Worldwide Doyle 2026 in honour of Professor Neil McCaw

Anna Behrens - Jean Leckie from Mistress to Medium
23 June 2026

Arthur Conan Doyle was immediately attracted to young and attractive Miss Jean Leckie, whom he met at a party while his wife Louisa was bedridden with advanced Tuberculosis. Conan Doyle and Jean grew close and secretly spent time together. When Louisa died years later, Conan Doyle married Jean and they had three children together. Jean changed from a non-believer of Spiritualism to becoming the family Medium. She then, through a spirit guide named Pheneas, advised Conan Doyle on many aspects of his life. Just how far did Lady Jean go in manipulating her besotted husband?  

Anna Brindisi Behrens is the leader of the Monadnock Sherlockians, an active scion based in Keene, NH.  Anna received the 2023 Susan Z. Diamond Award from the Beacon Society. Anna is currently serving as the society's secretary (Percy Phelps). Anna enjoys writing Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes scholarship and has been published in The Baker Street Journal, in Canadian Holmes, in the Steel True, Blade Straight Anthology, as well as other publications.  She edits her own scion’s Monadnock Sherlockian Anthologies, which contain collected writings from her group members.  In addition to her Sherlockian interests, Anna is the producer of the Lizzie Borden Podcast, and has her own imprint Nine Muses Books, where she has published her late husband Richard’s Lizzie Borden Girl Detective Mysteries. She also edits the literary journal Literary Hatchet.

Ollie Randall - Doyle and Cricket: A Passion for the Game
1 July 2026

To an extent that is rarely recognised, cricket played a central part in Arthur Conan Doyle's life. It played an important part in his public persona, his relationships, his self-image, and even his creativity. Dr Ollie Randall demonstrates the ways in which cricket can shed light on Doyle, his life and his work. 

Ollie Randall is a writer and historian. He is the author of Writers in Whites: How a group of literary cricketers changed English culture (Fairfield Books, May 2026). He completed his PhD, on coteries of cricket-playing writers, at King's College London. Ollie's second book, Lord's and Maharajas, about the turbulent politics surrounding the birth of Indian international cricket, is due out in the autumn. He also works as a cartoonist and a manager of cultural tours.