New book details Joseph Bell

Medical historian Lindsey Fitzharris has released a new biography titled Sleuth-Hound: The Case of the Real Sherlock Holmes. The book profiles Joseph Bell, a surgeon at the University of Edinburgh who served as the primary inspiration for Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective. Fitzharris argues that Bell’s unique diagnostic skills provided the foundation for Holmes’ fictional abilities.

Bell was known for identifying a patient’s profession, habits, and medical conditions through visual observation alone. One specific incident involved Bell determining the walking route of a patient by analyzing the type of clay on their boots. Doyle later adapted this specific clue into the novel The Sign of the Four. Bell also worked with a local police surgeon on several high-profile murder cases during his career.

Fitzharris is not new to writing about Scottish medical history. She published The Butchering Art in 2017, a biography of Joseph Lister. In 2022, she released The Facemaker, which covered the work of Harold Gillies, a surgeon who treated facial injuries in World War I. Her recent work includes a 2020 documentary for the Smithsonian Channel and an illustrated children’s book on medical failures.

Fitzharris stated that she wanted to apply a medical history perspective to Bell’s life. She noted that while Sherlock Holmes fans are aware of Bell’s influence, few commercial books had explored the subject in depth. The only major commercial work on Bell prior to this release was a 1982 book by Ely Liebow.

The new title returns to the Edinburgh setting of Fitzharris’ earlier work, a city associated with body snatchers and the discovery of ether. She described the book as eminently readable for a general audience. The narrative connects the real-life events of Bell and Doyle to the broader history of medicine in that region.

Fitzharris collaborated with her husband, caricaturist Adrian Teal, on their previous project, Dead Ends! Flukes, Flops, and Failures that Sparked Medical Marvels. Sleuth-Hound stands as her latest solo effort in the field of medical history. The book details the intersection of clinical practice and literary fiction in the late 19th century.