Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, born on May 22, 1859, in Edinburgh, Scotland, was an author and physician famously known for creating the iconic detective Sherlock Holmes. Raised in a Catholic family, Conan Doyle was educated at Stonyhurst, a Jesuit preparatory school, and later studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. It was during his university years that he began writing short stories.
Medical Career and Literary Aspirations After completing his studies, Conan Doyle worked as a ship’s surgeon and later set up a medical practice in Portsmouth. Although his medical career was initially not very successful, it gave him the experiences and insights that would shape his future writing. His time serving as a military doctor in the Boer War and later in World War I also influenced his perspectives.
Creation of Sherlock Holmes Conan Doyle’s literary breakthrough came with the creation of Sherlock Holmes, a character first appearing in “A Study in Scarlet” (1887). Holmes, with his acute observational skills and logical reasoning, quickly became a beloved figure in fiction. Alongside Holmes, he created Dr. John Watson, the detective’s loyal friend and chronicler. The Holmes stories, set in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, were notable for their clever plotting and the use of forensic science.
Other Literary Works Beyond the Sherlock Holmes stories, Conan Doyle wrote historical novels, science fiction, plays, and romances. His historical novel “The White Company” (1891) and the science fiction work “The Lost World” (1912) were among his popular non-Sherlockian works.
Personal Life and Later Years Conan Doyle was knighted in 1902 for his services during the Boer War. In his personal life, he was a keen sportsman, and later in life, he developed a strong interest in spiritualism, which influenced some of his later works.
Death and Legacy Sir Arthur Conan Doyle passed away on July 7, 1930. His legacy, particularly through the character of Sherlock Holmes, has had a profound and lasting impact on detective fiction and popular culture. His works continue to be read and adapted, testament to his enduring appeal and the timeless nature of his storytelling.
Publication Order of Sherlock Holmes Books
A Study in Scarlet
(1887)
The Sign of Four
(1890)
Publication Order of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Books
A Scandal in Bohemia
(1891)
The Red-headed League
(1891)
A Case of Identity
(1891)
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
(1891)
The Five Orange Pips
(1891)
The Man with the Twisted Lip
(1891)
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
(1892)
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
(1892)
The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb
(1892)
The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
(1892)
Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
(1892)
The Adventure of the Copper Beeches
(1892)
Publication Order of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes Books
The Adventure of Silver Blaze
(1892)
The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
(1893)
The Adventure of the Yellow Face
(1893)
The Adventure of the Stockbroker’s Clerk
(1893)
The Adventure of the Gloria Scott
(1893)
The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual
(1893)
The Adventure of the Reigate Squire
(1893)
The Adventure of the Crooked Man
(1893)
The Adventure of the Resident Patient
(1893)
The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter
(1893)
The Adventure of the Naval Treaty
(1893)
The Adventure of the Final Problem
(1893)
The Field Bazaar
(1896)
The Hound of the Baskervilles
(1901)
Publication Order of The Return of Sherlock Holmes Books
The Adventure of the Empty House
(1903)
The Adventure of the Norwood Builder
(1903)
The Adventure of the Dancing Men
(1903)
The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist
(1904)
The Adventure of the Priory School
(1904)
The Adventure of Black Peter
(1904)
The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
(1904)
The Adventure of the Six Napoleons
(1904)
The Adventure of the Three Students
(1904)
The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez
(1904)
The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter
(1904)
The Adventure of the Abbey Grange
(1904)
The Adventure of the Second Stain
(1904)
Publication Order of Sherlock Holmes – His Last Bow Books
The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge
(1908)
The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans
(1908)
The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot
(1910)
The Adventure of the Red Circle
(1911)
The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
(1911)
The Adventure of the Dying Detective
(1913)
The Valley of Fear
(1914)
His Last Bow
(1917)
Publication Order of The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes Books
The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
(1921)
The Problem of Thor Bridge
(1922)
The Adventure of the Creeping Man
(1923)
The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire
(1924)
How Watson Learned the Trick
(1924)
The Adventure of the Three Garridebs
(1925)
The Adventure of the Illustrious Client
(1925)
The Adventure of the Three Gables
(1926)
The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier
(1926)
The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane
(1926)
The Adventure of the Retired Colourman
(1927)
The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger
(1927)
The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place
(1927)
Publication Order of Sherlock Holmes Short Story Collections
A Case of Identity
(1891)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
(1892)
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
(1894)
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
(1905)
Sherlock Holmes – Read by Stephen Fry
(1927)
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
(1927)
Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume One
(1985)
Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume Two
(1986)
Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume Three
(1986)
The Sherlock Holmes Theatre
(2005)
Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate Collection
(2013)
Publication Order of Gerard Short Story Collections
The Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard
(1896)
The Adventures of Gerard
(1903)
Publication Order of Professor Challenger Books
with
The Lost World
(1912)
The Poison Belt
(1913)
The Land of Mist
(1926)
When the World Screamed
(1928)
The Disintegration Machine
(1929)
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
The Surgeon of Gaster Fell
(1885)
The Mystery of Cloomber
(1888)
Micah Clarke
(1889)
The Firm of Girdlestone
(1890)
The White Company
(1891)
The Great Shadow and Other Napoleonic Tales
(1892)
The Doings of Raffles Haw
(1892)
Beyond the City
(1892)
The Refugees
(1893)
The Parasite
(1894)
The Stark Munro Letters
(1895)
Rodney Stone
(1896)
Uncle Bernac
(1897)
The Tragedy of the Korosko
(1898)
A Duet, with an Occasional Chorus
(1899)
Sir Nigel
(1906)
The Maracot Deep
(1929)
The Narrative of John Smith
(2011)
Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas
Lot No. 249
(1892)
The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
(1893)
The Adventure of the Yellow Face
(1893)
The Adventure of the Naval Treaty
(1893)
The Adventure of the Final Problem
(1893)
The Adventure of the Empty House
(1903)
The Adventure of the Red Circle
(1911)
The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
(1911)
The Problem of Thor Bridge
(1922)
The Ring Of Thoth
(1968)
The Leather Funnel
(2003)
John Barrington Cowles
(2011)
The Case of Lady Sannox
(2013)
A Literary Mosaic
(2014)
That Little Square Box
(2014)
The Crime of the Brigadier
(2014)
The Croxley Master
(2016)
The Gully of Bluemansdyke
(2018)
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
The Captain of the Polestar
(1883)
My Friend The Murderer And Other Mysteries And Adventures
(1893)
Round the Red Lamp
(1894)
The Green Flag and Other Stories of War and Sport
(1900)
Round the Fire Stories
(1908)
The Last Galley
(1911)
Danger! And Other Stories
(1918)
The Great Keinplatz Experiment
(1919)
Tales Of Adventure And Medical Life
(1920)
Tales Of Pirates And Blue Water
(1922)
Dealings of Captain Sharkey and Other Tales of Pirates
(1925)
The Man from Archangel and Other Tales of Adventure
(2009)
Gothic Tales
(2018)
Tales of Terror and Mystery
(2022)
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
The Great Boer War
(1900)
The War in South Africa, Its Cause & Conduct;
(1902)
Through the Magic Door
(1907)
The Crime of the Congo
(1909)
The Case Of Oscar Slater
(1912)
The New Revelation
(1917)
The Vital Message
(1919)
The British Campaign in France and Flanders 1915
(1920)
The Wanderings of a Spiritualist
(1921)
The Coming of the Fairies
(1921)
Memories and Adventures and Western Wanderings
(1924)
The History of Spiritualism
(1926)
The Edge of the Unknown
(1930)
Dangerous Work
(2012)
Publication Order of Murderous Christmas Stories Books
Murder under the Christmas Tree: Ten Classic Crime Stories for the Festive Season
(2016)
Murder on Christmas Eve
(2017)
A Very Murderous Christmas: Ten Classic Crime Stories for the Festive Season
(2018)
Anthology series.
Publication Order of The Year of the Cat Books
A Cat of a Different Color(By: Kristine Kathryn Rusch,Annie Reed,Louisa Swann,Lisa Silverthorne,Dean Wesley Smith,Ray Vukcevich,Dory Crowe)
(2020)
A Cat of Perfect Taste(By: Kristine Kathryn Rusch,Dean Wesley Smith)
(2020)
A Cat of Disdainful Looks(By: Kristine Kathryn Rusch,Rudyard Kipling,Stefon Mears,Dean Wesley Smith,Mark Twain,Ray Vukcevich,John Adams,Jodi Lyn Nye)
(2020)
A Cat of Strange Lands(By: Dean Wesley Smith)
(2020)
A Cat of Cozy Situations(By: Kristine Kathryn Rusch,Dean Wesley Smith)
(2020)
A Cat of Heroic Heart(By: Kristine Kathryn Rusch,Carole Nelson Douglas,E. Nesbit,Jamie Ferguson,Lisa Silverthorne,Stefon Mears,Dean Wesley Smith,Liz Pierce)
(2020)
A Cat of Artistic Sensibilities(By: Kristine Kathryn Rusch,Henry Slesar,Joan Aiken,Annie Reed,Stefon Mears,Dean Wesley Smith,Mary Turzillo)
(2021)
A Cat of Fantastic Whims(By: Kristine Kathryn Rusch,E. Nesbit,Jamie Ferguson,Annie Reed,Lisa Silverthorne,Dean Wesley Smith,Geoffrey A. Landis,Liz Pierce)
(2021)
A Cat of Feral Instincts(With: Kristine Kathryn Rusch,Edgar Allan Poe,Brigid Collins,Dean Wesley Smith,Pamela Sargent,Jamie McNabb,Mary Turzillo,N. Margaret Campbell)
(2021)
Publication Order of Anthologies
World’s Great Mystery Stories
(1943)
Fifty Famous Detectives of Fiction
(1948)
Great Tales of Action and Adventure
(1958)
21 Great Stories
(1969)
Scottish Tales of Terror
(1972)
Sea Tales of Terror
(1974)
The 10th Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories
(1977)
Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
(1979)
Rivals of Sherlock Holmes 2
(1979)
The 14th Fontana Book Of Great Horror Stories
(1981)
Tantalizing Locked Room Mysteries
(1982)
65 Great Spine Chillers
(1982)
Mysterious Sea Stories
(1987)
English Country House Murders
(1988)
Tales of the Occult
(1989)
Hound Dunnit
(1989)
Great Law and Order Stories
(1990)
Great Tales of Crime and Detection
(1992)
Horse & Pony Stories
(1992)
The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales
(1992)
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Volume Three
(1992)
Murder British Style
(1993)
Sea-Cursed
(1994)
Mystery Stories
(1996)
Detection by Gaslight: 14 Victorian Detective Stories
(1997)
The Oxford Book of Detective Stories
(2000)
Crime Never Pays
(2001)
On Glorious Wings
(2003)
The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction
(2004)
H. P. Lovecraft’s Book of the Supernatural
(2006)
The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes
(2007)
Stories to Get You Through the Night
(2010)
50 Classic Novellas
(2011)
London Stories
(2013)
Togas and Tyrants: Collected Tales of Ancient Rome
(2014)
The Phantom Coach
(2014)
Sherlock: The Essential Arthur Conan Doyle Adventures
(2015)
Holmes Away from Home: Adventures from the Great Hiatus
(2016)
Sherlock: The Essential Arthur Conan Doyle Adventures, Vol. 2
(2017)
Fireside Horror Stories About Mummies and Curses
(2017)
Flight or Fright
(2018)
Murder in Midsummer: Classic Mysteries for the Holidays
(2019)
The Greatest Ghost and Horror Stories Ever Written: volume 3
(2019)
Murder Takes a Holiday: Classic Crime Stories for Summer
(2021)
Scottish Stories
(2023)
Hungry for Blood – Ultimate Halloween Collection
(2023)
The Edinburgh Mystery: And Other Tales of Scottish Crime
