The works of Arthur Conan Doyle include short stories, novels, poems, plays, operettas, non-fiction and pamphlets—the latter on spiritualism and the paranormal. In October 1879 Doyle was still studying for his medical degree when he published his first work—"The Mystery of the Sasassa Valley"—which appeared in Chambers's Journal. In 1887 he published A Study in Scarlet, which appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual; the story introduced Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr John Watson. The duo subsequently came to wide public notice in the July 1891 short story "A Scandal in Bohemia" in The Strand Magazine. Doyle, fearful of having his other work overshadowed by his fictional detective, killed off his creation in December 1893, although he later relented and re-introduced the characters; the works make up the Holmes series of stories. Doyle also wrote four full-length Holmes works, as well as adventure novels and nine works of historical fiction, and the adventure series featuring Professor Challenger, who first appeared in The Lost World—both in short stories and novel form. He also wrote four volumes of poetry and a series of stage works. Owing to the close successive deaths of his son and brother, Doyle turned to spiritualism and wrote extensively on the subject. (Full list...)