It was only whilst living in Portsmouth, waiting for his new medical practice to take off, that Conan Doyle began writing again. It was in Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887 that Arthur Conan Doyle's first significant story was published. It was "A Study in Scarlet" and heralded the arrival of one of Literature's greatest detectives, Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle himself acknowledged that Holmes was based in large part on his former tutor at University, Dr Joseph Bell, who was so well known for his deductive skills that he was apparently able to deduce a patient's illness simply by looking at them!

Sherlock Holmes featured in a total of 56 short stories and 4 full novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - even though he considered the writing of them to be a distraction from "better things". He always considered his historical works of non-fiction to be far superior to his more famous works and only continued writing his Holmes stories because of financial need and public pressure.

Later in life, following the death of various family members, Conan Doyle became interested in Spiritualism and wrote books on the subject. He was seemingly convinced of the existence of fairies and spirits. He was so sure of these beliefs that he was convinced that his friend, Harry Houdini, had supernatural powers even though Houdini repeatedly tried to convince him that all of his work was down to illusion and trickery. In the end the two had a very bitter public falling-out.

Conan Doyle was married twice and fathered 5 children, 2 with his first wife and 3 with his second. He died in Crowborough, East Sussex, on July 7th 1930. His last words were to his wife - “the greatest and most glorious adventure of all—you are wonderful.”