In which Sherlock Holmes novel does Dr. Watson meet his future wife Mary Morstan?
Answer
The Sign of the Four
Dr. Watson meets his future wife Mary Morstan in The Sign of the Four. She comes to 221B Baker Street seeking Sherlock Holmes’s help in solving the mystery of her missing father and a series of valuable pearls.
Mary’s father, Captain Arthur Morstan, disappeared after returning from India. The investigation leads Holmes, Watson, and Mary into the mystery of the Agra treasure, a fortune connected to the events of the Indian Rebellion and the agreement known as the “Sign of the Four.”
Watson is immediately attracted to Mary, but his feelings are presented alongside the case rather than as a separate romance. After the mystery is resolved, he proposes to her. They marry in 1889, according to the broader Holmes chronology.
A common mix-up comes from later stories, which contain inconsistencies about Watson’s marriage and the timing of his return to Baker Street. Those continuity problems do not change Mary Morstan’s introduction or the novel in which Watson meets her.