Inspector Lestrade - Lestrade Himself

Lestrade Himself

Lestrade is somewhat difficult to pin down as a character. His impatience with Holmes clashes with his kindness to clients, and his level of education appears diffident. Despite being described uncharitably by Dr. Watson, Lestrade is pleasant to him, even implying to Watson in a comic way that he doubts Holmes' sanity in "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor". He uses basic working-class language without embellishments and occasionally archaic words such as "shivered" for "smashed" ("The Adventure of the Six Napoleons") and described his reaction to a nauseating act of murder as "sickish" (A Study in Scarlet). His greatest compliment to Holmes' methods was to describe them as "workmanlike".

Despite a French surname (Lestrade is the name of a village in the Midi-Pyrénées and "l'estrade" means "the raised platform"), he fails to respond when Holmes uses French quotations. Conan Doyle wrote him as a very particular dresser, who nevertheless will get muddy in the line of work. He prefers to get out and find his evidence in person rather than solve them in his head. In this case he closely resembles another Yarder, Athelney Jones, whom Holmes describes as "tenacious as a lobster" in "The Red-Headed League". His appearance and style very much contrast with Tobias Gregson which visually increases their rivalry. The two were never paired together after A Study in Scarlet.