The Monographs - A comprehensive manual on all you need to know to become an expert Deductionist.

I'm only a few chapters into this book and already I'm a fan. I Am taking my time to read this information packed book as I am trying out the exercises as I go. Just like the author, I have a life long fascination for Sherlock Holmes.a nd his uncanny mental skills. I've watched numerous videos of the author, Ben Cardall, demonstrating that be has the same skillset as. Sherlock. I believe Ben when he tells me that if I faithfully follow his teachings, I too can develop the same skill set.no matter how long it takes me, I am committed to mastering the various skills so that one day,I too, will be a master deductionist. How cool is that?.

Absolutely epic. This is the book I've been waiting for. While there are already many books available out there about body language and reading facial expressions etc... I kept searching for one that would focus on some of the little deductive tid-bits that make sherlock holmes whole process more interesting. I didn't want another chapter telling me to 'learn to be mindful and pay attention'... I wanted specific examples i.e. this tattoo means this... this kind of fur on a persons jacket means they have this kind of dog etc. This book delivered that and more. The exercises are wonderful and practical. If there was one criticism of this book I would just suggest to the author that perhaps in the next printing to have clearly photos. The photos at times were difficult to make much use of but I suspect that was just the style of printing. Either way its five stars in my book.

I have the pleasure of speaking with Ben often. He is truly an amazing gentlemen. This book has it all, and in detail. Not in quick bits you need to research elsewhere ( though that never hurts.) After not even a day, I learned a method of memorizing that works for any items or numbers. More then 10 items at a time in any order. Not even a day. Facial expressions,tattoos, body language, clothin, and way more is in here. If he made a second volume, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

This is a 5 star book in a 4 star book’s body. The reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the book’s format, editing and pictures. The book format is poor, it does not have any chapter numbers and title headings. The quality of the pictures is poor, you can barely see the things that the author points out. The book does not have a biboligraphy or index. It does not list any sources or references. The author talks about studies but does not cite any specific ones to support his claims. The book’s editing is poor. There are typos throughout the book. The book is formatted in a block style, which makes it hard to read. At $22.95 the book is also priced high, consider the pictures are poor quality. All of the above publishing flaws, however, I blame on the publisher not the author. At times, I wanted to give up reading and throw the book down in frustration. But I never did. Why? Simply because the information that the author presents is outstanding. If you want to learn how to deduce people like Sherlock Holmes, then this is one of the best books you could get. The author goes into detail on how to use deduction (or reasoning backwards as he calls it) to draw inferences about people. He talks about body language and eye movement, like other books, but then he goes even further by focusing on specific things. For example, he has whole chapters on how to read tattoos, eyeglasses, creases, tan lines and many other things. Plus, he gives real life examples on how he did it. The information in this book is what you need to start you on the path to thinking like Sherlock Holmes. The author urges you to practice and use the memory palace technique to store all the unique facts you learn. Ben Cardall hit a homerun with this book. It could have been a grand slam if only MX Publishing had did its’ job.

This is a very good book in learning how to read people.

This book certainly needs no recommendation from me, as it’s done very well on its own already. I’m sure there have been other books that approach this type of subject before – using one’s observational skills to be able to determine things with certainty about another person. But what makes this book more useful, and infinitely more fun, is that it teaches one how to do this from a Sherlockian Baseline. Mr. Cardall, a professional magician and mentalist, recounts how he discovered the Sherlock Holmes Canon. At the beginning of the book, he explains how he was unofficially diagnosed with Ataraxia, thus explaining how he is unencumbered by typical emotions, allowing him to process information and make deductions with greater ease. This “super-power” has allowed Mr. Cardall to develop observational skills along the lines of Mr. Holmes, something that he continues to develop every day. The information in this book is too vast to boil down into a single review. The book, over 400 pages of it, is more than simple tricks or memory exercises. It relates psychological “tells”, motivations, and behaviors, representing many different aspects of deduction and memory. And then there are the practical parts as well – telling us what to make of different types of tattoos, scratches upon one’s hand, or accents and dialect. These are the very things that Mr. Holmes would have worked so hard to learn (or develop) on his own when he was first learning his craft in those long-ago Victorian days. Luckily, the rest of us now have this book, Mr. Cardall having done all the hard work for us. There are days when I feel like I’m on point, and that I can make some deductions about the person in front of me when I go to buy coffee – but I’m no Holmes. However, perhaps all of us can make our way a bit closer to that ideal state with Mr. Cardall’s help, because he’s writing from a position of already being much closer to the bar set by that best and wisest man, Sherlock Holmes. One side note: I do wish that the book had been better edited and formatted. While the information is very useful, sometimes the errors within – and one misspelled word on the cover as well – were distracting. Perhaps, if there is a future edition or a sequel, some additional work on polishing the finished product can be built into the process before it goes to press.

Amazing, and really long, it really goes into depth on how to read someone, and its not just your basic run of the mill facial expressions, foot pointing stuff. It really breaks everything down, talks about from what type of shoes people wear to the tattoos they get. This is as close as you are going to get to the real work of Sherlock Holmes.

This was a prophetic work. This is the REAL and true book that Sherlockians look for on Amazon. I am so happy to have found it. I found this to be a ground breaking work on the craft and art of reading people from a true master of the craft.