阿瑟•柯南•道爾爵士（1859-1930），1859年生於蘇格蘭愛丁堡，曾入愛丁堡大學醫學院就讀，後定居倫敦。由於並不熱衷醫務，使他有許多空閑時間從事福爾摩斯探案的書寫工作。第一篇成名作品《血色的研究》於1886年完成。1890年在《四簽名》齣版後，他放棄瞭醫務專心寫作。正是因為《福爾摩斯探案全集》的創作成就和巨大影響，它的作者阿瑟•柯南道爾成為偵探小說的一代宗師，在英國被公認為同莎士比亞、狄更斯比肩的人物。

柯南•道爾一生多彩多姿且麯摺離奇。他是個曆史學傢、捕鯨者、運動員、占地通訊記者及唯心論者。他曾親自參與兩件審判不公的案子，並運用他的偵探技巧證實那罪犯其實是清白的。福爾摩斯不但頭腦冷靜、觀察力敏銳、推理能力極強，而且他的劍術、拳術和小提琴演奏水平也相當高超，平常他悠閑地在貝剋街221號B公寓裏，抽著煙鬥等待委托上門。一旦接到案子，他立刻會變成一隻追逐獵物的獵犬，開始鎖定目標，將整個事件抽絲剝繭、層層過濾，直到最後真相大白。

1902年，柯南•道爾因在布爾戰爭中於南非野戰醫院的優異錶現榮封爵士，逝於1930年。

The Complete Sherlock Holmes comprises four novels and fifty-six short stories revolving around the world’s most popular and influential fictional detective—the eccentric, arrogant, and ingenious Sherlock Holmes. He and his trusted friend, Dr. Watson, step from Holmes’s comfortable quarters at 221b Baker Street into the swirling fog of Victorian London to exercise that unique combination of detailed observation, vast knowledge, and brilliant deduction. Inevitably, Holmes rescues the innocent, confounds the guilty, and solves the most perplexing puzzles known to literature.

Volume I of The Complete Sherlock Holmes starts with Holmes’s first appearance, A Study in Scarlet, a chilling murder novel complete with bloodstained walls and cryptic clues, followed by the baffling The Sign of Four, which introduces Holmes’s cocaine problem and Watson’s future wife. The story collections The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes feature such renowned tales as “A Scandal in Bohemia,” “The Red-Headed League,” and “The Musgrave Ritual.”