On 17 July 1904, an intimate group of like-minded gentlemen sat down to dinner in London's Great Central Hotel. They were united by one shared interest: a fascination with crime and the workings of the criminal mind. This meeting, occurring in the golden age of literary dinners and good fellowship, marked the birth of the Crimes Club, a concept that quickly developed into a professional and academic society boasting members of the legal and literary elite, with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, and gregarious bon viveur at its heart. Until now, the exclusive nature of the club meant that little has been divulged about these aficionados of murder, but Conan Doyle and the Crimes Clubgives readers a thrilling insight into the previously veiled lives of these celebrated men of the time. Recounting their detective investigations, spying escapades, and 'criminous' journalism that no doubt inspired Doyle’s own literary feats, Stephen Wade explores all manner of criminal activities that were examined and discussed by the club, ranging from wives buried in basements, to bodies cast into the River Thames, and lovers poisoned with arsenic. A lively and compelling read, Conan Doyle and the Crimes Club provides a unique window into the Edwardian clique of criminologists and gentleman sleuths. Welcome to the club. Illustrations: 30 black-and-white photographs

This fascinating book is based on a remarkable discovery: Sherlock Holmes's methods of deduction were actually those of his creator and used in order to solve real crimes; for Scotland Yard Holmes really did exist in the form of Conan Doyle. Author Peter Costello draws on new research to follow the tracks Conan Doyle left as he entered the real word of Sherlock Holmes; his fictional outpourings were the direct result of their author's hidden career as an amateur detective and criminologist

One day Arthur Conan Doyle will create the greatest detective of all -- Sherlock Holmes. But right now Artie Conan Doyle is a twelve-year-old Edinburgh schoolboy with a mystery of his own to solve. While sneaking out to explore Greyfriars Kirkyard by night, Artie and his best friend Ham spot a ghostly lady in grey and discover the footprints of a gigantic hound. Could the two mysteries be connected? These strange clues lead them to a series of robberies carried out the sinister Gravediggers' Club and soon they find themselves pitted against the villainous Colonel Braxton Dash. Will Artie survive his encounters with graveyards and ghosts in the foggy streets of nineteenth century Edinburgh -- or will his first case be his last? Robert J. Harris, author of The World Goes Loki series and William Shakespeare and the Pirate's Fire, brings the young Conan Doyle to life in this ingenious detective story full of twists, turns and shocking reveals.

A shocking account of the savage world in which Sherlock Holmes operated. The crimes of The Ripper; Conan Doyle's knowledge of the killer's identity; the methods employed by criminals, and of their pursuers; the harrowing truth about Holmes' drug abuse, and of his gang of 'street arabs', the long-lost crime monographs by the Baker Street sleuth; and much more, this book tells the true story of Holmes' gas-lit and sinister criminal world. "Victorian society was violent & exploitive..., footpads and garrotters stalked the streets of the City...beggars were rife.". Kelvin is the author of many books about Holmes, the definitive biography of Doyle as a spiritualist & the 3 volume edition of the author's spiritualist writings. A distinguished life member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, he has published contemporary crime novels and poetry, and is a member of the Crime Writers' Association. "The almost legendary Mr Jones..."- Roger Johnson, commissioning ed. of The Sherlock Holmes Journal. "Kelvin Jones takes the reader into Victorian England, walking side by side with the Great Detective..., an all-round, relentless researcher..." - Mark Alberstaat, ed. of Canadian Holmes.

A world-famous biographer reveals the strange relationship between Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's real life and that of Sherlock Holmes in the engrossing The Man Who Would Be Sherlock. Though best known for the fictional cases of his creation Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle was involved in dozens of real life cases, solving many, and zealously campaigning for justice in all. Stanford thoroughly and convincingly makes the case that the details of the many events Doyle was involved in, and caricatures of those involved, would provide Conan Doyle the fodder for many of the adventures of the violin-playing detective. There can be few (if any) literary creations who have found such a consistent yet evolving independent life as Holmes. He is a paradigm that can be endlessly changed yet always maintains an underlying consistent identity, both drug addict and perfect example of the analytic mind, and as Christopher Sandford demonstrates so clearly, in many of these respects he mirrors his creator.

'Meticulously researched.' - Stewart Lamont, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Centre 'Sandford's accomplished, well-crafted work brings Conan Doyle into sharp relief as a man of scrupulous fairness and great integrity.' - Library Journal 'Adds a new dimension to our understanding of the creator of Sherlock Holmes.' - Hugh Ashton, author and reviewer 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 Doyle's 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 Doyle's 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.

Winner of the H.R.F. Keating Award for best biographical/critical book related to crime fiction, and nominated for the Edgar Allen Poe and Macavity Awards for Best Critical/Biographical book.