Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh in 1859 and trained as a doctor at the University of Edinburgh. One of his teachers there, Joseph Bell, became the model for his most famous character. Doyle practised medicine until 1891, then lived by his pen. He was knighted in 1902 for his medical work in the Second Boer War and for his public defence of Britain's part in it. He died in Crowborough, Sussex, in 1930.

Holmes first appeared in A Study in Scarlet in 1887. Doyle went on to write four novels and fifty-six short stories about the detective and his companion Dr. Watson, who tells the cases. The method on the page comes from Bell's habit of reading patients from small details. Doyle also wrote historical novels, which he expected to be remembered for, along with plays and non-fiction. The Lost World, from 1912, introduced Professor Challenger and gave its name to a whole subgenre of adventure fiction. His work often sets a scientific habit of mind beside the supernatural.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes collects twelve stories first printed in The Strand Magazine between July 1891 and June 1892, with Sidney Paget's illustrations, and published as a book in 1892. The Hound of the Baskervilles followed in 1902. Doyle eventually grew tired of Holmes and killed him off.

Start with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Read it in order. A Scandal in Bohemia brings in Irene Adler, who outwits the detective. The Red-Headed League begins with an advertisement offering good pay to red-haired men for almost no work. Each story is short and complete, so you can stop after one. If you then want a full-length case with a gothic mood, go on to The Hound of the Baskervilles.