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
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Holmes investigates when the Californian bride-to-be of Lord St. Simon goes missing just before the wedding.
- Length: 23 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
4 Stars
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A Christmas mystery for detective Sherlock Holmes beginning with a lost hat and an abandoned goose.
- Length: 23 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
4 Stars
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Up-and-coming detective Stanley Hopkins consults Holmes about the apparently motiveless murder of the secretary of an old professor.
- Length: 24 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
4 Stars
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Holmes is called in to investigate the murder of Sir Eustace Brackenstall, apparently during a burglary.
- Length: 25 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
4 Stars
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Holmes comes to the aid of the King of Bohemia, a case which brings him into contact with the adventuress Irene Adler.
- Length: 25 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
5 Stars
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When Mr. Charles McCarthy is shot in a wood near Boscombe Pool, all (circumstantial) evidence appears to point at his son. But Holmes has doubts.
- Length: 25 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
5 Stars
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Holmes goes in search of a missing man, last seen, by his wife, looking agitated in the second floor window above a seedy opium den.
- Length: 26 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
5 Stars
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Mystery in which a pawnbroker is offered an apparently unmissable job opportunity - only red-heads need apply.
- Length: 26 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
5 Stars
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Just as he is about to be arrested for the murder of a client, a young lawyer pays a visit on Holmes and begs him to help prove his innocence.
- Length: 27 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
5 Stars
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A man seeks Holmes' advice after his wife becomes terrified at the appearance of a series of drawings of dancing men.
- Length: 27 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
5 Stars
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When the favorite for the Wessex Cup disappears and his trainer murdered, Holmes travels to Dartmoor to investigate.
- Length: 27 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
4 Stars
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Holmes helps a banker from whom some expensive gems, taken as security on a loan to an important client, have been stolen.
- Length: 27 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
5 Stars
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A young lady asks Holmes' advice as to whether she should accept an excellent appointment as a governess even though it comes with an unusual condition attached.
- Length: 27 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
5 Stars
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The Prime Minister asks Holmes to investigate the theft of a letter of exceptional diplomatic importance.
- Length: 28 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
5 Stars
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A woman dies at night in a locked room, crying out in pain: 'It was the band! The speckled band!'. Holmes investigates.
- Length: 28 pages
- Age Rating: PG
- Genre: Crime
5 Stars