Which author wrote the 'Sherlock Holmes' stories?

Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories. The character first appeared in Doyle's novel A Study in Scarlet, published in 1887.

Doyle was a Scottish physician and writer who based some of Holmes's deductive methods on Dr Joseph Bell, one of his medical teachers at the University of Edinburgh. Holmes's investigations are narrated mainly by his friend and chronicler, Dr John Watson, whose perspective helps readers follow the detective's observations and conclusions.

Doyle ultimately wrote four Holmes novels and 56 short stories. The short stories became especially popular after appearing in The Strand Magazine, beginning with “A Scandal in Bohemia” in 1891. Illustrations by Sidney Paget also helped establish Holmes's familiar visual image, including the deerstalker cap, although the cap was not central to Doyle's original descriptions.

A famous publishing episode occurred when Doyle killed Holmes in “The Final Problem” in 1893. Public demand led him to bring the detective back, first in The Hound of the Baskervilles and then in later stories. Other writers have since added unofficial and authorized Holmes adventures.