Towards Sherlock Holmes

<p> Crime fiction--a product of the burgeoning metropolis of the 19th century--features specialists who identify criminals to protect an anxious citizenry. Before detectives came to play the central role, the protagonists tended to be lawyers or other professionals. Major English writers like Gaskell, Dickens and Collins contributed to the genre--Fergus Hume's <I>The Mystery of a Hansom Cab</I> was a best-seller in 1887--and American and French authors created new forms. This b