The Sherlockian by Graham Moore. 351 p.
The book begins with Arthur Conan Doyle killing off his famous fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes. In the second narrative strand of this book, we're introduced to a Harold, a proud new member of the Baker Street Irregulars--an exclusive Sherlock Holmes fan club, essentially. A prominent member of the Irregulars claims to have found Conan Doyle's long-missing diary and will present it at a meeting, but he's found dead in his hotel room, and the diary is not. Harold decides to find the killer--and the diary, of course. The chapters alternate between Conan Doyle living the events during the time period covered by the diary, and modern-day Harold on his quest. I found the character of Harold to be incredibly annoying, though I can't put my finger on exactly why he irritated me so much. The fact remains that by the end of the book I just wanted it to be over, but I couldn't quit reading because I wanted to find out what happened.
This is actually based on a true story. David Grann wrote about it in the Devil and Sherlock Holmes.
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Yes, Moore discusses that actual case, and also gives sources for more information on Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, et al., in an afterword. Moore clearly did his research for this book; it's just that my dislike for one of the viewpoint characters spoiled my overall enjoyment of the book. The Sherlockian is certainly worth reading.
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