The recently discovered diaries of the young Arthur Conan Doyle contain
the startling adventures of Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and the Edinburgh
surgeon, Joseph Bell in Russia during 1881. At the time, Holmes, a
medical school dropout, had become a skilled anatomist, diagnostician
and surgeon. Even his most devoted admirers are unaware that Holmes was
an undercover agent for Her Majesty's Secret Service before he became a
private detective.
Holmes and Doyle accompany Dr. Bell when he travels to St. Petersburg to
lecture on antiseptic surgery. Doyle's diary of their adventures reveal
the origin of Sherlock Holmes's addiction to cocaine as well as the
plots by Prussians and Americans to assassinate Tsar Alexander III. The
British are particularly concerned about an ex-officer, driven mad by
torture during the Afghan-British war, who is determined to assassinate
the Tsar.
Holmes, with his uncanny ability, solves a series of murders by
observing seemingly insignificant clews, such as the position of chess
pieces, a cigar band and a sick dog. Doyle's attraction to a radical
young woman leads to his involvement with students who manufacture
bombs. He is thrown in prison and when he visits a bawdy gentlemen's
club, a sword-wielding Cossack challenges him to a duel. Doyle meets
famous Russians such as Dostoyevsky and Rasputin.
This latest diary will enlighten and enchant all lovers of the Great
Detective.
