Baker Street Irregular

From the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, in which they were a group of street boys who assisted Holmes (who lived on Baker Street, London) with his investigations.

Baker Street Irregular (plural Baker Street Irregulars)

1. A casual assistant, especially in the context of detection or solving crime.
   • 2005, Lloyd Davis, Campus Delicti: A Dan Quarrier Mystery

     I'd be glad to hear anything you might dig up. You could be a kind of Baker Street Irregular yourself. But please understand, the way it stands now the Harkness death is classified as a suicide or accident.

   • 2010, Michael Innes, Appleby's Other Story

     'And I don't understand your position at all. It seems quite irregular.'
     'So it is, madam. I may be called a Baker Street Irregular. […] '

   • 2012, Jeanne Toomey, Assignment Homicide: Behind the Headlines (page 77)

     Though I truly loved them and the work they did, rescuing thousands of animals yearly, yet the roar of the presses and the fast pace of a whirlwind business held me captive. […] I remained a Baker Street irregular, still joining the first and last popular breakfast couple of New York in rescue efforts, appearing often as a guest on the program, forever their devoted admirer.

   • 2018, Amanda Cross, In the Last Analysis

     "No, Jerry is a sort of Baker Street Irregular, and he's going to be my nephew."
     "You can't mean you've hired a little boy! Really, Kate..."

2. A fan of Sherlock Holmes stories.
   • 1952 December 29, “LIFE”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), page 62:

     This hope reflected Starrett's tongue-in-cheek faith as a Baker Street Irregular that Sherlock Holmes actually lived and that the stories about him were all factual, written by the faithful Doctor Watson from voluminous records.

   • 2021 October 14, Anthony Boucher, The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     On this night, in 1934 New York, a few enthusiasts met to celebrate the birthday of the man they most respected, admired and loved. The Baker Street Irregulars were officially born.