Good Old Index: The Sherlock Holmes Handbook : A Guide to the Sherlock Holmes Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle : Persons, Places, Themes, Summaries of All the Tales

by Ross Thomas

This book makes easily available a fascinating collection of information about the Great Detective and his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Through its entries, readers can study Holmes's garb; evaluate the character of Dr Watson;assess Doyle's writing habits; or discover the astonishing variety of weapons employed in the stories, from life-preservers through chairs and poison gas to an arsenal of knives and pistols. The author has included thousands of Sherlockian facts, arranging alphabetically into categories which allow the reader both to dip into the book and instantly find what is required, or browse through at leisure. The book as a whole is an indispensable (and humorous)reference work for anyone interested in Holmesiana.

171 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1997

About the author

Ross Thomas was an American writer of crime fiction. He is best known for his witty thrillers that expose the mechanisms of professional politics. He also wrote several novels under the pseudonym Oliver Bleeck about professional go-between Philip St. Ives.

Thomas served in the Philippines during World War II. He worked as a public relations specialist, reporter, union spokesman, and political strategist in the USA, Bonn (Germany), and Nigeria before becoming a writer.

His debut novel, The Cold War Swap, was written in only six weeks and won a 1967 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Briarpatch earned the 1985 Edgar for Best Novel. In 2002 he was honored with the inaugural Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award, one of only two authors to earn the award after their death (the other was 87th Precinct author Evan Hunter in 2006).

He died of lung cancer two months before his 70th birthday.