Recommended Mastermind

Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Maria Konnikova Viking, 2013 ($26.95)

Konnikova, author of the Scientific American blog Literally Psyched, has been fascinated by Sherlock Holmes since the days when her father read aloud to her from Conan Doyle’s classic mysteries. Now a Ph.D. candidate in psychology, she examines Holmes’s powers of perception and problem solving through the lens of her discipline. The book is part literary analysis and part self-help guide, teaching readers how to sharpen the ways they observe the world, store and retrieve memories, and make decisions.

Konnikova, author of the Scientific American blog Literally Psyched, has been fascinated by Sherlock Holmes since the days when her father read aloud to her from Conan Doyle’s classic mysteries. Now a Ph.D. candidate in psychology, she examines Holmes’s powers of perception and problem solving through the lens of her discipline. The book is part literary analysis and part self-help guide, teaching readers how to sharpen the ways they observe the world, store and retrieve memories, and make decisions.