Arthur Conan Doyle, Creator of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, eventually studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, and built his writerly ambitions there. He published his first short story when he was only 20 and still deep in his medical training. He achieved his Doctor of Medicine in 1885 and continued professional studies as he continued to write and write and write. In 1886 he sold A Study in Scarlet, featuring a detective who was based on an instructor he had in medical school. It was published a year later, and the definition of what constituted a mystery in Western fiction began to be forever changed.
Within a few years of the debut of Sherlock Holmes, Doyle was ready to kill him off and move on to his many other projects, thus betraying a pattern of never quite understanding what was best for himself as a writer. Eventually, however, Holmes and Watson were featured in 56 short stories and 4 novels. The tension between rationality and suspense, between dissection and animation, was a powerful creative drive for Doyle. Sometimes he doesn’t seem to have understood it, and sometimes it is captured perfectly, flawlessly. It has been a gift to over a century of other writers, those who work within the canon’s inspiration and those who push back in various ways.
Doyle kept writing his science fiction and his beloved historical novels as he nailed down immortality with Sherlock Holmes. We carry what we can of what is in print. He is a good writer for that bridge age between YA and adult literature, by the way. And the comfort of his storytelling style, even when one thrills to the Hound of the Baskervilles all over again, makes him a writer for all ages and tastes and backgrounds. Enjoy!
The Sherlock Holmes Crossword Puzzle Book II
The Sherlock Holmes Crossword Puzzle Book II
A collection of crossword puzzles is based on the mysteries of Sherlock Holmes. Each mystery is told in condensed form. It contains the problem, the action, and the clues--but not the solution. That will be found among the words of the crossword puzzle that follows the story.
Each mystery is told in condensed form. It includes the problem, the action, and the clues--but not the solution. That will be found among the words of the crossword puzzle that follows the story. Solve the puzzle, fill in the spaces below it, and--presto--the solution. Then test your ability as a sleuth by turning to the answer page at the back of the book; there you'll also find an entertaining epilogue to the mystery. (And, once again, between the puzzles, intriguing glimpses of Sherlock Holmes and his world are featured.) In addition to the short adventures, a complete novel, The Hound of the Baservilles, is included, told in ten suspenseful parts, each with its own crossword puzzle and solution. Instead of an epilogue on the answer page, there is "A Retrospection" after the last puzzle, just as in Conan Doyle's novel. So, to old acquaintances and new, happy solving!