Throughout many years, Dr. John H. Watson accompanied his friend and companion Sherlock Holmes in solving countless mysteries and crimes. Beginning in the 1880s and into the 20th century, Holmes consistently held his status as the world's most brilliant and successful detective. His accomplishments were painstakingly chronicled by Watson in notes that relate the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Many of his accounts have been published and are well-known to a broad readership.
There were times, however, when Watson would refrain from publishing his writings during his lifetime. He would do so for various At times, he would find himself forced to keep actual events and background information secret for moral, criminal, or financial reasons. Other times, he would want to either avoid potential political, legal, or social scandals or even damage to his own—or Holmes's—reputation. Some of Watson's accounts, however, were simply not published at the time because he was occupied with more important or urgent matters.
The New Adventures brings to the public for the very first time some of Watson's accounts of Sherlock Holmes cases previously kept under lock and key.
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.