The Doyle Diary: The Last Great Conan Doyle Mystery, with a Holmesian Investigation into the Strange and Curious Case of Charles Altamont Doyle

xxix, 91 pp. Color illustrations throughout. The diary of Charles Altamont Doyle, father of Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Written while he was confined to 'Sunnyside' (the son's name for part of Montrose Royal Lunatic Asylum in Scotland), it is comprised of watercolor images, sketches, humorous writings, etc. Editor Michael Baker provides historical context on the mystery of the elder Doyle's mental decline, and speculates on why the family institutionalized him, and why he remains such an obscure figure despite his son's literary fame.