An informative book about the case that brought together Doctors Joseph Bell & Henry Littlejohn, along with colleague, Dr Patrick Heron Watson, who between them were the inspiration for Conan Doyle's 'Holmes & Watson'. In 1893 on a Scottish estate called Ardlamont, twenty-year-old Cecil Hambrough was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head. The two men who were hunting with him at the time, 'mentor' Alfred Monson & Edward Scott (aka Edward Sweeney), both claimed that Cecil had accidentally shot himself, but circumstantial evidence such as insurance claims & Monson's actions following the incident raised suspicion. A court case was held which used early pioneering forensic evidence & the testimony of the doctors above were used by the prosecution to try & prove their case.

What an intriguing case & characters in Bell & Littlejohn. The era of early forensic science & the technological advances of the Victorian era have always fascinated me & this is no exception. I felt the author did a great job of providing all the information about the case without it becoming too academically dry. Well-researched & well-written, this is a must-read for anyone interested in either early forensics &/or the inspiration behind Sherlock Holmes.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Michael O'Mara Limited, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

I love reading anything Sherlock Holmes related so I was intrigued to read the real life backstory behind my favourite detective.

I first thought this book would be a perfect read for a Sherlock Holmes fan like me. There was a great use of passages from the novels to support the evidence Smith was giving on why Bell and Littlejohn inspired Doyle.

As the book moved on from the initial chapters, the link between the book and the fictional detective seemed more and more strained. Littlejohn was never recognised as an inspiration for the Holmes character, and it may be that Smith used this connection to validate his book.

However, this is not to say that this book was terrible, as it is a brilliant read that looks at a fascinating case that would have confused even the great detective himself. For anyone interested in crime, it is also a brilliant look at early forensic techniques and where the methods we rely on today started.

The book is easy to read, riveting and well-researched, which is why the title of the book is disappointing. The book would stand well independently without the connection to Sherlock Holmes. The title encourages people to read it, which I can understand as a writer, but it seems to devalue the book.

This is not to say there is no connection to Holmes throughout, but they are only about a quarter of the book. The rest is this fascinating murder case. Smith provides examples from Doyle's books that he references as relating to the case, but they are so generic they could belong to any case.

Overall, I loved this book and couldn't put it down; if it had not been for the clickbait title, I would have given it more stars.