Many readers have been fascinated by the complex and cunning mind of Arthur Conan Doyle, inventor of the personality of Sherlock Holmes. Hennessy offers readers a deeper understanding of how one great mind goes about creating another great mind. The author notes and deciphers a wealth of symbols and references from philosophy, religion, literature, history and contemporary events that enrich the plots and the morals of Doyle's clever tales, showing them to be more than merely entertaining.
Of all the books exploring the subject of Sherlock Holmes, this is the only one that reaches into the philosophical and psychological depths of the work and uses these findings to present a new understanding of the writer's motives and aesthetic goals.