ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a British writer and physician. He created the
character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six
short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson.

Doyle was a prolific writer; other than Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and
science fiction, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels.

Doyle was born on 22 May, Edinburgh, Scotland. Supported by wealthy uncles, Doyle
was sent to England, to the Jesuit preparatory school Hodder Place in Lancashire (1868–70).
He then went to Stonyhurst College, which he attended until 1875. While Doyle was not
unhappy at Stonyhurst, he said he did not have any fond memories of it because the school
was run on medieval principles. Doyle studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh
Medical School. During this period he spent time working in Aston. Also during this time, he
studied practical botany at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. While studying, Doyle
began writing short stories.

He died of a heart attack at the age of 71 (7 July 1930). His last words were directed
toward his wife: "You are wonderful." At the time of his death, there was some controversy
concerning his burial place, as he was openly not a Christian, considering himself a
Spiritualist. He was first buried on 11 July 1930 in Windlesham rose garden. He was later
buried next to his wife in Minstead churchyard.

SHERLOCK HOLMES
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s ”The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” is a collection of
twelve short stories. Each tale features the criminal investigations of fictional detective
Sherlock Holmes, as seen through the first-person perspective of his partner, Dr. John H.
Watson. The individual stories were serialized in The Strand Magazine between 1891 and
1892, increasing Doyle’s popularity. Most of the tales attempt to identify and rectify social
injustices among European aristocrats in the twentieth century.
Holmes helps people to find justice, especially if the problems are difficult to almost
impossible to solve.
The first of the twelve stories is "A Scandal in Bohemia". The King of Bohemia has an
affair with the beautiful Irene Adler. There is a photograph of the two of them together that he
asks Sherlock to get for him from Irene. Sherlock goes undercover, and arranges to get the
photo. But, before he can, Irene leaves the country with her new husband and the photo. But
she leaves behind a letter for Sherlock and a portrait of herself for the King. In the end, the
King gives the portrait of Irene to Sherlock.
"The Red-Headed League" is about a bank robbery, and "A Case of Identity" is about
a woman who is fooled by her step-father so he can keep control of her money. Scotland
Yard's Inspector Lestrade plays a prominent role in the next story, 'The Boscombe Valley
Mystery'. A young man is falsely accused of murder, and Lestrade asks Holmes for help.
 In "The Five Orange Pips" Sherlock must help a man who receives an envelope with
orange pips in it and the initials K.K.K. His father and grandfather had also received these and
had died days afterward. He tells the man to follow the directions in the letter, but he dies
before he can. Sherlock figures out the Ku Klux Klan is behind the murders, and came by
ship. He sends an envelope with five orange pips to the ship, and it sinks.
A beggar is the basis for the next story, "The Man with the Twisted Lip". A woman
sees Sherlock because her husband has disappeared. She thought she saw him in an opium
den, but all she found were rags left by a homeless man. She has him arrested for murder, but
Holmes discovers the beggar is actually her husband. He discovered the pay was better as a
beggar, and that is his profession. When confronted, he promises to stop, if Holmes won't tell
his wife. In "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" Holmes finds the stolen carbuncle in the
throat of a Christmas goose. He discovers the thief was an attendant at the hotel where the
goose was to be served.
"The Adventure of the Speckled Band", Doyle's professed favorite story, is about a
newly engaged woman who thinks her step-father is trying to kill her. Holmes finds out it is
true when a snake crawls into the girl's room through the vent. 'The Adventure of the
Engineer's Thumb' involves a patient of Dr. Watson's. The man comes in to see the doctor
because his thumb had been cut off at work. The story comes out that sounds fishy to Holmes.
When he investigates, he discovers a counterfeiting ring.
A run-away-bride makes up the next story. In "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor"
Sherlock must help Lestrade find a woman who disappeared as she was walking down the
aisle. He discovers that her dead husband from America, was not dead and found her just in
time. A robbery is the topic of the next story, "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet". A
banker is keeping a bejeweled coronet at his house, but it is almost stolen by his niece. When
his son stops the crime, he is thought to be guilty of stealing it, but he won't implicated his
cousin,who he loves.
And last, but not least, is "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches". This story involves
pieces of the other stories. A lost love, mistaken identity, manipulating father, and elopement.
A young woman is hired for a great paying job as governess, that seems odd. She asks him to
look into it. They discover someone had been locked in one of the rooms. They discover a
father had locked his daughter up to keep her from marrying the man she loves. But, she
escaped and eloped.
Although the stories are not in chronological order, the tales hold up through time.
Readers today become just as enthralled with Sherlock Holmes as they did when the stories
first came out, over a hundred years ago.