It was here that he met Dr. Joseph Bell, whose handling of cases inspired him to formulate his own methods of detection. These were to prove a great success with the many detective novels that he was to write in the future.
When Doyle set up practice in Southsea, he thought of writing only as a subsidiary source of living. It was during the periods when he waited for his patients that he first began to write, and A Study in Scarlet was published in 1887. Micah Clarke followed, and finally established him as a writer. Several stories were written, one after the other, the greatest achievement being his creation of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes was to become one of the most popular fictional characters in the world, loved for his detective adventures. At one time Arthur Conan Doyle “killed” him in a story, but public protest forced him to bring Holmes back to life.
Doyle, however, continued with his medical practice, and served as a physician in the Boer War. This enhanced his reputation even further, and he was knighted for his services,
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer best known for his detective fiction featuring the character Sherlock Holmes. Originally a physician, in 1887 he published A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels about Holmes and Dr. Watson. In addition, Doyle wrote over fifty short stories featuring the famous detective. The Sherlock Holmes stories are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction. Doyle was a prolific writer; his non-Sherlockian works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement", helped to popularise the mystery of the Mary Celeste