Arthur Conan Doyle Books

This is Arthur Conan Doyle's second collection of short stories originally published in the Strand magazine. Reading my way through the canon for the first time, I am often struck by how violent and frightening the stories sometimes are, in contrast to the cozy, fireside mysteries I had expected. (Just for the record, it comes as a pleasant surprise.) Within the pages of this fine book, you will encounter a brutal mutiny on the high seas, a sinister case of kidnapping and torture, and any number of fiendish murders, all unraveled by the deductive genius of Sherlock Holmes. Doyle continues to construct fascinating mysteries and shows his more enlightened side with the sympathetic treatment of interracial marriage in "The Yellow Face," which is welcome in light of the occasional problematic references to race in some of his earlier works.

These are some of my favorite stories in the Canon! Silver Blaze includes the memorable line about "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time" ("The dog did nothing in the night-time. That was the curious incident, remarked Sherlock Holmes)". The Gloria Scott may be the start of Holmes career as consulting detective, and in these Memoirs we also have the introduction of brother Mycroft. The annotation by Leslie Klinger on this edition is superb, with diversions into the constant problem of train timetables (Did Watson purposely obscure these facts?). I was interested in her annotation of the difference between American and English editions (for example in "Yellow face" the longer time that Grant Munro was silent in the American Edition was "presumably because inter-racial marriage was unacceptable in America in the 1890's"). The footnotes always help to place the stories in context (for example what is "brain-fever" suffered in 7 of the Holmes stories?) and also detect inconsistencies in Watson's telling. Perhaps my favorite footnote is in "The Yellow Face" stating that actor William Gillette may have been to the Holmes household and met the page "Billy" (Who was played by Charlie Chaplin in 1903!). The few appendices deal; with "Sherlock Holmes the Horseplayer", "The post-graduate years", or "Theories of Mycroft Holmes". The Sidney Paget drawings are always welcome!

What can we say about the literary icon Sherlock Holmes that hasnt already been? Very little, so we therefore redirect our evaluations towards the unending line of dramatizations that even today are still being released. In my humble opinion, these are the best efforts, certainly in pure audio format, of these immortal tales ever to be produced. Merrison may at first bug you as he did me. We are used to a more booming authoritative Holmes. Merrison has a decidedly very small and nasally timbre to his voice. But his incredible acting abilities will quickly win you over. His absolute command of the situations and his sadly all too sparsely employed dry humor; make him as formidable a Holmes as any who have attempted the role. Contrast to Jeremy Brett's somewhat effeminate and decidely dark interpretation of the great detective, Merrison offers a much more genial and personable version, yet one that is no less impressionable than any of his predecessors. But it's the late Michael Williams to me, however, who finally after 100 years of fruitless attempts by actors, displays a true understanding of the character of the narrator, John Watson, and in doing so, makes these productions such a resounding triumph. Watson is all too often seen as a boob, ala Nigel Bruce. Or when not, he is played as dry humorless tagalong. These stories, through Williams's depictions, offer us at last an interesting and complex Watson. As Doyle no doubt intended him to be. Clearly no match for his constant companion intellectually, but as the absolute invaluable assistant to Holmes. Gone are such ponderings as "Why would a genius keep company with such a fool?" Or "Why would such an interesting multi faceted eccentric, befriend a lifeless, vapid man of medicine?" As in all BBC productions, the supporting casts and sound effects, provide true listening enjoyment in the spirit of the golden age of radio.

Although he also wrote several novels featuring the world's greatest fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, it was especially in his short stories that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle perfected the Holmes formula. "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" (published in 1893) is the second of the five collections of Holmes short stories. Along with the third collection ("The Return of Sherlock Holmes"), "Memoirs" is generally regarded as inferior to the superlative first collection ("The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes), but easily better than the last two in the series ("His Last Bow" and "The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes"). This collection includes Silver Blaze (usually regarded as one of the five all-time most popular stories in the Holmes canon), but also contains other excellent stories like The Stock-broker's Clerk, and The Musgrave Ritual, and favorites like The Reigate Puzzle, The Greek Interpreter, and The Final Problem. Those who have already enjoyed "Adventures" will certainly not want to miss "Memoirs".

Here's a list of the stories in this collection (with the better stories marked with stars):
**Silver Blaze, 1892 - Often regarded as one of the five all-time top 5 Holmes stories ever, this tale has Sherlock Holmes unravel the mystery behind the sudden disappearance of the prized race-horse Silver Blaze (favorite for the upcoming Wessex Plate), and the brutal murder of her trainer John Straker.
The Yellow Face, 1893 - Sherlock gets it wrong as he surmises that the strange behaviour of Grant Munro's American wife Effie is because her former husband is not dead.
**The Stock-broker's Clerk, 1893 - Just when he's about to start a new job at Mawson's, Hall Pycroft is offered another job copying out parts of a telephone directory for a ridiculously high salary, which turns out to be part of a scheme reminiscent of the favorite "The Red-headed League".
The 'Gloria Scott', 1893 - In a story with overtones of the premise behind "The Sign of Four", the arrival of an old sailor brings Mr. Trevor terror and death, as he is forced to face his past involvement as part of mutiny on the ship "Gloria Scott" while journeying to Australia as a convict.
**The Musgrave Ritual, 1893 - In another top ten favorite, Holmes unravels the strange "Musgrave Ritual" to solve the mystery behind the disappearance of a butler and a maid, and the discovery of bag with rusted metal and pieces of glass in a nearby lake at the home of Reginald Musgrave.
*The Reigate Puzzle , 1893 - While staying with Watson's friend Colonel Hayter near Reigate, Holmes gets to the bottom of the mysterious burglaries at the nearby Acton estate and the Cunningham estate, as well as the murder of the Cunningham's coachman William.
The Crooked Man, 1893 - Colonel Barclay is apparently murdered by his devoted wife Nancy, but Holmes uncovers the involvement of another party who is intimately involved in both of their pasts.
The Resident Patient, 1893 -Dr. Percy Trevelyan is paid to practice medicine in the house a gentleman called Blessington, and when Blessington is apparently commits suicide, it takes Holmes to explain the connection of these events with a gang of five bank robbers.
*The Greek Interpreter, 1893 - Sherlock pairs up with his brother Mycroft Holmes, whose neighbour Melas is taken to a secret location to act as a Greek interpreter in a very suspicious affair involving a woman and man from Greece.
The Naval Treaty, 1893 - Holmes helps Percy Phelps, a former class-mate of Watson, recover an important naval treaty document that was stolen.
*The Final Problem, 1893 - Often regarded as being in the top ten of the canon, here Holmes apparently meets his end in a duel at the hands of Professor Moriarty, "the Napoleon of crime", after Holmes has had his gang arrested and unmasked him as the organizer and mastermind behind criminal activity in London.
- GODLY GADFLY

What a wonderful surprise it was to come across Leslie Klinger's outstanding annotated versions of the Sherlock Holmes stories on Amazon! Klinger's notes are extremely helpful and informative (not to mention entertaining), and the copious illustrations by Paget are a great addition as well. This (and the other volumes, of which Adventures, Hound of the Baskervilles, and Study in Scarlet have been published to date) are a worthy successor to William Baring-Gould's justly acclaimed annotated Holmes from years back, and are, in opinion, a better value and more enjoyable read than the rather dry Oxford editions.

If you are new to Sherlock Holmes, this may not be the most economical way to pick up all of Conan Doyle's work. But if you are a long-time Holmes fan, or just want to experience the Holmes stories in a deeper and more informed way, I can think of no better purchase than this. Very highly recommended!!!

Detective novels can get irritating, as coming to the final solution is just being strung out too long. Sometimes it is ok to wonder why-and-whodunit for 200 pages, but sometimes I just like to know, don't you?
Therefore I like detective short stories, especially the cleverly crafted format of the Holmes stories. They are all cleverly crafted, but also predictably structured:
From Watson's point of view, someone comes to Holmes with a problem, he listens and just has to clear up some points, to which end he does some investigating, Watson can't figure the case out and wonders what he has missed, Holmes tells him the solution, we and Watson wonder how he came to that. Finally Holmes gives the explanation of how he has come to his conclusions.
At the end of each story the reader, identifying with Watson, feels amused as well as satisfied, that the facts are so blatantly simple and obvious when working backwards, yet not perceived at the time.
The stories were enjoyable and relaxing to read, easy to dip into and out of and fairly timeless. On several occasions it occurred to me that had Holmes had the option of using modern forensic science he may not have benefited by this, as the logic he applies seems generally infallible. It may be said that such an infallible hero is unrealistic, but I, like many people I am sure, found this comforting, a bit like the superhero effect and their popularity, and God. It is a nice feeling to think there are people and powers out there who have the ability to take care of things and ensure everything will be all right, or at least solved and brought to a satisfactory conclusion.
This selection is also useful as it provides a model for many detective stories written since.

Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories were hugely popular in their day. Readers would sometimes line up outside the offices of the Strand magazine, which originally published these stories, eager to get their hands on the latest adventure. Doyle is a master at constructing a mystery. I've read the novels "A Study in Scarlet" and "The Sign of Four" and find that the short story is a more suitable form for Doyle's formula. In the novels, Holmes and Watson disappear for long stretches while the narrative flashes back to the events surrounding the mystery in question. In these stories, the famous duo are never gone for long, if at all. I also enjoyed the humor in these tales, which I had not expected when I began reading.

After having read "The Hound of the Baskervilles" children's version at the age of 10, for some reason I believed that I knew all there was to know about Mr. Holmes. When the whim struck me I started reading "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and discovered that there is far more to these stories than I had originally given credit for. This is a series of short stories, told from the voice of Holmes' famous confidant Dr. Watson.

This is a series of mysteries that Sherlock Holmes encounters that are told at a swift pace with very little spare verbiage to wade through. Doyle has an excellent mind for the mysteries, keeping them fresh, new, and interesting. Though often I was able to figure out from the very beginning what was going one, I assume it is due to these tales having been used as the basis for so many other mysteries that they may have become familiar. None the less it is always entertaining to follow Sherlock's mind through the twists and turns of the clues to piece together the truth of what is laid out before you.

I have to admit as a parent, that I am glad I elected to read this before handing it over to my son, a 10 year old who read the children's version of the "Hound of the Baskervilles" and has since become a Sherlock Holmes fanatic in the way that only a 10 year old can achieve. Anyway, I purchased this book for him to read and ended up sitting down and skimming it when leaping out of the page at me was the word "cocaine." It immediately dawned on me that this book was written in the times of the opium dens when cocaine was the height of fashion. I decided I'd best read the book and sure enough much to my dismay, Sherlock Holmes mentioned vices include smoking tobacco (no biggie) and shooting cocaine (a REAL biggie for a 10 year old).

Now I personally enjoyed reading this book, never growing weary of the style or the topics. But I have to admit that I elected not to share it with my son for a few more years. My only complaint with this book is that even though it is technically a short story book, it does not read like one. So when you get to the end of the final story, you are left feeling as though someone ripped the last few pages out of your book. There is little to no closure to the series of tales. For some reason I had been expecting there to have been some sort of closure, or a summation from Dr. Watson as to why he chose to include the cases he did, or something about his dear friend Holmes, but as with all short story books, when the final mystery is solved, there is no point turning the page because you are done.

5 of 5 stars.

You can see why this detective model has been copied so many times: these short stories are the hour episodes of today's ubiquitous crime shows. Doyle manages a wonderful balance between intellectually entertaining crime solving, character development of Holmes and Watson, action, and turnover of each tale's novel guests and events.

In college I went through a phase where I read all the Sherlock Holmes stories. Once I got started reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories, I didn't want to stop. It was sad when I read the last story.

Now years later it was fun to read them again. I enjoy the Sherlock Holmes short stories more than one of the novels. For me one of the most enjoyable parts of a Sherlock Holmes story is reading about what happened, and then reading how Sherlock Holmes solved the problem. A collection of short stories provides this experience many times.

This collection has many classics. It has the famous line "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." (The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet.)

It is also interesting to see what life was like in England 100 years ago. They had the underground, but use carriages, there was lots of travel by train, and life in general was a bit rougher than today.

If you haven't read any Sherlock Holmes stories, this is a good place to start.

Sherlock Holmes is approached by his estranged cousin, the actor Edwin Booth, regarding a series of attempts on his life. Edwin is the elder brother of the infamous John Wilkes Booth, and it is his story that Holmes must investigate to resolve the mystery of the assassination attempts on his cousin's life.

Covering some of the same ground as Barrie Roberts' 'Sherlock Holmes and the Royal Flush', I ended up reading these two book in a fairly close period of time. This allows me to compare how the two authors put facts from John Wilkes Booth's life and death into their books. The problem is - it would be a dead giveaway on their plotlines to do so! Suffice to say, 'The Surrogate Assassin' takes the issues in a more active and head-on way.

I found Christopher Leppek's writing style quite readable, and his portrayal of Holmes and Watson well within my view of how the characters should be written. However, I did find some of the facts a little contradictory with the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Holmes' creator. For instance, he makes casual reference to Mycroft Holmes, who Watson would not even know of for several years to come! Mind you, Doyle was pretty careless about such things as well (for instance, Moriarty's appearance in 'The Valley of Fear') so one shouldn't be too harsh.

Leppek knows his stuff! Not only is the story credable in it's facts it is fast paced entertainment. I can only say words of praise of this book-- it a must read for both Sherlock fans & historical alike!

As a supreme Booth family armchair scholar, I moved mountains to find this book and would you believe it, in my curiosity to see how many pages it had, I saw the name of the "surrogate assassin" on the last page before I had even started reading the book! So as I read it, I could see the clues. Still, I enjoyed it thoroughly and recommend it to anyone with even a slight interest in mysteries, Sherlock Holmes, the Lincoln Assassination, or the Booth family.

As a supreme Booth family armchair scholar, I moved mountains to find this book and would you believe it, in my curiosity to see how many pages it had, I saw the name of the "surrogate assassin" on the last page before I had even started reading the book! So as I read it, I could see the clues. Still, I enjoyed it thoroughly and recommend it to anyone with even a slight interest in mysteries, Sherlock Holmes, the Lincoln Assassination, or the Booth family.

This book is less an adventure of Sherlock Holmes than it is a re-examination of the Lincoln assassination and the role of John Wilkes Booth. The author uses Holmes (and utilises every horrid, tired cliche' in doing so) as a vehicle to put forth his own theory regarding the assassination. There are significant flaws in the reasoning he forces through Holmes to reach his conclusion (for instance, there is a key error of fact which no educated Englishman, particularly Holmes, could possibly have made). Overall, though, the writer does an admirable job of breathing life into this period of American history. The historic people and places who hitherto have been mere names are vividly drawn and can be clearly seen and heard by the reader. Although I won't give it a place of honour on my shelf of Holmes pastiches, it is still worth reading for entertainment.

If you're looking for the creative process that Conan Doyle employed in memorializing perhaps the most famous fictional character in literary history, this book will disappoint. Other than the well-known fact that Joseph Bell was the real-life model for Sherlock Holmes and that Conan Doyle needed to supplement his meager medical practice with additional funds, this book is more of the chronolgy of the life of a man who lived a rather mundane, if somewhat, typical Victorian existence.

True, his father was an alcoholic and Conan Doyle's first wife was practically an invalid the last ten years of her life causing him to initiate an adultrous affair with a woman who would later become his second wife; however, much of the book simply relates the travels, associations, business ventures, family squabbles and misunderstandings that were conventional to that period. Andrew Lycett, the biographer, admits in the Afterword that getting to know Conan Doyle up close and personal was difficult due to the heir's reluctance to release certain documents and letters. Following Conan Doyle's death, there was a real donneybrook over who got what from the estate. Greed and jealousy ruled and posterity and Conan Doyle's legacy has suffered because of it.

For my part the image of the man is forever tarnished by his obsession with the occult, paranormal, and spiritualism. Apart from Sherlock Holmes, he failed to live up to what he could have achieved in his lifetime as an author of great promise had he not been fixated with contacting the dead. His misguided intentions to divest himself of the true Christian faith marred a life that brought untold satisfaction to tens of thousands of devoted readers.

With that as a personal aside, Lycett from all accounts has written the most definitive biography to date on the life and times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Lycett takes complete advantage of recently released family papers, and although at first glance they seem largely like household account books that reveal how much money was spent on this and that in any given period, soon this accumulation of data grows a fascination of its own. We can see through a myriad of details how Conan Doyle, by his own literary labors, started out with nearly nothing and wound up one of the wealthiest writers of his day, living life in a nearly baronial fashion with everything he could dream of. Was this affluence worth the price he paid for it? In some ways, Lycett argues, he was completely happy and very much a man of his time, but his growing spiritual instincts show, some have argued, a guilt consciousness overtaking him, making his soul restless as those whose peregrinations through ectoplasm he studied night after night, the victim of some of the worst frauds the world has known.

I enjoyed the biography, though it is superlong and at the same time, rushed during the second half of Doyle's life, where so many things happened to him that Lycett's chapters devolve into mere laundry lists of "And then he," "and then he," without much analysis. But by then he has given us ample evidence with which to judge Doyle's character. I suppose no biography of the man could fail to examine his mysterious second marriage, and when the love affair between ACD and Jean Leckie began. They always put up a public front, as did their children, that no way did anything untoward occur between them while the first wife, tubercular Louise, was still alive. Lycett takes a middle ground, referring to Jean as Conan Doyle's "mistress" even while accepting that perhaps there was no sexual activity between them. It must have been a trying time for Jean, not to mention Louise! And much of ths strain fell on Louise's two children, Mary and Kingsley, whom Jean seems to have resented terribly and who she made sure were always being sent away to school or to spend their vacations far away from wherever she was. Conan Doyle comes off as sort of a man torn in two, but Jean seems just horrid in every way.

Lycett finds echoes of this central conflict in many of Conan Doyle's stories and novels, pointing to the way that the author of the Sherlock Holmes tales withdrew "The Cardboard Box" from a proposed volume of "Memoirs," even after it had been published in periodical form, because its tangle of illicit love affairs reflected too much of the lustful drives he himself was feeling but had, as a Victorian paterfamilias, to keep a dark secret.

Lycett ignores the current controversy about the authorship of THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES and does not so much as refer to the possibility that Conan Doyle had Fletcher Robinson "bumped off," though he does spend a lot of time, particularly in what is otherwise a very rushed account of Doyle's final 20 years, on his putative involvement in the Piltdown Man hoax. In his analysis of the George Edalji case, he shows us rather humorously that Conan Doyle's championing of the wrongfully imprisoned Edalji had many roots, not just the simple one of wanting justice done, including the fact that a fellow clubman had managed to clear a wrongfully accused man just the previous year and perhaps ACD wanted some of the glory too! All in all, a splendid book and one that will be much discussed in the years to come.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was born in Edinburgh Scotland to native Irish parents. His father was a minor painter who died an alcoholic in a mental asylum. His formidable mother Mary was a smart and literate woman who relished telling tales to Arthur and his siblings.
Arthur studied and graduated with a degree in medicine from Edinburgh University where his favorite teacher was Dr. Joseph Bell. Bell would be his inspiration for his famous detective creation along with Oliver Wendell Holmes. Doyle went on a ship to the Artic in his 20th year serving as the medical officer. He enjoyed travel and adventure throughout his life. He loved America and often visited our shores.
In the 1880s he set up practice in Portsmouth becoming a prominent figure in the community. He married his first wife Louise with whom he had two children: Mary and Kingsley who died of disease in World War I.
Doyle enjoyed sport all of his life indulging in cricket, skiing in Switzerland, tennis, bicycling, motoring and golf. He was a macho man's man who was also a patriot loving the British Empire. He was friendly with such writers as Kipling, Stevenson, Meredith and Hardy.
In the 1880s and 1890's he produced his first Sherlock Holmes novels:
"A Study in Scarlet" and "A Sign of Four." The Holmes short stories were produced in the Strand magazine and were wildly popular. Holmes pooh-poohed these tales wanting to write historical fiction in imitation of his idol Sir Walter Scott. In this genre the prolific doctor produced such works as "The White Company" He often sought to kill off Holmes but the last tale of the detective would not be published until late in his life due to the love the public had for the man in the deerstalker. Holmes was also played on the stage by William Gillette and was seen in silent and early talkie films.
Doyle's wife Louise died from TB in 1906. The famous and wealthy author had already begun an affair with his second wife Jean Leckie with whom he was to marry and have three children.
Doyle participated in the Boer War and visited the front in World War. His last years were spent as an evangelist for spiritualism. He died in 1930 known today almost exclusively for the Sherlock Holmes tales he so disdained in his lifetime.
Andrew Lycett has authored several literary biographies including those of Dylan Thomas, Ian Fleming and Rudyard Kipling. He has written a good book on Doyle which is illustrated and researched being based on several of the recently released letters of Doyle.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a man of many contradictions. A scientist who loved spiritualism. A married and settled family man who committed adultery. An icon to boys who often was far from home and family. An Irish heritage person who opposed the home rule of the Emerald Isle. A brilliant observer of life who was often duped by spiritualistic charlatans. A born Roman Catholic who did not like organized religion.
This book along with the recently published "The Letters of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle" will increase your knowledge of the genius behind the creation of Dr. John Watson and the inimitable thinking machine from Baker Street. One also gains in knowledge of the Victorian/Edwardian literary scene.

A biographer looking to paint the full life of the subject must necessarily dig into areas of the subject's life that may not be of much interest to the typical reader. In the case of Arthur Conan Doyle, who quickly moved beyond medicine to become one of the more prolific of Victorian-era writers, and one of the most successful, there is a lot of ground to cover.

Yet, for most of us today, all we really care about is Doyle's great creation, Sherlock Holmes. Doyle's many historical novels, books about spiritualism, plays and poetry are today generally forgotten. Without Holmes, Doyle would have been a cipher in the history of literature.

Andrew Lycett's biography is thorough-going, clearly well-researched and, for someone trained at Oxford, well-written. Its critical fault, for me at least, is that it treats Doyle's great creation as just another part of the author's large output.

Who cares about The Story of Mr. George Edalji (1907)? Who cares about The Wanderings of a Spiritualist (1921)? Who cares about The History of Spiritualism (1926)? Or about a dozen or two other now-forgotten tomes?

We want to know all the juicy Sherlockian details. We want to know every detail about how Dr. Doyle came up with one of the most original characters in literature. We want to know what he thought of his creation. We want to know how each story evolved. This Andrew Lycett fails to give us.

This is a biography that covers everything about the long and generally happy life of Arthur Conan Doyle without, despite the title, fully satisfying our sweet tooth for information about Holmes and Watson, the only thing that really matters in the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

--Lan Sluder

A case could be made that the most famous character in fiction is Sherlock Holmes. Everybody knows him, if not from the original stories, then from the countless plays, movies, and parodies. There is an international fan club, and the great detective still gets mail at his 221B Baker Street address in London. But his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was not so enthusiastic. Surely Holmes was the making of Doyle as a literary man, but six years after Holmes first appeared, Doyle wrote in 1892, "I am weary of his name." The public enthusiasm over the detective was, in Doyle's view, keeping him from writing the better things for which he wanted to be known, among which were his books and pamphlets in defense of the new religion of spiritualism. He failed in many of his non-Sherlockian efforts, and thus his most recent biography is called _The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes: The Life and Times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle_ (Free Press) by Andrew Lycett. The author has made a specialty of literary biographies (Ian Fleming, Rudyard Kipling, Dylan Thomas) and has had a long battle with the complicated network of Doyle heirs (described here in an afterword) to produce a big and detailed portrait of a gifted and deeply conflicted author.

Doyle was born in 1859 in Scotland, of Irish parents. He was all her life devoted to his "Mam", perhaps excessively even by Victorian standards. Many of his words quoted here are from letters to her. His father was insane and an alcoholic, incarcerated for years in mental institutions. Doyle abandoned his family's Catholicism and as a young man claimed agnosticism at a time when the term and the idea was a new one, before eventually claiming spiritualism. Though Lycett covers Doyles other literary works, it is Sherlock who will always be most important. Doyle killed Holmes off and remained a popular author without him, but not as popular and not as wealthy, and the reading world rejoiced to learn that Holmes's death was only apparent, not actual, when the stories resumed. Lycett writes, "Becoming a spiritualist so soon after creating the quintessentially rational Sherlock Holmes: that is the central paradox of Arthur's life." Lycett has examined the paradox thoroughly, but probably it can never be fully explained. Doyle never mixed spiritualism into the Holmes stories. When Holmes encountered superstition, it was always with the understanding that there were rational, material explanations for what people had misinterpreted as the doings of the supernatural.

Lycett's book is excellent about Doyle's literary efforts and his eagerness to involve contemporary concerns into his fiction, even if he was careful not to mix his spiritualism with his famous detective. Lycett's extensive investigations into newly-available archives mean that we can know Doyle's whereabouts, budgets, and enthusiasms with sometimes day-to-day accuracy. Doyle was an anomaly in many ways, supporting and uprooting conservative British ideals in different spheres, and Lycett has done justice to his many non-literary interests. It is as the creator of his famous detective, however, that he must always be best remembered, and the many Sherlock fans will find a treat in this a detailed, far from elementary biography.

Although the canon of original Sherlock Holmes stories was fixed and defined upon the death of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, there seems to be no limit to the secondary literature inspired by the great detective and his "friend and colleague," Dr. Watson. William Baring-Gould's "biography" of Holmes is among the best of the Holmesian pastiches.

Baring-Gould shows himself to be one of the supreme Holmesian scholars, and his knowledge of the "canon" seems to have no limits. Thus his biography is thoroughly tied back to actual details contained not only within the original Holmes stories, but also within the secondary literature.

The quirks of Holmes's personality, and his eventual decision to become the world's first consulting detective, are traced back to the formative influences of his youth and college years. This is done without resorting to a crude reductionism which would make Holmes a mere product of his environment.

Inevitably, perhaps, Baring-Gould fills in the gaps regarding Holmes's admiration for "the woman," Irene Adler, and provides information about their relationship which some Holmes fans might regard as being too much of a departure from the Holmes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. That is a matter about which opinions will vary.

We also find Holmes crossing paths with some of the more famous personalities of his time, up to and including Karl Marx. (Since Marx was - like Holmes - a denizen of London's libraries and museums, a meeting with Holmes is not at all forced or improbable.) These various encounters with well-known personalities strike me as most believable, consistent with what we know about Holmes and his world.

One reviewer objected to Baring-Gould's treatment of Holmes's sojourn in Tibet, where Holmes meets the Dalai Lama, converts to Buddhism, and tracks down the abominable snowman. As described by that reviewer, it does indeed seem highly improbable, but that is not the sense I had when reading it from Baring-Gould. I find it easy to imagine Holmes becoming attracted to Buddhism; his Christianity always seemed rather tenuous, and Buddhism emphasizes cultivating the mind, stripping away illusions, sentiment, and false-thinking, which I can easily imagine appealing to Holmes. As for tracking the abominable snowman, is that any more fantastic than what we find in many of the actual Holmes stories?

Baring-Gould also takes up the question of why Holmes was never consulted in the case of Jack the Ripper. Well, according to Baring-Gould, Holmes WAS consulted, and nailed the culprit. Baring-Gould explains how all this happened without the public's knowledge, and why it is generally assumed that Jack the Ripper was never caught.

So, all in all, this is an entertaining read, and a believable pastiche of a Holmes biography. I take away one star because I found the lengthy, verbatim, excerpts from the original Holmes stories to slow things down a bit. To one already familiar with the stories, these excerpts really didn't add anything new, and they tested my patience a bit.

This "biography" of one of fiction's greatest detectives is an inspired piece of work. It truly breaths life into Sherlock Holmes by filling in the gaps which were basically left unsaid in the stories written by A. Conan Doyle. The book presents Sherlock Holmes as if he were a living and breathing person and not simply a figment of Doyle's imagination. Because of the way it was written, it simply glues the reader to his seat in learning about this literary icon and further encourages the reader to go back to the Doyle stories. Though this book dates back to over forty years ago, it is still as fresh today as when it was first published.

"Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street" by W. Baring-Gould will prove a disappointment to most Holmes fans. Baring-Gould's father is a real life character of some historical significance, who shows up as a colorful character in the current Holmes series by Laurie King, and may have had some tie to the original series as a prolific author of that day. His son, however, seems to simply use this association to create a psuedo-historical account of Sherlock Holmes through much reminisence of C. Doyle's original tales. For a true Holmes fan, it might give a good read when out of other options and wanting a walk down memory lane with the their old sleuth, but for most, will prove a bit redundant.

There are those who believe, or perhaps I should say, 'believe', that Sherlock Holmes was (or, sometimes, is) a real historical figure. In this magnificent biography of the great detective, William S. Baring-Gould wrote that none of the characters in his book are fictional, 'although the author should very much like to meet any who claim to be.'

William S. Baring-Gould (1913-1967) was one of the greatest Sherlock Holmes scholars ever. Publishing several works on Holmes publically and privately, this biography was published in 1962, a few years before his great, two-volume annotated edition of the canon of Sherlock Holmes, which still remains a standard bearer. Baring-Gould himself was a life-long devotee of Holmes in particular, and mysteries in general. He is also noted for the fictional biography of Nero Wolfe, which continues the idea presented in this volume that Nero is the son of Holmes and THE woman, Irene Adler, of 'A Scandal in Bohemia' fame.

Sherlock Holmes is one of the best known detectives in the world -- so famous in fact, that 221B Baker Street in London continues to get mail adddressed to this fictional character almost a century after he would have died had he been a real person. There are groups of people -- Sherlockians and Holmesians, the distinction between which is rather subtle -- who delight in retelling the tales. There are forever questions and debates about the ordering of the stories; Baring-Gould is one authority often referred to in these debates, thanks to his work on the Chronology of Holmes, used as an organising principle behind this book.

Baring-Gould draws on the canonical texts and some clever speculations and deductions to piece together a rather complete biographical sketch. As almost every major Sherlock Holmes scholar does, Baring-Gould fills in the gaps in the data. He postulates the birth, childhood and education of Holmes, which is never made explicit in the text of the stores. His idea for Irene Adler as Holmes' lifelong love is not original, but his development of the affair, including the outcome of the son (Nero Wolfe) with the familial characteristics similar to both Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes is ingenious.

Baring-Gould develops details about Watson and Conan Doyle, too, but the primary emphasis here is on Holmes. Baring-Gould argued strongly (some would say convincingly) that this is not a work of fiction. His research was very exacting -- the biography includes two appendices, one of which is a chronology (Baring-Gould had a private published chronology of Holmes) of Holmes' life, according to Baring-Gould (a generation of scholars have debated its merits, but none have ignored it), and a second appendix is a select bibliography, now out of date somewhat, but a great list showing the major works of the first generation of Sherlock Holmes scholars.

Every Sherlockian/Holmesian will want to read this book. It is fascinating for those who love the stories, well written and authoritative.

In this fictional biography of Sherlock Holmes, Baring-Gould makes his attempt at unraveling and chronicling Holmes' sometimes mysterious life. The book begins with a short history of Holmes' childhood and family, all of which comes from Baring-Gould's imagination and a few tantalising scraps of information from Canon. It matches nicely with what we already know of Holmes, fleshing out his character and adding motive for his eccentricities and habits as an adult.

Baring-Gould continues by covering Holmes and Watson's first meeting and Holmes' earliest cases, much of which is quoted directly from Canon. Baring-Gould also goes on to describe Holmes' brush with Jack the Ripper in 1888, an interesting but not wholly satisfying account.

The longest departure from Canon - and the silliest and most unlikely bits - come during Holmes' disappearance after his plunge over Reichenbach Falls with Moriarty. Baring-Gould tells of Holmes re-meeting Irene Adler, with whom he has a love affair and a son (who grows up to be the famous and corpulent American detective Nero Wolfe, no less!), travelling to Tibet, where he becomes a Buddhist under the discipleship of the Dali Lama, capturing the Abominable Snowman in Nepal, and nearly managing to scale Everest single-handedly, before finally returning to England to resume his detective practice.

The book concludes with an account of Holmes' final cases, before his retirement to the Sussex Downs to become a beekeeper, from whence he helps the British Government to win both World Wars and lives to the estimable age of 103 (thanks to his discovery of Royal Jelly!!).

Sarcasm aside, Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street is an interesting read for any Holmes aficionado, and if one can overlook Baring-Gould's attempts to sensationalise, he has done an excellent job of detailing Holmes' life and sorting out the often-confusing dates and time lines of the Holmesian Canon.

It's simply fan fiction in its highest form, and as such I can't knock it.

Once started, the reader can hardly pause in finishing this action packed and well crafted mystery. The hero, Phil Beaumont, is a Pinkerton Operative assigned to bodyguard Harry Houdini on a trip to England. The key to the solution of the murder lies in learning the true identity of all the suspects, just as in my THE PINKERTON EYE. The quality of the novel is enhanced by the author's clever use of the epistolary technique
to strengthen the story line. I highly recommend this mystery
novel.

This book is a total original. Laugh out loud funny. A fresh mystery. With characters we thought we knew before. I read it twice! Simply great.

Satterhwait's sardonic descriptions and droll characterizations made me roll with laughter and kept me awake far past my bedtime for a school night. I look forward to his next book with Phil Beaumont and the latest Pinkerton, Jane Turner.

The first time I read this book, I could not put it down -- I read straight through and emerged after the last page, dazed, wondering where I was. This book is funny, witty, and well-written. It's a great send-up of the English country-house murder mysteries I used to read. I have given away several copies of *Escapade* and I always keep a spare copy for lending out. I highly recommend this book!

I thought this book would be great -- how could you go wrong with a mystery featuring Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at a house party? You could go very wrong, as it turns out.

The writing is sometimes painfully amateurish. Characters are caricatures, and each time they appear, the same characteristics are mentioned, in the same words. This gets really annoying.

The main character is Houdini's right hand man, Phil, whose high opinion of himself is completely unwarranted. He is a condescending, arrogant twit. Other characters are too thinly depicted -- they only consist of a couple of qualities, mostly superficial physical traits, such as weight and hair color.

Once you've endured thousands of sentences containing prose flatter than Kansas, you arrive at the solution. Unfortunately, the solution to the murder is not possible. This is a wee bit of a problem for a mystery. Without giving away too much, if you know anything about ballistics, you will know the author doesn't. His "solution" reveals his ignorance and lack of research, and will frustrate any reader who knows more than he does about guns. It wouldn't have been that difficult or time-consuming to uncover facts such as -- silencers don't silence. They muffle some of a gunshot's sound, but hardly render it silent.

And after reading ESCAPADE'S attempts at wit, you'll just wish someone would silence Phil. For a really witty book, try one by Robert Crais or karen Kijewski. For a good, clever historical, try Bruce Alexander's series. I recommend skipping ESCAPADE.

another in the series of books about Arthur Conan Doyle and his mentor Dr Bell. Dark, brooding and filled with labyrinthine scenarios. I loved it

I just finished reading this book, and I absolutely LOVED it, I couldn't put it down. Thanks to a friend in Edinburgh who sent me this book, I am now an avid fan of the series, and having never read any Sherlock Holmes novels (I know, shame on me!), not only did this book fascinate me, but it also made me want to read Doyle's works, and learn more about the man. Anyone who loves literary fiction or who is a Holmes fan (obviously), or just likes a good suspenseful horror novel, will LOVE this book!

I got through this book by gritting my teeth. Why I put myself through the thankless task is the true mystery of this novel of suspense. A mystery compounded by the fact that there is no resolution at the end - just a referal to the next volume in The Murder Room Series and I won't be reading that any day soon - make that never. I have never felt so conned.

It's an odd book. The narrator is an irritating, petulant twerp who constantly lets his emotions rule his behaviour and I quickly lost any sympathy for him. The novel is within shouting distance of a resolution half way through but the author then spins the novel out and on to its detriment.

The second half of the novel turns on an increasingly preposterous series of coincidences that would put Amistad Maupin to shame. The predictability of the ensuing events is equally annoying. As for the "surprise" at the end? What surprise - I could see it a mile away!

The author's notes makes it clear that he was inspired to write this particular novel due to a coincidence he discovered in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's background history - that he had studied medicine with a notorious serial killer - but he took that idea and just got carried away. The "idea" didn't warrent a second (or third?) novel. In deed, it didn't deserve one novel of this length. The first half could have been developed into one interesting, self-contained novel but it wasn't and more's the pity.

All in all, an unsatisfactory read.

David Pirie's excellent novel, "The Night Calls," features a young Arthur Doyle, who is a medical student, and his mentor, Dr. Joseph Bell. Bell's sharp powers of observation and clever methods of detection were an inspiration for Doyle's fictional character, Sherlock Holmes.

It is the late 1800's in Edinburgh, Scotland. Arthur Doyle and Dr. Joseph Bell combine their resources to investigate a series of grisly assaults on women. Ultimately, Bell fears that the assaults are the work of an unhinged individual whose crimes may soon escalate to murder. It turns out that Bell's fears are well founded. Their antagonist is a sadist who has tremendous intelligence, imagination, cruelty, and daring.

With his skilled description and vivid characterizations, Pirie has done a marvelous job of capturing the mood of the times. He tackles several feminist themes, including the discrimination that faced young ladies who wished to attend medical school, and the wretched exploitation of impoverished women who sold their virtue in order to survive.

The characters of Bell and Doyle and sharp and well-drawn. Bell's incisive mind, no-nonsense approach, and tenacity when faced with a difficult problem are indeed reminiscent of the great Sherlock Holmes. The central villain of the piece is a vile individual who will make your blood run cold.

Pirie includes several intriguing subplots, including one about a chauvinistic and cruel husband and another about an arrogant scientist who believes that the ends of scientific discovery justify unethical means. "The Night Calls" is a chilling, fascinating, and expertly written novel, and I recommend it highly.

Sherlock Holmes. Very few names are as evocative as that one. And yet there are many questions and speculations surrounding the creation of that marvelous fictional detective. It has been said that the only way to gain any true knowledge of Holmes is through his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. David Pirie must subscribe to that train of thought as well and has therefore devised a background for Doyle. In so doing, Pirie gives us an imaginative glimpse into the relationship between the writer and Dr. Joseph Bell, the man credited with being the inspiration for Holmes himself.

`The Night Calls' is first and foremost a thoroughly atmospheric, not to mention a completely absorbing, story. Each setting and scene is described in careful detail, which lends the prose a rich density that manages to escape any sense of being cumbersome. The reader is allowed to take to the streets of Edinburgh and London right alongside Doyle and Bell. Yes, those streets are dark and unsavory, but you would never think of turning back. And even though Pirie takes the mystery on a couple of tangent jaunts that may seem unnecessary, the heart of it remains compellingly close and "concludes" in a highly chilling manner.

After reading the Historical Note included at the end of the novel, I was surprised to find just how much of Doyle's real life had been snuck into the narrative. Pieces of the man's history that you think must have been part of the fiction turned out to be true and you appreciate the way the story was crafted even more for it. This is the type of novel that makes you want to learn more. More about Doyle himself, about the real-life serial killer that plagues Bell and Doyle throughout, and more about the women's movement that rose up during the time.

I thoroughly enjoyed `The Night Calls' and have since purchased `The Patient's Eye' which actually precedes this novel. I am also anticipating the dvd release of `The Murder Rooms', a miniseries upon which the novels were based.

This book consists of several bite-sized nuggets of mystery, each of the tales being 20-25 pps long. Holmes usually has the answer to the case before he hears the end of the story, and Watson always tries to be as perceptive as Holmes, but fails. However, we need Watson because he is the narrator! I can't decide which was scarier: The Speckled Band or The Engineer's Thumb. Gripping! I am glad to have finally discovered Watson and Holmes!

Here is the fist collection of Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. 'A Scandal in Bohemia', 'The Red-Headed League' and 'The Adventure of the Speckled Band' stand out to me. 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery' is also of note, for secondary characters. Most excellent mystery and adventure to be found.

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : 01 A Scandal in Bohemia - Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : 02 The Red-headed League - Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : 03 A Case of Identity - Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : 04 The Boscombe Valley Mystery - Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : 05 The Five Orange Pips - Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : 06 The Man with the Twisted Lip - Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : 07 The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle - Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : 08 The Adventure of the Speckled Band - Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : 09 The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb - Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : 10 The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor - Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : 11 The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet - Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : 12 The Adventure of the Copper Beeches - Arthur Conan Doyle



A woman? Smart as me? Crap.

5 out of 5


Bloodnut scammer bonanza.

4.5 out of 5


Cruel disguise.

3.5 out of 5


Bad blood between aussies turns violent.

4 out of 5


KKK's fruity message of terror leaves them with a really sinking feeling, in the washup.

4 out of 5


Undercover artist's opium den adventures lead to anxious wife.

4.5 out of 5


A bird that does jewellery, not gold, as Holmes puts the frighteners on.

3.5 out of 5


Sneaky snakey stuff.

5 out of 5


Secret commerce leads to deathtrap digit detachment.

4 out of 5


Marriage shenanigans keep Holmes occupied.

3.5 out of 5


Crown mishap.

4 out of 5


A governess has a hairy experience with a bizarre family.

5 out of 5

Following are brief reviews of each of the excellent collection of twelve original Sherlock Holmes short stories that Arthur Conan Doyle published in a newspaper serial in the 1890's:

Scandal in Bohemia **** - Fun story. Holmes makes use of his disguises and acting talents to almost reel in a smart and tricky woman, who has acquired means to blackmail the future King of Bohemia.

The Red-Headed League **** - Another Fun story. But the crooks could have gotten away with their plan by simply continuing to operate The Red-Headed League until after they finished their criminal activities.

A Case of Identity **** - A woman is jilted at the altar, and a mystery ensues. Nobody ends up murdered or physically hurt in this story - just a serious case of a broken heart, with money as the motive.

Boscombe Valley Mystery ***** - Top-notch Holmes mystery involving blackmail, murder, secrets, and romance. This story does not seem dated at all; and, if you replaced the carriages with automobiles, could have taken place last week in any small rural town in England or America.

The Five Orange Pips **** - Skullduggery involving an ex-Confederate Colonel, and the KKK. Somewhat spooky, but the motive for the murders is a bit shaky, and the ending a bit loose.

The Man with the Twisted Lip ***** - Holmes disguises himself as an opium smoker to help get to the bottom of the disappearance of an affluent father. The story involves all sorts of unsavory characters and situations - Victorian London's East Side was not so different from the inner city of any large modern Metropolis.

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle **** - A short Christmas story of thievery and intrigue, involving a goose and a jewel.

The Adventure of the Speckled Band *** - Good mystery, but not accurate on details... after reading on the Internet how many technical errors this story has, it hard to give it too high a rating. This case involves murders, for the express goal of monetary gain.

The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb **** - One of the shorter adventures and spookier than normal; Holmes solves the mystery and thwarts the criminals' continuing their counterfeiting, but the good-hearted bad guy sidekicks and their murderous leader end up fleeing the scene of the crime before they can be apprehended.

The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor **** - A little too far-fartched, this story does have a lot of interesting situations... one is that there are a lot of Americans in it, and another is that Holmes says that he believes England and America will eventually form a "world-wide country".

The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet **** - Decent story. First time that Holmes seems to use the phrase "when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth".

The Adventure of the Copper Beeches ***** - More rural skulduggery. This very believable tale rivals THE ENGINEER'S THUMB for spookiness.

These stories are all now in the public domain; hence the multiple versions distributed by various publishers. These stories are also available from various sources on the Internet.

This book is a mystery book with twelve individual stories. This book was written a while ago and it was not aimed for young children. Because of this, the book is very dry and reading it will take a while. The stories themselves are good, but it is not a book you will just sit down and read all at once. The story's plot lines are quite original and this book includes some of Arthur Conan Doyle's best stories, "The Red-Headed League", "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle", and "The Adventure of the Speckled Band". Each story is in the eyes of Holmes' good friend, Dr. John Watson. This makes the book a bit more interesting for the reader. Each story is about 25 pages long. This makes nice breaks for the reader. I liked how this book had each mystery explained to the reader at the end how Holmes figured it all out. By the end of the book, the reader starts to pick out important information used to solve the mystery. I didn't like this book, however, because Arthur Conan Doyle did not give the reader all the information to solve the mystery by yourself. Overall, I would say this is a good book that I would recommend.
~Rebecca

In college I went through a phase where I read all the Sherlock Holmes stories. Once I got started reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories, I didn't want to stop. It was sad when I read the last story.

Now years later it was fun to read them again. I enjoy the Sherlock Holmes short stories more than one of the novels. For me one of the most enjoyable parts of a Sherlock Holmes story is reading about what happened, and then reading how Sherlock Holmes solved the problem. A collection of short stories provides this experience many times.

This collection has many classics. It has the famous line "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." (The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet.)

It is also interesting to see what life was like in England 100 years ago. They had the underground, but use carriages, there was lots of travel by train, and life in general was a bit rougher than today.

If you haven't read any Sherlock Holmes stories, this is a good place to start.

A very thorough, engaging biography about the fascinating creator of Sherlock Holmes. While the going becomes overly dense on occasion, most of the chapters move along purposefully enough to create a coherent whole. Filled with many interesting and entertaining anecdotes and information, and not a little unwelcome speculation. Recommended for Conan Doyle or Holmes fans, as well as those interested in the late Victorian/early 20th century period.

This book explains the derivation of the name "Sherlock Holmes" on pages 107-8. The name "John Watson" was used by John H. Surratt for his Canadian passport; this was used to flee the country after the Lincoln assassination. His mother Mary was hanged for her involvement with John Wilkes Booth. Was this just a coincidence?

I have been fascinated by this well written biography of A. Conan Doyle. The account of his difficult childhood and poverty reminds me of Charles Dickens life. However,he was helped to get a formal education and became a successful doctor. Doyle's father was an alcoholic who ended his days in an asylum. It seems that Doyle inherited some of his father's creative ability. Doyle was a man of wide interests-unfortunately we only know him for Sherlock Holmes. His historical novel, the White Company,was very popular. This is an impresssive account of an unusual man, who rose from a disadvantaged childhood to become one of England's most popular authors.

This is a solid and very readable biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. All of the elements are here: growing up poor in Edinburgh, with a disillusioned, distant and alcoholic father and a strong and loving mother; going to medical school and getting started in a medical practice; his growing success as a writer of short fiction and historical novels; his first marriage, to a woman who developed tuberculosis early on and who died in middle age; Conan Doyle's falling in love, while still married to his first wife, with Jean Leckie, the woman who became his second wife (the relationship wasn't sexual until Conan Doyle's first wife died and he had married Jean); his fascination with, and public enthusiasm for, spiritualism. Some of the information presented is well-known, such as the interest in spiritualism and Conan Doyle's growing tired very early on with writing the Sherlock Holmes stories. But I'm guessing that, unless you are a rabid Sherlockian who has read tons of material on the creation and his creator, you will find much of the information the author presents to be interesting and fresh. Mr. Booth shows the adventurous side of Conan Doyle- his early hitch on a whaling ship and another trip, as a medical officer, on board a merchant ship which travelled down the western coast of Africa. We learn about the difficulties involved for a young doctor in setting up a medical practice. You had to spend money to make money, as the practice had to look like it was flourishing even though it was just getting started. With his limited funds, Conan Doyle did a nice job of furnishing his consulation room. He had to hang up a curtain, however, so patients couldn't see into the rest of the house- which was pretty much devoid of any furniture or decoration. We learn that Conan Doyle was physically fit and an avid athlete- playing cricket, rugby, soccer, golf, etc. Mr. Booth tells us of Conan Doyle's meetings with other writers, such as Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson, and P.G. Wodehouse. While not a fan of Wilde's unorthodox lifestyle, Conan Doyle admired the man's intellect and work, and was charmed by his personality. (Both men were wined and dined in August 1889 by the editor of "Lippincott's Monthly Magazine," and agreed to write something for the magazine. Conan Doyle came up with "The Sign Of Four" and Wilde's entry was "The Picture Of Dorian Gray.") Mr. Booth sprinkles abundant examples of Conan Doyle's humor and with throughout the book- regarding the heat along the African coast,Conan Doyle remarked "(It was) hot enough to render the weight of a napkin upon your knee at dinner time utterly unbearable."; and on hitting upon Reichenbach Falls as the place to kill off his famous creation, Conan Doyle wrote "(It was) a terrible place, and one that I thought would make a worthy tomb for poor Sherlock, even if I buried my banking account along with him." Mr. Booth is very good at describing Conan Doyle's contradictions and character flaws: he was stubborn and would never admit he was in error about anything; he believed the white race to be superior to other races; he wanted to liberalize divorce laws to make it easier for women to obtain divorces, but he was vehemently against women being allowed to vote; he was extremely curious and adventurous- he embraced the newfangled motorcars when they first appeared and made an ascent in a balloon- but was very conservative in his attitude towards women ( he felt their job was to maintain the home and that they needed to be "protected") and he was horrified by any kind of modern art. Conan Doyle was very generous with his time and money. Throughout his life he wrote many letters and articles in support of causes he thought were right and on behalf of people he felt had been wronged, plus he put his bankbook where his mouth was. Many people know that Conan Doyle grew tired of writing the Holmes stories and had to have a lot of cash waved in front of his nose to convince him to bring the character back. What I didn't know, and which Mr. Booth explains, is that Conan Doyle was a prolific writer of short stories (horror, fantasy and science fiction) and historical novels. He wanted to be remembered for his historical novels- he did a lot of research and worked hard to make those books realistic. He gradually had to face the fact that posterity was going to remember him for Sherlock Holmes. (The money helped. It gave him a comfortable living and enabled him to support spiritualism and all of the other causes.) With all of the above going for it, you might wonder why I'm giving the book 4 stars rather than 5. There are 2 reasons. Although the style is fine and certainly not boring, things seem a bit hurried. An awful lot of material is crammed into 350 pages. And although we get a very good picture of Conan Doyle, the book is a bit weak on his relationships. We don't get to see much interaction with his spouses, children, friends, and colleagues. Still, this is a very good book about a man who was charismatic, energetic, funny and very interesting.

This biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tells that he was far more than the creator of "Sherlock Holmes". He was trained as an MD, and started writing to supplement his income. His literary skills brought him great wealth and fame. He had enormous self-confidence, the courage of his convictions, and was never afraid of controversy. He vigorously campaigned on behalf of prisoners wrongly convicted. This book is well worth reading about this paradoxical and versatile man.

His experiences in the Boer War showed him the British Army was antiquated and in need of immediate and drastic reform. The cavalry was outdated; artillery should be diversified and camouflaged; rifle drill was more important than parade drill. Officers should not wear distinctive uniforms, and should end their luxorious habits that made it hard for a poor man to accept a commission (p.237). He advocated a civilian military reserve of well-trained citizens, and nationwide rifle clubs. By 1906 there was a national federation of rifle clubs. The British won the Boer War thru a scorched earth policy, and placing Boer women and children in concentration camps. ACD defended the British in a pamphlet that was widely distributed. He was later made a knight bachelor and Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Surrey (p.241).

ACD introduced Norwegian skiing to Switzerland in 1894 (p.172), memorialized in a plaque in Davos. When he visited America he just missed meeting Oliver Wendell Holmes, who he admired (p.200). He introduced golf to New England (p.201).

In 1886 he got the idea of writing about a detective who would solve cases by his scientific methods, and not by the folly of the criminal. He was inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe and Emile Gaboriau, and the vast number of murders and crimes reported in the national press. Page 107 discusses the possible origins of the names of his heroes. "Sherlock" is Old Norse for "fair-haired". Page 190 discusses the possible models for Moriarity. "Vintage Victorian Murders" by Gerald Sparrow (p.40) tells of a Sayers, the barrister who ran the London underworld for twenty years; his profession gave him the world's most wonderful cover.

ACD was raised as a Roman Catholic and educated in a Jesuit school. He later became an agnostic, then a believer in Spiritualism. G.K. Chesterton once remarked that a man who believes in nothing could wind up believing in everything.

I love the BBC Sherlock Holmes CDs. The product arrived damaged. I find it impossible to talk to someone at Amazon to return the item. I would still like to return the item for an undamaged set.

I have been a Sherlock Holmes reader and listener for as long as I can remember. I have read many of Doyle's original stories (many years ago), listened to practically all of the available Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce audio's and seen a few of their movies, alot of the Hobbs & Shelley audio versions, 5 or 6 of the Alfred Shirley versions, and a couple of the Jeremy Brett movies. This collection by the BBC is far and away the best and most entertaining Holmes programs you will ever find, either on audio or on the screen. These two actors are the best Holmes and Watson you will ever hear or see (so far anyhow). I have a nostalgic affection for the Rathbone/Bruce programs and still listen to them when I travel, but they do not compare with these programs.

The quality of the sound and sound effects, the quality and attention to every detail and every minor part or charactor, the drama, the humor, and the brilliant acting make these a gem for Sherlock Holmes listeners. You feel like you are in the hansom cab with Holmes and Watson. There aren't many modern movies that have the production quality contained in these CD's. Just listening to Holmes and Watson banter back and forth in their English dialogue is entertaining by itself.

I still enjoy the old Rathbone and Bruce radio dramas, but the modern technology utilized in this production shines through and takes you to a different level than the old radio dramas could ever reach. Further, the actors portraying Holmes and Watson are top notch and take the characters to a far higher level than you have ever seen or heard before. Whatever Rathbone and Bruce had that allowed them to work so well together, these 2 (Merrison and Williams) had it as well. Oustanding performances.

There are 16 "Parts" in this collection. Each "Part" contains a 4 CD set, for a total of 64 CD's. Part 8 contains the Hound of the Baskervilles and the Valley of Fear. This one Part alone is worth half the price of the set.

Finally, whether you a Holmes fan or not, these programs are so well done and so entertaining that if you enjoy audio books or radio drama at all, you will be very pleased with these programs. If you travel alot, these are a great companion.

A great work and in my view, $157 very well spent. I would highly recommended them at twice the price.

I first became a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes stories when I was only about 11 or 12 years of age and that was a very long time ago indeed. Since then I have seen and heard literally hundreds of adaptations of these classic tales over the years and when it comes to audio dramatizations this set from the BBC is by far the best I've ever listened to.

Back in 1989 the BBC undertook the enormous task of adapting all of the original Holmes stories and novels into radio plays. Enlisting the talents of actors Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson as well as the very talented writer and producer of radio dramas Mr. Bert Coules everything seemed to fall into perfect place for this series. The writing, acting, music and sound effects are all top notch and the listener is immediately transported to Victorian England. Whether it be foggy London, the mean streets of the Limehouse district to the moors of Devonshire this series takes you there.

All too often actors playing Holmes take the lazy route and simply think that by adopting the commonly conceived caricature of Holmes as nothing more than a pipe smoking detective rattling off a few brilliant deductions with a smug air is all there is to a Holmes portrayal. Fortunately Merrison (who also looks a lot like Sidney Paget's original illustrations of Holmes) is not that kind of actor. Its obvious he takes the role seriously and he brilliantly conveys all the many facets of Holmes' character. Merrison's Holmes is not just a caricature he's arrogant, petulant, eccentric, melodramatic, ruthless, compassionate and a loyal to friend to Watson. He's everything Doyle tells us Holmes is and more. But most important of all Merrison succeeds in making Holmes a living, breathing human being. He captures all the weaknesses and strengths of Holmes' character. Something many Holmes actors fail to do. Michael Williams as Watson is another major success with this series. Williams (who sadly died of cancer shortly upon completion of the series and who was also husband to Dame Judi Dench) makes for one of the best of all Watson's. His is no bumbling idiot in the tradition of Nigel Bruce but instead is the intelligent and stalwart doctor that Doyle describes to us. Williams makes his Watson as both the perfect foil to Holmes' often acerbic personality and the buffer between us and the often inhuman, coldly efficient Holmes.

As I mentioned earlier the technical aspects for this series are some of the finest I've ever heard for a Holmes audio production and this goes a long ways towards drawing the listener in and making them believe it really is 1895. Also the series had a fine roster of guest actors as well. Here are just a few: Ralph Bates, Brian Blessed, Tom Baker, Denis Quilley, Desmond Llewellyn, Judi Dench and many others.

This set contains 64 CD's and comprise all of the original Conan Doyle Holmes canon. Each of the short stories runs about 40-45 minutes and the novel adaptations are about 80-85 minutes in length. All in all you get 48+ hours of some of the finest mystery stories in the English language superbly realized in audio drama format.

In short I cannot recommend this set of CD's enough to Holmes fans. I know the cost is a bit steep but it is indeed worth every penny for anyone even remotely interested in Conan Doyle's immortal detective. Over the years I have listened to my audio tape set until they have nearly crumbled into dust so I am quite glad to have this set available at last on CD here in the U.S.

One minor note of complaint I have is with how there is no consistency with the way some of the tracks are tagged. This will mean nothing to those of you who will listen to these discs on your CD player but for those of you who plan to put them on your iPod will have to do a bit of re-labeling of the titles, etc. I wish that CD publishers could be a bit more consistent with their labeling. Anyway, as I said, this is a minor quibble and will in no way keep you from enjoying this truly outstanding audio drama series.

I have listened to many of the Sherlock Holmes recordings in the marketplace. The BBC Radio Complete Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes Cd set outshines them all.

The production values are outstanding, and Clive Merrison is a great Holmes.

Don't let the price scare you - it works out to just over $2.50 per CD

I don't think there is any better audio production than this set of dramas. It easily compares with the best radio drama of the 40's and 50's when you had Orson Welles, Arch Obler, Norman McDonnell, William Spier and Carlton E. Morse producing alot of sterling work. This set harkens back to that kind of quality. Before everybody moved to television. The writing,the acting, the sound effects are superb. Audio is unique. I think it is the best medium for creating atmosphere. With this set,you are literally transported back in time to late 19th century London and it's environs and colorful characters(including our two heroes). There is no doubt with this set. The BBC simply does audio drama the way it's supposed to be done. SUPERB!!!