After some minor problems with audio, the meeting started around 7:10pm. In Ed's absence, Tom used the "Fun Fact" time to tell everyone about a paper he posted on this club's website that explains his theory about why ACD chose the number 221B for the Baker Street address of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John H. Watson.  

Next, Bill narrated a Youtube clip which demonstrated the disappearing gun trick in The Problem of Thor's Bridge. Very enlightening, indeed!

The next order of business was trying to arrive at the solution of tonight's mystery murder.  It was more difficult that I thought, and no one really solved it.

Our meeting concluded with Bill leading us through a discussion of the assigned story, The Problem of Thor's Bridge.

​This meeting will take place on March 15, 2022, at 7pm on ZOOM.

Here are the assignments for the March meeting:
​

• Marc will bring a FUN FACT
• Everyone will bring SHOW AND TELL
• Carol will select and narrate a VIDEO CLIP
• Tom will moderate the MYSTERY
• Barry will present THE ADVENTURE OF THE CREEPING MAN

The mystery we will attempt to solve is as follows:

Our 54th meeting was conducted on Tuesday, January 18, 2022, and began at 7pm. This was a ZOOM only meeting. Attending was Bill, Tom, Sandy, Carol, Marc, Pat, Michele, Rick, Ed, and Linda (plus her pooch).

The meeting began around 7:05pm, at which time, Michele did a great job presenting several fun facts, mostly related to Sherlock Holmes' use of investigative techniques that were popular in his day. Included was the use of fingerprints, which Sherlock Holmes used in a couple of ACD's stories. Next, during the show and tell portion of the meeting, Carol pointed out that SH stories have been published in multiple languages, such as German.  And following Carol, Tom displayed his new SH blanket, which he received as a Christmas gift.

Ed brought us a couple of video clips to watch, and explained their relevance and similarity. They featured William Gillette, and were quite entertaining.  After Ed's videos, all members attempted to solve the monthly mystery, "The Crime Wave". 

Carol led us in a discussion of the assigned story, THE MAZARIN STONE. After a lively discussion, the meeting came to an end around 8pm.

This meeting will take place on February 22,, 2022, at 7pm on ZOOM.
Meeting ID: 733 380 7303
Passcode: 12345

​Here are the assignments for the January meeting:
​

• Ed will bring a FUN FACT
• Everyone will bring SHOW AND TELL
• Tom will select and narrate a VIDEO CLIP
• Tom will moderate the MYSTERY
• Bill will present THE PROBLEM OF THOR BRIDGE

Here is the mystery we will attempt to solve:

"During a routine visit to see her mother, Mary finds her mom lying on the floor in the front hallway. After a quick check of her vital signs, Mary determines that her mother has died, but cannot find any visible sign of trauma, except for a small cut on her right hand. Mary calls 911.  While she is waiting for paramedics to arrive, Mary notices a card sticking out of her mother's pocket. The card reads "Vote for Jack Wilson to be the next Mayor" with a phone number for Jack's campaign headquarters."

Who killed Mary's mother, and why did she have to die?

​Our 53rd meeting was conducted on Tuesday, December 21, 2021, and began at 7pm. This was a ZOOM only meeting. Attending was Ed, Tom, Rich Krisciunas, Carol, Sandy Kozinn, Steve Mason, Barry, Rick, Michele, Pat, and Barb. It should be noted that this was the first meeting for Rich, Sandy, and Steve, who were kind enough to join us!

We were pleased to have three guests at our meeting in December.  Sandy Kozinn, Steve Mason, and Rich Krisciunas attended, and contributed to the festivities, making the meeting a huge success.  Barb brought a fun fact, and Carol did an outstanding job presenting HIS LAST BOW.

The January meeting will take place on January 18, 2022, at 7pm on ZOOM only. ​

Topic: Sherlock Holmes Society
Time: Jan 18, 2022 06:45 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Meeting ID: 733 380 7303
Passcode: 12345

Our 52nd meeting was conducted on Tuesday, November 16, 2021, and began at 7pm. This was a ZOOM only meeting. Attending was Barry, Tom, Carol, Linda, Linda's Dog (sorry, I forgot the name), Pat, Michele, Rick, and Barb.

Great meeting! Plenty of fun facts, a fascinating virtual tour of William Gillette's house, a memorable video of David Burke's last performance as Watson on the Granada Television Sherlock Holmes series, a quickly solved mystery, and brief (but interesting) discussion of ACD's story, "His Last Bow".  We also discussed possibly getting back together LIVE for meetings beginning in January or February... we will discuss more about that during December's ZOOM meeting. 

The December meeting will take place on Tuesday, December 21, 2021, at 7 pm.  This will be a ZOOM meeting only.

Here are the assignments for the December meeting:

• Barb will bring a FUN FACT
• Tom will bring SHOW AND TELL
• Pat will select and narrate a VIDEO CLIP
• Tom will moderate the MYSTERY
• Carol will present the story HIS LAST BOW

We will attempt to solve the following mystery:

Our 51st meeting was conducted on Tuesday, October 19, 2021, and began at 7pm. This was a ZOOM only meeting. Attending was Ed, Tom, Marc, Barry, Carol, Barb, Rick, Tony, Pat, Michele, and Linda.

Our meeting tonight got off to a rocky start... somehow, the ZOOM links I sent didn't work, and I had to make some quick phone calls.  After about 15 minutes, we were up and running. Barry started us off with fun facts about the various clubs and scions that celebrate the great Sherlock Holmes, including the Baker Street Irregulars. Next, Ed narrated several video clips, displaying several of the more well know actors who portrayed Sherlock Holmes. At this point in the meeting, we allowed Linda to present the story for night, which was very well done, as usual. After her presentation, we got back on track with show and tell and the mystery to solve for the evening. Although slightly out of sequence, it was a good meeting.

The November meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 16, 2021, at 7 pm.  This will be a ZOOM meeting only.

Here are the assignments for the November meeting:

• MIchele will bring a FUN FACT
• Pat will bring SHOW AND TELL
• Tom will narrate a VIDEO CLIP
• Tom will moderate the MYSTERY
• Ed will present the story HIS LAST BOW

Here is the mystery to solve:

Our 50th meeting was conducted on Tuesday, September 21, 2021, and began at 7pm. Attending in person was Rick, Barb, Linda, Linda's puppy, and Tom.  Attending on Zoom was Barry, Carol, Ed, Pat, Michelle, and Tony.

Tonight's meeting was our 50th, but I forgot to mention it! Oh well, perhaps we will celebrate on some future "milestone" meeting.  Since Tony was a little late coming to the meeting, Tom combined Fun Fact with Show and Tell, and introduced the 1-Minute Mystery game.  Later, Tony contributed a couple of very interesting fun facts about Arthur Conan Doyle. After that, Linda narrated a clip from tonight's story, which showed the more "poignant" side of Granada's Sherlock Holmes. Then, we turned the meeting over to Ed, who told us more about tonight's story, THE DISAPPEARANCE OF LADY FRANCES CARFAX.  Thanks, Ed, for an enlightening briefing. Lastly, Tom moderated the murder puzzle, and the award goes to Ed for discovering that the dead pictures belongs to faces on currency. We ended the meeting by solving a few more 1-Minute Mysteries.

The October meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 19, 2021, at 7 pm.  This will be a ZOOM meeting only.  Here are the assignments for the September meeting:

• Barry will bring a FUN FACT
• Everyone will bring SHOW AND TELL
• Ed will narrate a VIDEO CLIP
• Tom will moderate the MYSTERY
• Linda will present THE ADVENTURE OF THE DEVILS FOOT

​Our 49th meeting was conducted on Tuesday, August 24, 2021, and began at 7pm. Attending (either in person or on ZOOM) was Barry, Linda, Carol, Marc, Ed, newcomer Tony, Rick, and Tom.

​After a period of introductions and small talk, we launched into the meeting.  We began by introducing some "fun facts", including the number of actors who had portrayed Sherlock Holmes on the Screen and on the stage.  The number was 141, plus Rick, who was SH in a play that our club did several months ago.  Afterwards, Barry passed around a picture, which was really a collections of words that made up the entire story of the Scandal in Bohemia.  Really cool!  Marc did some screen sharing, and showed us several video clips, all about the story we were yet to hear about tonight.  Very entertaining.  Tom moderated the mystery, and then Barry led us in a discussion of the assigned story, which was THE ADVENTURE OF THE DYING DETECTIVE​. Everyone agreed it was a most pleasant evening!

The September meeting will take place on September 21, 2021, at 7 pm.  This will be an "in person" meeting, but anyone is invited to join in the fun on ZOOM.  Here are the assignments for the September meeting:

• Tony will bring a FUN FACT
• Everyone will bring SHOW AND TELL
• Tony and Linda will narrate a VIDEO CLIP
• Tom will moderate the MYSTERY
• Ed will present THE DISAPPEARANCE OF LADY FRANCES CARFAX

Here is the Mystery for September for all to try to solve:

Our 48th meeting was conducted on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, and began at 7pm. Attending (either in person or on ZOOM) was Michelle, Pat, Bill, Rick, Ed, Barry, Barb, Beth, Tom, Marc, Carol, and Linda.

A good time was had by all who attended this meeting! After Ed's fun fact, and Michele's video clip, Rick led us in a discussion of the story entitled, "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans."

​The meeting will take place on August 24, 2021 at 7 pm in the lobby of Beach PC Computer Repair shop.  ZOOM participation will be available for the meeting.

• ​??? will bring a FUN FACT
• All members are invited to bring SHOW AND TELL
• Marc volunteered to offer a clip involving Sherlock Holmes
• Tom will moderate the Q&A to solve a MYSTERY shown below
• Barry will lead the discussion on the THE ADVENTURE OF THE DYING DETECTIVE​

​Our 47th meeting was conducted on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, and began at 7pm. Attending in person was Tom, Beth, Bill, Ed, Pat, Michele, Barb, Rick, and Barry.  

Before the meeting got started, Tom provided a brief explanation about why he cancelled the May meeting at the last minute.  Furthermore, he thanked everyone for their kind words about his wife's health.  

​Barry brought us a fun fact, and then Ed narrated a video clip from The Hound of the Baskervilles, starring Basil Rathbone. Tom moderated the solution to the mystery, and then presented a summary of THE ADVENTURE OF THE RED CIRCLE. 

Tom's presentation of THE ADVENTURE OF THE RED CIRCLE was concluded by watching the last 7 minutes of the Granada Television production of this story.  

​The meeting will take place on July 27, 2021 at 7 pm in the lobby of Beach PC Computer Repair shop.  ZOOM participation will be available for the meeting.

• ​Ed will bring a FUN FACT
• All members are invited to bring SHOW AND TELL
• Michele volunteered to offer a clip involving Sherlock Holmes
• Tom will moderate the Q&A to solve a MYSTERY
• Rick will lead the discussion on the THE ADVENTURE OF THE BRUCE-PARTINGTON PLANS.

The mystery to solve is pictured below: