This book tells the story of the extraordinary link between actual murder and the greatest detective story writer of all time. It ties together the popular character of Sherlock Holmes with his creator and explores little-discussed true crime cases that Conan Doyle was personally involved in.

When Arthur Conan Doyle was a lonely 7-year-old schoolboy at pre-prep Newington Academy in Edinburgh, a French émigré named Eugene Chantrelle was engaged there to teach Modern Languages. A few years later, Chantrelle would be hanged for the particularly grisly murder of his wife, beginning Doyleʼs own association with some of the bloodiest crimes of the Victorian and Edwardian eras.

This early link between actual crime and the greatest detective story writer of all time is one of many fascinating and sometimes chilling connections. Using freshly available evidence and eyewitness testimony, Christopher Sandford follows these links and draws out the connections between Doyleʼs literary output and true crime in a pattern that will enthral and surprise the legions of Sherlock Holmes fans. In a sense, Doyle wanted to be Sherlock – to be a man who could bring order and justice to a terrible world.

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, KStJ DL (1859– 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, the most famous detective duo in literature. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.