'This novel is Barnes at his best.'

P. D. James

'Barnes's suave, elegant prose - alive here with precision, irony and humaneness - has never been used better than in this extraordinary true-life tale, which is as terrifically told as any by its hero Conan Doyle himself.'

Sunday Times

For all the numerous retellings of Conan Doyle's life, it is hard to imagine that Barnes's semi-fictional version could be bettered in texture or acuity.

Observer

 

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2005