Arthur Conan Doyle
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE (1859-1930)
BIOGRAPHY
Although best known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle's work includes science fiction, historical romance and books on warfare and spiritualism. Born in Edinburgh, he qualified as a doctor and practised in Southsea before turning to writing as a means of supplementing his income. The first Sherlock Homes novel appeared in 1887 and the fictional detective soon brought fame and fortune - though Doyle always maintained his historical romances held more worth. His personal interests were far ranging: he was a strong advocate of a tunnel between England and France, of inflatable life jackets and, in one unfortunate incident, of a (faked) photograph of fairies. But it was for a paper justifying Britain's involvement in the Boer War - where he had served as a physician - that he received his knighthood. Influenced by Edgar Allan Poe, Doyle's work often demonstrates a similar contrasting of the rational and the imaginative.
STORIES
Cover Image
A man seeks Holmes' advice when his wife's odd behaviour leads him to suspect she is hiding a terrible secret.
- Length: 20 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
4 Stars
Cover Image
Holmes investigates a case that begins when a young man finds his uncle terrified by five orange pips he receives in the mail.
- Length: 20 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
5 Stars
Cover Image
Several years after the events described in 'The Final Problem', Dr Watson takes an interest in the murder of Ronald Adair who was shot in a locked second floor room.
- Length: 21 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
4 Stars
Cover Image
A professor at a top university seeks Holmes' help with a possible case of cheating in a valuable scholarship exam.
- Length: 21 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
5 Stars
Cover Image
A young clerk lands what appears to be an ideal job - but soon begins to suspect he may be part of an elaborate trick.
- Length: 21 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
5 Stars
Cover Image
The first case Holmes ever solved - while at university, he helps out a friend who's father is dying of nervousness following a visit from an ex-shipmate who seems to hold some power over him.
- Length: 21 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
5 Stars
Cover Image
A university friend asks Holmes to help explain the disappearance of a butler shortly after he had been discovered taking an interest in a strange family ritual.
- Length: 21 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
5 Stars
Cover Image
An interpreter seeks Holmes' advice after being abducted and forced to translate a conversation with a bound and gagged man. A story that also involves Sherlock's even more observant brother, Mycroft Holmes.
- Length: 21 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
4 Stars
Cover Image
A hard-up young man receives a timely invitation to visit a mysterious, wealthy cousin at his country retreat - a bizzare menagerie of birds, reptiles and a man-eating black puma.
- Length: 21 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime, Fiction
5 Stars
Cover Image
An ill-tempered ex-ship's-captain is brutally murdered, pinned agaist the wall of his garden shed by a harpoon.
- Length: 22 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
5 Stars
Cover Image
A trip to the country, supposedly for a rest, lead Holmes into a mystery involving an apparently random burglary and the murder of a coachman.
- Length: 22 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
4 Stars
Cover Image
A reputable doctor comes to Holmes for advice when a mysterious benefactor, resident at his clinic, becomes paranoid about the security of the clinic building.
- Length: 22 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
4 Stars
Cover Image
Lestrade consults Holmes when a number of busts of Napoleon are smashed at various locations around London.
- Length: 23 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
5 Stars
Cover Image
Holmes investigates the disappearance of the top player in the Cambridge University Rugby team on the eve of a match against Oxford.
- Length: 23 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
4 Stars
Cover Image
A man arrives at Dr Watson's house with a severed thumb - an injury which apparently occurred in the most unusual circumstances.
- Length: 23 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
4 Stars