The Devil & Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness & Obsession

In The Devil And Sherlock Holmes, David Grann sets out to unravel the truth of twelve great real-life mysteries.

Although Holmes is the subject of just one of the mesmerising stories in this collection, all twelve contain elements of intrigue: a Polish detective trying to determine whether an author planted clues to a real murder in his post-modern novel; an arson investigator racing to prove whether a man about to be executed is innocent; and scientists stalking a sea monster.

Unlike the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, these tales are all true.

The protagonists are mortal and pieces of the puzzle often elude them. Some of the characters are driven to deception and murder.

Others go mad. As Holmes put it, ‘Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent’.