sherlock holmes for our time

when i was younger, i LOVED detective novels. it's all i read, from enid blyton, nancy drew to the hardy boys, then agatha christie, hercule poirot, and the ultimate: sherlock holmes! a few weeks ago i'd purchased a set of paperbacks containing the complete works of sir arthur on sherlock, and have been re-reading them slowly, enjoying every delicious morsel of clues. how i'd love to be watson--not a dull moment w/ holmes (which is why perhaps he left his wife and moved back with him, but that's another matter).

how useful would holmes be in these times! why, i don't imagine he'll take any time at all concluding who's killed munir, a human rights activist in indonesia. nor would the shooting of a waiter (allegedly by a rich spoilt schwein of a corruptor's son) be a challenge for him. from tracing poison, estimating the trajectory of a bullet, deciphering footprints, a few days was enough for holmes to set things right. free the innocent and put perpetrators behind bars!

are there no modern-day (hah!) version of sherlock, or have we dumbed-down in the meanwhile? if more than a hundred years ago tracing poisons can be done, and they ain't put a man on the moon yet, why should the 'authorities' have difficulties doing the same in this day and age? hell, i say some people need to be sacked!