'Dust and Shadow' by Lyndsay Faye

Arthur Conan Doyle famously tired of Sherlock Holmes and repeatedly tried to end the series of stories featuring the detective he dismissively called "my most notorious character." On each occasion, though, an intense popular clamor -- and the opportunity it afforded to shore up the author's shaky finances -- coaxed Conan Doyle into an additional sequence of stories. Holmes' adventures total four novels and 56 short stories.

By Tim Rutten

April 29, 2009