20. Doyle tried several times to end the series
Besides the lengthy hiatus initiated by Holmes’s death at the hands of Professor Moriarty, Doyle hinted many times that the series had ended. Financial considerations brought him back. Although Doyle wrote prolifically on many other subjects, none brought him the monetary rewards of Sherlock Holmes. In one story, The Adventure of the Second Stain, Watson intimates to the reader he intended the preceding story to be the last. He then explains the tale he is about to relate as being the most important of his friend’s career, hinting that it will be the final Holmes story. A nearly four-year gap in Holmes stories followed.
Late in the series, Doyle used Watson to refer to his friend in retirement having granted permission for him to relate a story from the days when they lived together in Baker Street. Often the permission was based on devices such as embarrassment to certain characters, or political scandal, having lapsed over time. Each of these stories implied the retired detective had no more tales to tell, other than the one currently being related. The demand for Holmes from the public never waned during Doyle’s lifetime, through the First World War, and well into the 1920s. The death of their author, in July 1930, did not mean the death of Holmes and Watson.