How Arthur Conan Doyle Plotted Against Sherlock Holmes

How Arthur Conan Doyle Plotted Against Sherlock Holmes

Larry Holzwarth - October 15, 2020

How Arthur Conan Doyle Plotted Against Sherlock Holmes
Doyle killed his character to concentrate on other areas of interest. Wikimedia

6. Doyle was careful to kill Holmes beyond any doubt

By the end of 1893, Doyle resented Sherlock Holmes for taking too much of his time. Though Holmes had made Doyle a significant amount of money, he wanted to concentrate on other literary pursuits. The short stories vastly improved the sales of the preceding books, and a second compilation The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, offered promising sales. Doyle decided it was time to end the series, and he created a story in which Holmes died in a blaze of glory, taking his archenemy with him to his death. In order to remove all doubt, he contrived for Holmes to leave behind a note describing his demise, written with Moriarty’s permission as he waited. Watson found the note when he arrived at the scene.

Doyle explained his decision to his mother, writing her “I must save my mind for better things even if it means I must bury my pocketbook with him”. His stories had brought such success that he increased his fees to exorbitant rates, expecting the publishers to turn him down. Instead, they happily paid them, and demanded more Holmes. After a tour of Switzerland in 1893, accompanied by his wife, Doyle made the decision to he would never return to Sherlock Holmes and the confines of 221B Baker Street. His readers’ reaction soon made him realize he had made a serious mistake, though he continued to ignore Sherlock Holmes for several years.

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