Pierre Bayard's "Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong" argues that Arthur Conan Doyle's *The Hound of the Baskervilles* contains a critical logical flaw: the "real" murderer, Selden, is already dead before the story's supposed climax. Bayard proposes that this overlooked detail reveals a deeper truth about detective fiction itself, suggesting that the solutions presented are often less important than the narrative process and the reader's engagement with the mystery. The book examines the story's ambiguities, contradictions, and misdirections, asserting that Doyle deliberately constructed the narrative to mislead not only Holmes but also the reader, ultimately undermining the supposed infallibility of the detective.

The core takeaway for the reader is an invitation to re-evaluate well-established fictional narratives and to consider the author's intent beyond the presented resolution. Bayard demonstrates how close textual analysis can expose inconsistencies and challenge canonical interpretations, encouraging a more critical and playful approach to reading detective stories. He posits that the enjoyment derived from Holmes's deductions is a form of willing suspension of disbelief, and that the "failure" of the detective to spot the pre-existing death of Selden is, paradoxically, a testament to the story's effectiveness as a literary puzzle.

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Key concepts

Selden's Pre-existing Death — The argument that the escaped convict Selden, presented as a threat and potential victim, had already died of exposure before the story's climax, rendering Holmes's investigation into his threat moot.
Narrative Subversion — The idea that Doyle intentionally crafted the plot of *The Hound of the Baskervilles* to subvert traditional detective fiction conventions and even the detective's own perceived omniscience.
Literary Forensics — Bayard's method of applying critical analysis, akin to forensic investigation, to literary texts to uncover hidden truths and logical inconsistencies.
The Reader's complicity — The concept that readers actively participate in constructing the meaning and solution of a mystery, often accepting the presented narrative over logical scrutiny.
Doyle's Deliberate Misdirection — The assertion that Arthur Conan Doyle deliberately included narrative devices and plot points that would lead both characters and readers astray.