Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
@drlindseyfitz
NYT Bestselling Author. Medical Historian. Breast Cancer Survivor. Next book: SLEUTH-HOUND, a whirlwind tour of Victorian forensics from the perspective of the man who loaned a voice to Baker St.’s famous resident: Sherlock Holmes. Out October 20.
If you're in the UK, you can now get SIGNED DEDICATED copies of SLEUTH-HOUND - about Joseph Bell, the "real Sherlock Holmes" - from @foxlanebooks.bsky.social! This is the only place offering personalized dedications, and it's a great way to support an indie bookshop: shorturl.at/IU6yN
My office is just as weird as you might imagine. Here’s the latest addition!
On graduating medical school, Arthur Conan Doyle drew himself waving a diploma over his head with a caption: "Licensed to Kill." My book SLEUTH-HOUND is about Doyle's professor, Joseph Bell, who became the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes. Available for preorder: linktr.ee/drlindseyfitzharris
I've been feeling a bit anxious about the forthcoming release of SLEUTH-HOUND in October. Instead of addressing the source of this anxiety, I've masked it with a bit of retail therapy. No regrets. These will be great on tour.
Look what just arrived in the post! WRITERS IN WHITES by @ollie-randall.bsky.social is the untold story of cricket’s influential role in London’s literary world. PG Wodehouse, JM Barrie, Conan Doyle! History and sports lovers rejoice: shorturl.at/3htcn #skyhistory #booksky
If people are unhappy with the media coverage, perhaps they should blame the ringmaster of this circus: Nigel Farage. Like it or lump it: Count Binface is actually running in this election, so interviewing him is legit.
SLEUTH-HOUND is out Oct 20. I've never felt quite this anxious about a book release before. But then I remembered: I was diagnosed with cancer in the middle of my last book tour. Maybe a subconscious stressor? Anyway, I'm hugely grateful for your preorders: linktr.ee/drlindseyfitzharris
I met @oldenoughtosay.com at the @indyhistnetwork.bsky.social meet up! We had been following each other for awhile, but had never met IRL. What joy! Madeline is an architectural historian whose work helps breathe new life into old buildings! Follow her, if only because of that brilliant handle! 💙
A fun-filled night with some of my favorite historians: @oispooky.bsky.social, @msromany.bsky.social, @dirtysexyhistory.bsky.social, @pwcraddock.bsky.social Thanks to @lucyjanesantos.bsky.social for organising! Can’t believe we didn’t get a photo!
It's exciting to see some of these early reader reviews start to come in for my new book SLEUTH-HOUND (out October 20). I can't wait to share this story with you! There are still signed copies available from @mysteriousbookshop.com & @poisonedpen.bsky.social: linktr.ee/drlindseyfitzharris
When @tealcartoons.bsky.social is at the studio, the cats usually fight over who gets to sit in his spot. But today, peace has broken out! A very happy Tuesday for Bobo and Oscar, indeed!
SLEUTH-HOUND is my attempt to bring Bell back into focus. Not a footnote to Holmes. Not a parlor trick in a consulting room. But a brilliant, complicated, deeply human man whose way of seeing changed literature forever. Coming Oct 20. UK 🇬🇧 trailer + cover below! Preorder: linktr.ee/drlindseyfit...
At its core, this is a book about what it means to truly see. Bell passed that gift to Conan Doyle, who passed it to Holmes, who passed it to the world. But somewhere along the way, the real Joe Bell got left behind. /6
My next book SLEUTH-HOUND tells the story of Joe Bell, the man behind the myth. Victorian forensics. Jack the Ripper. Even a real ballistics expert named Dr. Watson. Pictured here are the US (left) and UK (right) covers. /5
"When he verified his observations, we thought him a magician." Bell made a lasting impression on everyone he met. But none more than the young man sitting in his classroom in 1878: Arthur Conan Doyle. In this rare piece of film footage, Conan Doyle speaks of the influence Bell had on him. /4
Among those who knew him, Bell was a legend. On trains, he'd amuse his children by reading the other passengers in the carriage—where they were from, their occupations, their habits. "All this without having spoken to them," his daughter recalled. Photo: @surgeonshall.bsky.social /3
Early in his career, Bell won renown for his apparent medical clairvoyance—a talent for razor-sharp thinking that earned him the nickname "the demon of diagnosis." A callus. A stain. A limp. To Bell, evidence was everywhere, if only you knew how to see it. /2
Dripping in sweat but managed to catch Andy Burnham’s motorcade leaving Euston Station amongst the crush of press!
Bold move following a woman who describes herself in her bio as a breast cancer survivor. 🙄
Nothing beats holding an advance copy of a book you've spent four years on! SLEUTH-HOUND is about Joe Bell, the Scottish surgeon who inspired Sherlock Holmes! It has everything: Victorian forensics, Jack the Ripper, and even a real Dr Watson. I'm grateful for your support: linktr.ee/drlindseyfit...
Proof that Patches of @morbidlycuriousbc.bsky.social and I are sisters from another mister. Also proof that we can't stay on topic! Whether you preorder my new book SLEUTH-HOUND or not, you *should* join the Morbidly Curious Book Club because it's awesome fun: www.morbidlycuriousbookclub.com
Thanks to everyone who tuned in to the livestream with @morbidlycuriousbc.bsky.social! If you'd like to preorder SLEUTH-HOUND with the specially designed bookplate by @tealcartoons.bsky.social, visit the website, click "Club Message Board," and then click Fred & Junes's! morbidlycuriousbookclub.com
A day of Zooms, culminating in a livestream w/ @morbidlycuriousbc.bsky.social at 3 pm EST to give a little teaser of SLEUTH-HOUND. Please tune in. I've spent more time on my hair/makeup today than Holmes spent solving Hound of the Baskervilles, and I need witnesses. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFD_...
It's #Caturday! My cat, Oscar, saw a rat in the garden from our window, and promptly hid beneath a table. 😂
Scarificator, 19th century. This instrument with spring-loaded blades delivered many cuts simultaneously. Afterwards, the doctor placed a heated cup over the site. As it cooled, blood was forced out of the wounds. Photo: University of Melbourne. #medicalhistory #histmed #histsci
Trade card of Richard Middleton, coffin maker and undertaker - 19th century.
For #Caturday: a funeral procession of elderly women with cats in their arms, following the coffin of a dead cat, 1789. Image: Wellcome Collection
Happy #PubDay to @katewilliamsme.bsky.social and her new book REGINA - a landmark history of queens told by the queen of public history herself! You can get signed copies here: www.welbooks.co.uk/shop/p/regin...