Allen & Unwin The Baskerville Legacy book Literary fiction English Hardcover 172 pages

'It's a curious business, the relationship between a creator and his creations. Brutal, too. Of course,' Doyle's tone hardened, 'Holmes had to be retired. He was distracting me from better things.'I seized on this. 'So Holmes is retired? He's not . not dead?'Doyle roared with laughter. 'I like you, Robinson. You remind me of myself when I was younger. But I won't be drawn on that. Goodness, no.'When a young journalist, Bertram Fletcher Robinson, meets his writer hero Arthur Conan Doyle on a troop ship coming back from South Africa, he is delighted - especially when the creator of Sherlock Holmes suggests they collaborate on 'real creep' of a story. A research trip to deepest Dartmoor cements their friendship as they start work on what will become one of the world's most famous tales, The Hound of the Baskervilles. But the experience will prove traumatic for both of them, and when the result of their labour - Sherlock's comeback vehicle - is finally published, it will be credited to one author alone. Based on real events, The Baskerville Legacy is a creeper in its own right: a thrilling exploration of friendship and rivalry, love and lust, ambition and the limits of talent. It takes us from the clattering heart of Edwardian London to the eerie stillness of ancient West Country moorland, where a treacherous mire might swallow a man in seconds .