Detective fiction the Detective. In short, it is difficult to establish who was the first to write the English-language detective novel, as various authors were exploring the theme simultaneously. In 1887, Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes, arguably the most famous of all fictional detectives. Although Sherlock Holmes is not the original fiction detective (he was influenced by Poe's Dupin and Gaboriau's Lecoq), his name has become a byword for the part. Conan Doyle stated that the character of Holmes was inspired by Dr. Joseph Bell, for whom Doyle had worked as a clerk at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Like Holmes, Bell
The Confessions of Mycroft Holmes: A Paper Chase The Confessions of Mycroft Holmes: A Paper Chase The Confessions of Mycroft Holmes: A Paper Chase is the title of a 2001 novel by Marcel Theroux. It was published in the United Kingdom in 2002 as The Paperchase. The protagonist is an Anglo-American journalist, Damien March, who inherits a dilapidated mansion in the United States on the death of his uncle, Patrick. Upon taking up residence, he discovers several short stories featuring Mycroft Holmes, which lead him to investigate the relationship between his father, mother and uncle. The novel was named the winner of the Somerset Maugham Award in 2002.