The historian spoke about Conan Doyle’s secret hatred of Sherlock Holmes

“His historical novels lie unread”

Arthur Conan Doyle secretly resented his Sherlock Holmes works, says a historian. The author blamed the literary success of the fictional detective for the fact that his high-brow historical novels “remain unread.”

According to historian Lucy Worsley, Arthur Conan Doyle secretly hated his main creation Sherlock Holmes and blamed the great detective for being denied recognition as the author of high-brow historical fiction, writes The Guardian.

Conan Doyle catapulted from “obscurity to worldwide fame” after his crime stories began appearing in the magazine in 1891, writes Worsley in the Radio Times. Eleven years later he was awarded a knighthood.

And yet, according to Worsley, “at heart he was a dissatisfied man.”

Arthur Conan Doyle struggled to find a publisher for his Sherlock stories after initially approaching the intellectual Cornhill magazine. “It was only after they and two others rejected Mr. Holmes that he was finally accepted by a fourth, much shoddier publisher. They said it was exactly what they were looking for: “cheap fiction.”

Holmes brought profit to Conan Doyle, but the author decided to end him as soon as he earned enough money, sending the detective to die in a Swiss waterfall in 1893.

“Ten years later, however, Arthur was enticed to resurrect it when an American publisher offered him the equivalent of $1.6 million,” writes Lucy Worsley.

“Arthur must have hated himself,” says the historian. “And he would not have liked the fact that today, 93 years after his death, his historical novels lie unread, while his ‘cheap’ but beloved detective story lives forever on our screens.”

Sherlock Holmes is the most popular fictional detective in history, The Guardian recalls. Conan Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short stories about how this amateur sleuth pursues criminals using his powers of observation and deduction.

Most of the stories are told by Holmes’s bosom friend, Dr. Watson, who lived in his apartment at 221B Baker Street.

The Sherlock Holmes stories have been adapted for stage, film and television, with Benedict Cumberbatch, Vasily Livanov, Peter Cushing, Roger Moore, Ian McKellen, Michael Caine, Charlton Heston and Jonathan Pryce among those who have played the detective in his distinctive deerstalker hat. Basil Rathbone played Holmes in 14 films.

Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh and trained as a doctor before turning to writing. He was twice an unsuccessful candidate for parliament and became interested in spiritualism after the death of his son. The writer died of a heart attack in 1930 at the age of 71.