Mr. Doyle & Dr. Bell

by Howard Engel

Book Overview

Howard Engel is the award winning writer whose Benny Cooperman mysteries garner rave international reviews-fans stretch from Canada to Japan, England, Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark, and the United... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1585674176
• ISBN13: 9781585674176
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Length: 212 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.7" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Another take on the origins of Sherlock Holmes

Another author (in addition to David Pirie) has chosen the Conan Doyle - Joseph Bell relationship as the basis for a novel. The story hangs together well, and the book is well written, after the reader gets past a few glaring problems - primarily the misinterpretation of Arthur Conan Doyle's name. Conan Doyle is a Welsh surname, and I doubt seriously anyone would ever seriously call him 'Conan'. Joseph Bell as the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes is well documented, and this conjectural work provides an interesting look at how it may have worked to influence Conan Doyle.

Conan the Victorian

I read this almost immediately upon completing David Pirie's "The Night Calls", another novel that uses the characters of Arthur Conan Doyle and Dr. Joseph Bell as "real-life" stand-ins for Doyle's illustrious Sherlock Holmes, and the variations are fascinating.Whereas Pirie paints a dark moodish piece with all of his characters (including the leads) as sombre, haunted individuals caught in a web of horror and intrigue, Engel's picture is bright, snappy, and breezy (or as much so as possible given that it details a wrongly convicted man facing the gallows). Pirie is rich in minute detail and atmosphere, Engel skips from scene to scene, plot point to plot point, like a runner trying to break the hundrde yard dash. In sum, I must confess that Pirie's book, the second in his Doyle/Bell series, is much more literary and engrossing but Engel's, originally published in paperback in 1997, is simply, a lot more fun. As they say in the ads though; "even better, try them both!"