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Mystery Man He s famed as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, but Conan Doy1e s letters show the scope of his ambitions. Within that exclusive group of literary characters who have survived through the centuries-from Hercules to Hamlet to Huckleberry Finn-few can rival the cultural impact or staying power of that brilliant sleuth, Sherlock Holmes. Since his debut 120 years ago, the gaunt gentleman with the curved pipe and a taste for cocaine, the master of deductive reasoning and elaborate disguise, has left his mark everywhere--in crime literature, film and television, cartoons and comic books. Even his home on Baker Street has for decades been one of London s most popular tourist destinations: the Sherlock Holmes Museum. At Holmes side, of course, was Dr. Watson-trusted friend, occasional accomplice and engaging narrator. Looming even larger, however, was another doctor, one whose medical practice was so slow it allowed him plenty of time to pursue his literary ambition. His name: Arthur Conan Doyle. As the creator of these fictional icons, Conan Doyle has himself become something of a cult figure, the object of countless critical studies, biographies and fan clubs. Yet only now with the publication of Arthur Conan Doyle：A Life in Letters, do we have a candid, personal portrait of the writer, with little of the Victorian reserve of his memoirs, Mast of the nearly 1,000 letters are to his beloved mother, Mary Doyle, beginning in 1867, when he was an 8-year-old boy at a Jesuit boarding school, and continuing until 1920, when Mary died. The book s editors--two Conan Doyle scholars and the author s great-nephew-also provide plenty of background material, rare drawings and photographs, and relevant excerpts from Conan Doyle s other works, making this the most comprehensive single volume out there. | 
