Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Pic: Flickr

Sherlock Holmes author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, lived and worked in  Norwood.  Now a book about this period of his life has  won a literary prize.

‘The Norwood Author’, by Alistair Duncan, won the Tony and Freda Howlett Literary Award and was recognised as one of the most important books on Conan Doyle, in another contest hosted by The Sherlock Holmes Society in London.

MX Publishing Managing Director, Steve Emecz, 39, said: ‘We are delighted that Alistair has won this award, it is so well deserved. The meticulous research that went into The Norwood Author was incredible.’

On his personal blog, Alistair Duncan or ‘Sherlockian’ as he calls himself, wrote: ‘I am very pleased and proud that my book ‘The Norwood Author’ won the Tony & Freda Howlett Literary Award 2011’.

In the book the Holmes historian, who is from Norwood himself, explores a period between 1891 and 1894 which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle spent living in the area. While living there he wrote many of his most important works, including the short story collections ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ and ‘The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes’.

The author felt there was very little information about this period of Doyle’s life.

He said: ‘All the biographies that I had read failed to contain much, if anything, about his local activities when it came to the Norwood years.’

‘I couldn’t believe that there was nothing to discover and took it upon myself to go digging.’

Reviewers of this book have been very positive about Duncan’s work. One internet comment said: ‘This book neatly covers the ‘missing years’ in Norwood with such depth and attention to detail you can’t help but admire Duncan’s commitment to his idol.’

Alistair Duncan has also written many other books on the author of Sherlock Holmes. The newest book ‘An Entirely New Country’ will be released this December.