Book excerpt: Sherlock Holmes, the great genius of detection, with his assistant Dr Watson, once more attempts to solve the unsolvable. From the extraordinary case of The Resident Patient to the sinister tale of The Crooked Man, Holmes unravels the most challenging of mysteries. Using his astounding methods of deduction, he outwits the most cunning of thieves and most villainous of murderers. Eight intriguing and mysterious adventures from the world's most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was born in Edinburgh where he qualified as a doctor, but it was his writing which brought him fame, with the creation of Sherlock Holmes, the first scientific detective. He was also a convert to spiritualism and a social reformer who used his investigative skills to prove the innocence of individuals.