Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
1 The Adventure of the Artist as a Young Whelp 1
In which we meet the Family, despair of the Youth, and investigate the Greatest Mystery of them all. Do we call him Arthur Conan ? Or Mr. Conan Doyle?
2 The Adventure of the Unexpected Medical Student 12
In which the Vagaries of Indecision cast our Hero to at least a few of the Seven Seas, before embroiling him in the Easily Solved Adventure of the Syphilitic Sailors
3 The Sometimes Shocking Case of the Sherlockian Precursors 24
In which an American author, a Scottish Surgeon, a French Thief taker and a Veritable Shelf of Adventurous Fiction conspire to birth an Immortal Legend
4 The Adventure, Although It Was Not Tided Thus, of the Study in Scarlet 39
In which we Investigate the Holmesian Home, are Introduced to its Residents, and Wonder why we have Suddenly been Banished to Utah
5 The Adventure of the Rapidly Coalescing Holmesian Universe 48
In which Holmes gets High, Watson gets Married, and London becomes a Character in Her own Right
6 The Sensationalist Case of the Victorian Periodical 62
In which we Discover The Strand, Marvel at the Illustrated Police News, and Investigate a few of London's own Mysteries
7 The Adventure of the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 73
In which we revisit the Twelve Stories that Constitute Watson's first Book of Memoirs, commencing with the Singular Saga of A Scandal in Bohemia
8 The Adventure of the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes 93
In which Conan Doyle composes his Second Series of Short Stories, we Reveal the Truth about Holmes's Most Beloved Catch-Phrase, and the Author arrives at a Most Singular Determination
9 The Exaggerated Adventure of the Death of Sherlock Holmes 114
In which we meet Moriarty, Tumble off a Waterfall and Investigate the Adventure of the Final Problem
10 The Adventure of the Hitherto Unpublished Episode in the Career of the Great Detective 126
In which the Sleuth goes to the Theater, the Author goes to War, and Sherlock Holmes…Well, maybe he wasn't Quite as Dead as he Claimed to Be
11 The Surprisingly Plausible Adventure of the Return of Sherlock Holmes 138
In which we learn that Rumors of Holmes's Demise were Somewhat Exaggerated, and are Invited to Thrill once more to the Old Curmudgeon's Feats of Intellectual Gymnastics
12 The Adventure of the Not Especially Retiring Retiree 162
In which Conan Doyle is Widowed, Holmes bestrides the silver screen, and we Begin to Suspect that the Business about Beekeeping was all a Bunch of Malarkey
13 The Adventure of the Valley of Fear 177
In which Conan Doyle Publishes his Fourth and Final Sherlock Holmes Novel, while Contemplating Anew the Possibility of Doing Away with the Detective Altogether
14 The Case of the Reopened Casebook 185
In which Doctor Watson Unearths some Musty Old Files, Conan Doyle Conjures some Musty Old Spirits, and we Bid Farewell to the Great Detective
15 The Curious Case of the Multitudinous Sherlocks 201
In which we ask Who was the Greatest Holmes of all, and put a few Watsons under the Microscope, too
16 The Thoroughly Modern Adventure of the Twenty-first-Century Holmes 224
In which we Consider what might have Happened had Sherlock Holmes not Existed until Today
17 The Peculiar Afterlife of All the Other Stories 233
In which we Spend several weeks Glued to the Television Screen and develop Carpal Tunnel from Constant Manipulation of the Remote Control
18 The Multifaceted Case of the Alternative Detectives 253
In which we pop round to 221b, ring the Doorbell…and Nobody answers. Is there Someone else we could call instead?
19 The Adventure of the Detective and the Ghost Hunter 263
In which Conan Doyle Dies, then Comes Back from the Grave, and we meet Harry Price, perhaps the One Man in England Qualified to Determine whether the Old Boy's Ghost was Really Walking
Appendix: Arthur Conan Doyle Bibliography 273
Bibliography 277
Index 279
