Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was the preeminent figure in late 19th-century detective fiction. A physician by profession, he soon found such popularity as a writer of detective stories that his writing was far more profitable than his medical practice.

The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone is a Sherlock Holmes mystery in which Holmes is in pursuit of a stolen diamond. By the start of the story, he has already solved every aspect of the case except the one crucial point: the location of the missing jewel...and to establish this, he needs all his cunning to outwit the master criminal.