From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon - Softcover

Bostrom, Mattias

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802127894 ISBN 13: 9780802127891

Publisher: Mysterious Press, 2018

Synopsis

Winner of the Agatha Award for best nonfiction work

A finalist for the Edgar Award for best critical/biographical work

A finalist for the Anthony Award for best critical/nonfiction work

A finalist for the Macavity Award for best mystery-related nonfiction work

Everyone knows Sherlock Holmes. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created a unique literary character who has remained popular for over a century and is appreciated more than ever today. But what made this fictional character, dreamed up by a small-town English doctor in the 1880s, into such a lasting success, despite the author’s own attempt to escape his invention?

In From Holmes to Sherlock, Swedish author and Sherlock Holmes expert Mattias Boström recreates the full story behind the legend for the first time. From a young Arthur Conan Doyle sitting in a Scottish lecture hall taking notes on his medical professor’s powers of observation to the pair of modern-day fans who brainstormed the idea behind the TV sensation Sherlock, from the publishing world’s first literary agent to the Georgian princess who showed up at the Conan Doyle estate and altered a legacy, the narrative follows the men and women who have created and perpetuated the myth. It includes tales of unexpected fortune, accidental romance, and inheritances gone awry, and tells of the actors, writers, readers, and other players who have transformed Sherlock Holmes from the gentleman amateur of the Victorian era to the odd genius of today. Told in fast-paced, novelistic prose, From Holmes to Sherlock is a singular celebration of the most famous detective in the world a must-read for newcomers and experts alike.

About this title

About the Author

Mattias Boström, born in 1971, is a Swedish author, publisher, and Sherlock Holmes expert. He is a member of the Baker Street Irregulars and has been an active Sherlockian for thirty years. He lives outside Stockholm with his wife and two daughters.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

12 Tennison Road was a veritable writing factory. A relentless tapping could be heard through the open window. His twenty-three-year-old sister Connie had moved in with the family, and was certainly earning her keep. His plan was that his sister Lottie should also move down, that he could dictate to her while Connie typed away. That way, Conan Doyle would be able to double his productivity while resting both his hands and his eyes. Many of his author friends had worn themselves out and been struck with writers’ cramp of the hands.

Conan Doyle was busy planning the final Holmes stories when he received a letter from his mother. She was furious. He was not to kill off Sherlock Holmes under any circumstances. Instead, she provided him with the bones of another Holmes story for him to write, about a woman with a rather particular hair colour.

His mother’s words won the day. He was even able to use the idea, which became the twelfth, concluding story, ‘The Copper Beeches’. He finished writing it over Christmas 1891.

While the detective may have escaped with his life intact, as far as Conan Doyle was concerned, this was farewell to Sherlock Holmes.

Edition details

• Publisher: Mysterious Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0802127894
• ISBN 13: 9780802127891
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 608