# Inspector Lestrade — The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes character guide

> Inspector Lestrade in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Lestrade, Mr. Lestrade, Mr. Lestrade of Scotland Yard, friend Lestrade

**First appearance:** 0004-the-redheaded-league

## Snapshot

A Scotland Yard inspector who brings Holmes the cases his own men cannot crack, equal parts grudging colleague and professional rival.

## Who they are

Lestrade represents the official machinery of Victorian policing: methodical, well-connected, and frequently outmatched by crimes that demand imagination rather than procedure. He turns to Holmes when a case stalls, yet never quite surrenders his conviction that the Yard's way is the proper way. Their uneasy partnership gives the stories a recurring friction, the sense that Holmes's genius is tolerated rather than welcomed by the institution he so often outshines.

## Relationships

### [Sherlock Holmes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_adventures_of_sherlock_holmes/characters/sherlock_holmes)

_professional_

Lestrade is a Scotland Yard inspector who is a professional rival but sometimes collaborates with Holmes.

### [Neville St. Clair](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_adventures_of_sherlock_holmes/characters/neville_st_clair)

_professional_

Lestrade is the investigating officer who arrests St. Clair for a suspected murder.

### [Sherlock Holmes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_adventures_of_sherlock_holmes/characters/sherlock_holmes)

_professional_

Lestrade is a Scotland Yard inspector who is a professional rival but sometimes collaborates with Holmes.

### [Sherlock Holmes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_adventures_of_sherlock_holmes/characters/sherlock_holmes)

_professional_

Lestrade is a Scotland Yard inspector who is a professional rival but sometimes collaborates with Holmes.

### [Neville St. Clair](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_adventures_of_sherlock_holmes/characters/neville_st_clair)

_professional_

Lestrade is the investigating officer who arrests St. Clair for a suspected murder.

## In the story

### [The Boscombe Valley Mystery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_adventures_of_sherlock_holmes/chapters/the-boscombe-valley-mystery)

Present at the crime scene, initially indifferent to Holmes's methods. Criticizes Holmes for raising false hopes after Alice Turner's visit.

### [The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_adventures_of_sherlock_holmes/chapters/the-adventure-of-the-noble-bachelor)

Has been investigating, dragged the Serpentine, and believes Flora Millar is responsible for the disappearance.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_adventures_of_sherlock_holmes/characters/inspector_lestrade
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_adventures_of_sherlock_holmes
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_adventures_of_sherlock_holmes/characters