Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician, best known for creating the iconic fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. He introduced Holmes in 1887 with the novel A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories featuring Holmes and his friend Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are widely regarded as landmark works in the crime fiction genre.

Doyle was an exceptionally prolific writer. Apart from the Holmes stories, he authored fantasy and science fiction adventures featuring Professor Challenger, and penned humorous tales about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard. His literary repertoire also includes plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. Notably, one of his early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), contributed to the popularization of the mystery surrounding the brigantine Mary Celeste, discovered adrift with no crew aboard.