I'm by no means a historical expert but I am somewhat of a Holmes fan.

Sherlock Holmes is considered to be the first modern work to have what we refer to these days as a 'fandom'; There was public demonstrations of mourning after he was killed off in 1893 (1891 in the context of the story). For eight years Doyle was under public pressure to resume writing his beloved character before he wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles, but Hound was set chronologically before The Final Problem. Finally in 1903 Doyle wrote The Adventure of the Empty House, set in 1894. The three year period is quite often referred to as 'The Great Hiatus'.

Source: Dakin, D. Martin (1972). A Sherlock Holmes Commentary.