ARTHUR WHO WROTE SHERLOCK

The life story of a famous mystery writer.

Smoke wreathes a pipe-smoking silhouette, a magnifying glass and violin completing the opening mise-en-scène. Initial questions ask readers, “What if you wrote a story about a detective, and…the whole world loved [him]?” Then, as Bailey launches into an account of the author’s life, a young Arthur Conan Doyle sits on the floor of his Edinburgh home while his mother tells him and his unnamed sister fantastical stories. Doyle’s life includes many twists and turns. First he’s a poor medical student sacrificing a meal to buy books. Next, he has multiple adventures on the high seas and focuses on his writing while failing to establish a practice as an eye doctor. Each stage of his life and literary career is explained in a matter-of-fact tone, accessible though slightly dry. Long blocks of text on almost every page would make this challenging to read aloud, but the precise, detailed watercolor, pencil, and digital illustrations provide a lot to pore over. In addition to addressing Doyle’s eventual resentment for Sherlock Holmes, the story doesn’t shy away from describing Doyle’s father’s alcoholism, and in-depth backmatter provides more information about other compelling aspects of his life, like his interest in spiritualism and his defense of a “young Anglo-Indian lawyer victimized because of his race.” Most characters present as White. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An informative biography for an older picture-book audience.