Edinburgh Surgeon: New Biography Decodes Joseph Bell's Diagnostic Methods

A new biography examines the diagnostic techniques of Joseph Bell, the surgeon who inspired Sherlock Holmes.

Lindsey Fitzharris, a medical historian, released Sleuth-Hound: The Case of the Real Sherlock Holmes. The book profiles Bell, who practiced at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Bell taught Sir Arthur Conan Doyle when the future author was a young medical student. Conan Doyle later adapted Bell's methods for his fictional detective.

Fitzharris previously wrote The Butchering Art in 2017. That book focused on Joseph Lister, a pioneer in antiseptic surgery. In 2022, she published The Facemaker. This volume covered Harold Gillies, a surgeon who reconstructed the faces of World War I soldiers. Fitzharris also hosted a Smithsonian Channel documentary in 2020. The series, The Curious Life and Death Of…, investigated famous deaths including those of Pablo Escobar and Harry Houdini. Last year, she co-authored Dead Ends! Flukes, Flops, and Failures that Sparked Medical Marvels with her husband, Adrian Teal.

The new work returns to the Edinburgh of the late 19th century. That era saw the rise of body snatchers and the discovery of ether. Bell was known for a specific style of diagnosis. He could determine a patient's job, habits, and ailments by looking at them. He often worked with local police surgeons on major murder cases. His approach made him a medical detective in his own right.

One specific incident inspired a scene in The Sign of the Four. Bell identified a patient's walking route to the infirmary by examining the type of clay on the man's boots. Fitzharris told Ars Technica that she wanted to bring a medical history lens to Bell's story. She noted that previous commercial books on the subject were sparse. A 1982 book by Ely Liebow is the primary source for Sherlock enthusiasts.

Fitzharris stated that she knew Bell was an inspiration for Holmes but no one had written a large commercial book about him. She aimed to fill that gap. The biography explores the real-life basis for the fictional sleuth's famous deductive powers.