Arthur Conan Doyle Books

The late Arthur Conan Doyle is most notably renowned for creating Sherlock Holmes, the blueprint of fictional detectives. Doyle, who was a British national, was a man of letters, physician, advocate, and sportsman. The novelist and short story writer’s birth name is Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle and was born in May 1859. Doyle’s birthplace is Edinburgh upon Scotland though he later on died in Crowborough upon England in July 1930, in his early seventies.

Arthur Conan Doyle, whose niche was particularly fiction and crime and thriller books, drifted from Roman Catholicism to agnosticism to freemasonry to spiritualism. Among the literary figures that influenced Doyle include American penman Edgar Allan Poe and French author Jules Verne.

Arthur Conan Doyle’s basic education was predominantly received from Christian-affiliated schools, specifically Jesuit-oriented institutions. As such, Doyle went to the then Stonyhurst-based Hodder Place, presently named Saint Mary’s Hall. Thereafter, Doyle attended Stonyhurst College and the defunct Austria-based Stella Matutina. For his undergraduate education, Doyle attended the Scotland-based Edinburgh Medical School wherein he got Bachelor of Medicine in the early 1880s. Doyle also learned botany and enrolled for ill-fated ophthalmology studies. Doyle attended University of Edinburgh for his postgraduate studies; he received Master of Surgery and, in the mid-1880s, Doctor of Medicine.

Arthur Conan Doyle had a hard time as a fledgling writer and publishers were hard to come by. When Doyle ultimately got a publisher, he sold the rights of the first book in what would later on become Sherlock Holmes series. Did you know that Doyle’s debut book, entitled The Narrative of John Smith and written in 1883/4, was presumed lost on its way to a publisher and it was only published recently—in September 2011?

Arthur Conan Doyle is synonymous with his character Sherlock Holmes. Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series comprises of fourteen major works but, in total, over 200 works including omnibuses. There is a whooping 1034 editions of the first book in the serialized Sherlock Holmes. However, the first edition was initially published in 1887, titled A Study in Scarlet; and this book is shelved under the fiction (particularly classics sub-genre), mystery (especially detective sub-genre), classics, and crime genres.

Sherlock Holmes is the featured main character in Arthur Conan Doyle’s similarly titled Sherlock Holmes series. Protagonist Sherlock Holmes: a superb British consulting detective with a penchant for solving criminal cases that intrigue others. He has a brother named Mycroft Holmes. The turning point in Doyle’s book, A Study in Scarlet, is when Holmes is summoned to a London home wherein a person has been murdered in an apparent case of avenging. Using logic and snippets of clues found at the scene of crime, Holmes is able to unravel the murder mystery in a trendsetting story that ushered in the famed Sherlock Holmes.

Arthur Conan Doyle Awards

Apart from honors such as honorary knighthoods while alive, Arthur Conan Doyle did not clinch any literary award in his lifetime. However, he won awards posthumously. In 2004 and 2005, Doyle’s 1892 book The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was nominated for the Agatha Award, in the Nonfiction categories. In 2005, the said book clinched the Edgar Award, in the Critical/Biographical category. In 2006, the aforementioned book was nominated for the Quill Award in the Mystery/Suspense category. In 2015, Doyle’s 1902 book The Hound of the Baskervilles clinched the Audie Award, in the Best Audio Drama category.

Arthur Conan Doyle Books into Movies

There are countless film adaptations, both silent and feature films, of Arthur Conan Doyle’s books. However, most of them are non-canonical and not direct adaptations. Short stories aside, these are the canonical adaptations.

Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1890 book The Sign of the Four has a similarly titled 2001 film adaptation, with Matt Frewer acting as Holmes. Matt Frewer also starred in the 2000 film named The Hound of the Baskervilles, adapted from a similarly titled 1902 book. Doyle’s 1915 book The Valley of Fear was made into a similarly named 1916 film wherein Harry Arthur Saintsbury appeared as Holmes. The 1929 film named The Return of Sherlock Holmes is adapted from Doyle’s similarly titled book; and starred Clive Brook who acted Holmes’ role. Doyle’s book The Hound of the Baskervilles was adapted into a similarly titled film, with Basil Rathbone portraying Holmes.

Best Arthur Conan Doyle Books

These are the best books penned by Arthur Conan Doyle: aforementioned A Study in Scarlet; The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskervilles. The latter are the third and fifth books in the Sherlock Holmes series; they chronicle Holmes at his peak and taking on petrifying cases, respectively.

Other Books You May Like

Readers who liked books penned by Arthur Conan Doyle also liked the following series of books. The first is “Father Brown” series, authored by G. K. Chesterton; it features a fictitious priest-cum-amateur detective. The second is “Superintendent Battle” series, produced by Agatha Christie, featuring protagonist Battle who serves in the Scotland Yard. The third is “Lord Peter Wimsey” series, penned by Dorothy L. Sayers; protagonist Wimsey, a recipient of the Distinguished Service Order, is solving murder mysteries with the help of his kith and kin.

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