What if Sherlock Holmes’ greatest enemy wasn’t a criminal mastermind - but his own creator?
Having abandoned retirement, Sherlock Holmes is drawn into a battle of intellects where, this time, the stakes are deeply personal. Lurking behind the shadows of his past is the true architect of his near-fatal encounter at Reichenbach Falls: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - a flawed genius whose beliefs threaten everything Holmes stands for.
When two young girls claim to have captured photographic proof of fairies, Doyle eagerly champions their impossible claims with unwavering conviction. To Holmes, this is an affront to reason itself. Logic clashes with belief, evidence with imagination - and neither man is willing to yield.
The conflict turns public when a biting cartoon in Punch binds Holmes and Doyle together in ridicule, igniting Holmes’ determination to expose the truth and dismantle a fantasy that has captured the world’s attention.
Inspired by the infamous Cottingley fairy photographs, Sherlock Holmes and The Man Who Believed in Fairies is a gripping tale of rivalry, pride, and the fine line between genius and delusion. In a clash between cold logic and fervent belief, only one truth can prevail.
What if Sherlock Holmes’ greatest enemy wasn’t a criminal mastermind - but his own creator?
Having abandoned retirement, Sherlock Holmes is drawn into a battle of intellects where, this time, the stakes are deeply personal. Lurking behind the shadows of his past is the true architect of his near-fatal encounter at Reichenbach Falls: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - a flawed genius whose beliefs threaten everything Holmes stands for.
When two young girls claim to have captured photographic proof of fairies, Doyle eagerly champions their impossible claims with unwavering conviction. To Holmes, this is an affront to reason itself. Logic clashes with belief, evidence with imagination - and neither man is willing to yield.
The conflict turns public when a biting cartoon in Punch binds Holmes and Doyle together in ridicule, igniting Holmes’ determination to expose the truth and dismantle a fantasy that has captured the world’s attention.
Inspired by the infamous Cottingley fairy photographs, Sherlock Holmes and The Man Who Believed in Fairies is a gripping tale of rivalry, pride, and the fine line between genius and delusion. In a clash between cold logic and fervent belief, only one truth can prevail.
Some years ago, the modern-day fairy hoaxer Dan Baines invited me to speak at Doomsday - a wonderfully odd gathering where stage magicians swap illusions, secrets, and sleight-of-hand wizardry.
I told him I knew absolutely nothing about stage magic - whether it involved doves, rabbits, or anything remotely resembling a top hat. But Dan wasn’t interested in tricks. He wanted something altogether different: a palate cleanser. A curveball.
This, after all, was the man who had briefly convinced the world that a dog walker (isn’t it always?) had discovered the mummified corpse of a winged fairy. Scientists baffled. Hollow bones. Possible flight. For a time, people genuinely wondered. Dan had pulled off a spectacular bit of mischief.
Meanwhile, I was busy running The Legendary Faery Festival in North Wales - still going strong, and now the largest fairy-themed event in the UK. So yes, fairies were very much our shared language.
My talk began with five simple words: What about the Cottingley Fairies?
That question sent me to The Brotherton Library, where I started digging. It didn’t take long before I uncovered something curious: a handful of intriguing anomalies… and a great many lies.
The stage for the reveal couldn’t have been better. At Sneaton Castle, perched high above the cliffs of Dracula’s own Whitby, I presented my findings to a room full of magicians - and, somewhat unexpectedly, Reece Shearsmith of The League of Gentlemen and Inside No. 9.
The response was electric. What began as a single talk soon grew into the cover story - and six full pages - of Fortean Times in 2017. But the Cottingley photographs refused to sit quietly in history. They kept whispering new secrets.
An artist friend pointed out odd lighting and strangely wilted vegetation in one image. Dan, with his forensic eye, noticed peculiar bubbling in the trees above a gnome in another. The deeper we looked, the stranger it all became.
At one point, someone joked that I had “out-Sherlocked Sherlock.” That throwaway remark stuck. By 2022–23, I had reimagined the entire mystery - this time placing Sherlock Holmes at the centre, following the same trail of clues I had. The result was a stage play: Sherlock Holmes and The Man Who Believed in Fairies.
Playwright and former critic Andrew Rissik loved it, passing it on to Robert Gore Langton, who featured it in The Spectator in July 2024.
Now, I had never written - let alone produced - a full-length play before. But that didn’t stop me. I gathered four professional actors, a sound and lighting technician, and somehow raised the not-insignificant budget needed to take it to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Most people thought it couldn’t be done. They may have had a point - the performance space was far from ideal - but still, around seven hundred people came to see it. Seven hundred!
By October 2025, the play was touring: Malvern Theatres, Theatre Royal Bath, and Greenwich Theatre. At Greenwich, I was especially pleased to see members of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London turn out in force, having first caught the show in Edinburgh.
As for the original Cottingley photographs - they’re all available online if you go looking. The one from The Sphere magazine is a little harder to track down, but it’s out there. So too is Dot Inman’s photograph, though the original sits in The Brotherton Library, somewhat carelessly mislabelled as Mrs. Inman’s Fairy Photograph. Dot never married.
I was told that photograph has almost no provenance. No one at the library knows quite where it came from.
But then again - according to my version of events - it was taken by Sherlock Holmes himself.
In truth, Arthur Conan Doyle knew of it long before this book suggests. But like Doyle, I’ve always had a fondness for a certain principle:
Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story.
F.R.M
This review took me quite a while to write.
This isn't a bad thing by no means! What I mean is that I read this book in one sitting, early in the morning, and spent most of my day pondering how to best go about writing a review for this novel which, quite frankly, I still have no words to describe.
Perhaps simply put, I need a physical copy!
I've long loved mystery, and although I started reading the escapades of Holmes and Watson late, I was very quickly enthralled by their adventures, and subsequently disappointed when they ended. So for the author to have effortlessly mirrored the style of Holmes' character while also creating a unique voice was incredible to read about!
Setting apart the fantasy-esque plot of Holmes' staunch belief in fairies, I have to talk about how the prose works amazingly with the story. Although the paragraphs may be considered clunky by a few readers, the way that Conan Doyle's style was emulated kept me hooked on the story. Holmes and Watson came alive on the pages and their friendship had incredible chemistry! I particularly loved Holmes' sharp wit, which the author managed to execute amazingly!
I also loved the addition of female characters in this story! A lot of books at that time when Holmes was written didn't include female characters, so seeing them included in a period piece of a well-known character was exciting!
The intrigue around the fairies took a while to get to, but I loved Watson's startled reaction when he began to fear Holmes' reaction to seeing the fairies in the newspaper! Once we finally got going on that plot-line, I think the story moved at a relatively good pace! I also loved the contrasting characters of Holmes and the fictionized Conan-Doyle!
Overall, this is an absolute must read!