The Sherlockian

　　In December 1893, Sherlock Holmes-adoring Londoners eagerlyopened their Strand magazines, anticipating the detective's nextadventure, only to find the unthinkable: his creator, Arthur ConanDoyle, had killed their hero off. London spiraled into mourning --crowds sported black armbands in grief -- and railed against ConanDoyle as his assassin.　　Then in 1901, just as abruptly as Conan Doyle had "murdered"Holmes in "The Final Problem," he resurrected him. Though thewriter kept detailed diaries of his days and work, Conan Doylenever explained this sudden change of heart. After his death, oneof his journals from the interim period was discovered to bemissing, and in the decades since, has never been found.　　Or has it?　　When literary researcher Harold White is inducted into thepreeminent Sherlock Holmes enthusiast society, The Baker StreetIrregulars, he never imagines he's about to be thrust onto the huntfor the holy grail of Holmes-ophiles: the missing diary. But whenthe world's leading Doylean scholar is found murdered in his hotelroom, it is Harold - using wisdom and methods gleaned fromcountless detective stories - who takes up the search, both for thediary and for the killer.