A Treasury of Sherlock Holmes

by Arthur Conan Doyle

Contains two novels and 27 stories, with an introduction by Adrian Conan Doyle.

A study in scarlet --
The hound of the Baskervilles --
The red-headed league --
The adventure of the six Napoleons --
The final problem --
The five orange pips --
The adventure of the dancing men --
The adventure of the dying detective --
The adventure of the blue carbuncle --
The naval treaty --
The adventure of the beryl coronet --
Silver blaze --
The musgrave ritual --
The adventure of the speckled band --
The adventure of black Peter --
The reigate puzzle --
The adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton --
The adventure of the engineer's thumb --
The adventure of the second stain --
The adventure of the abby grange --
The adventure of the Mazarin Stone --
The problem of Thor Bridge --
The adventure of Shoscombe old place --
The adventure of the devil's foot --
The Greek interpreter --
The "Gloria Scott" --
The adventure of the priory school --
The adventure of the empty house --
His last bow.

Genres: Mystery, Classics, Fiction, Short Stories, Crime, Historical, Adventure

686 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1906

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.

Reviews

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This consists of 37 of the 57 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle that appeared in the magazine The Strand from 1891 to 1904 that are contained in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes and The Return of Sherlock Holmes. It also contains the most famous Holmes novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles.

I've loved the Holmes stories ever since I encountered "The Speckled Band," included here, in my school text. There are wonderful stories here that still hold up after a hundred years or more. Sherlock Holmes is one of those wonderful literary creations it is a pleasure to be around. The template of the "great detective" who is all brain, just as the first person narrator and friend, John Watson has plenty of heart. My favorite stories within include "A Scandal in Bohemia" (which features the rare person who could match wits with Holmes and win, Irene Adler), "The Red-Headed League," "The Five Orange Pips"--and yes, "The Speckled Band." But there isn't one story in this book I didn't enjoy.

The Hound of the Baskervilles is the most famous Sherlock Holmes novel, and certainly one of the best, the spookiest and most atmospheric, set in 1889 in the eerie moors of Devonshire. Right from the beginning we're given a demonstration of Holmes' gifts when, from a walking stick left behind by a visitor, Holmes is able to deduce a wealth of details about the man, down to the breed of his dog. Add a centuries old manor inherited by the young Sir Henry Baskerville along with a centuries old family curse involving a demon hound that has seemingly killed the previous squire, a butler and housekeeper of the manor with secrets, an escaped murderer loose upon the moor, and several suspicious neighbors: Franklin, a litigious crank with an estranged daughter, the mysterious Stapletons--and you have quite a delicious brew served up.

[Mark Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read all these stories before, but it was fun to revisit Doyle's work. He is probably best loved for his clever observations that he incorporates into Holmes,s character. But I think that Doyle's master touch is the balance of compassion and analytical brilliance that he affords Sherlock. These stories are timeless

[S Moss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holmes vs the Mormons
Doyle’s first novel not only introduces Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson but also includes a second part which digresses to reveal the backstories of the victims in the first part. While the first part is essential for understanding how Holmes and Watson came to live together in a comfortable, unique situation, the second part’s adventure story involving intolerant Mormons, forced marriages and vigilante vengeance got the author into some trouble with the religion.

The sedate London setting of the first part is very familiar to anyone who’s ever read any Holmes’ story, providing the comfortable backdrop for Sherlock’s uncanny ability to observe details and draw inferences which enable him to solve crimes. Dr. Watson’s role as the skeptical observer of Holmes’ abilities allows the reader to participate in that degree of disbelief which results in greater amazement when Holmes has made the correct deduction, after he initially seemed off the mark. Without such distancing, these detective stories would have been simply a boring recital of Holmes’ cleverness. Adding spice to the mixture are two Scotland Yard detectives, Lestade and Gregson, who are vainly competitive with each other and Holmes, whom they call upon for help in difficult situations but nonetheless consider inferior, while the same is true for Holmes who calls them “the pick of a bad lot. They are both quick and energetic, but conventional--shockingly so. They have their knives into one another, too. They are as jealous as a pair of professional beauties. There will be some fun over this case if they are both put upon the scent” (18).

Doyle’s provides a few descriptive details to vividly establish his characters, while keeping the focus on the action, key to a detective story and to the reader’s emotional involvement. Holmes’ physical description (10) is well known to most readers, but his intellectual extremes are probably not. The depth of his knowledge of obscure areas, like poisons and types of cigar ashes, upon which he had written a monograph, is always amazing. “He is well up in anatomy, and a first-class chemist…His studies are very desultory and eccentric, but he has amassed a lot of out-of-the-way knowledge (5)…He appears to have a passion for definite and exact knowledge” (6), which leads him to develop a reagent to determine if a stain is caused by blood. Watson briefly remarks that Holmes’ recurrent periods of seeming detachment from reality, which might be thought to be when he’s putting together his ideas, lead Watson to suspect “him of being addicted to the use of some narcotic, had not the temperance and cleanliness of his whole life forbidden such a notion” (9). Fascinated, Watson informs us that Holmes had no knowledge of literature, philosophy, astronomy and very little of politics, was better informed about botany, geology, chemistry, and anatomy, extremely informed about sensational literature (“he appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century,” 12), plays the violin well (he quotes Darwin, “the power of producing and appreciating [music] existed among the human race long before the power of speech was arrived at,” 31), is an expert singlestick player, boxer and swordsman, and has a good practical knowledge of British law, to round out his many accomplishments.

Holmes thinks “a man’s brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose…the skillful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic…It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance…not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones” (11), which means he has no need to understand the solar system. “He said that he would acquire no knowledge which did not bear upon his object” (11), which is knowledge about crime, “There is nothing new under the sun. It has all been done before” (21). Most relevant is an article Holmes wrote “to show how much an observant man might learn by an accurate and systematic examination of all that came in his way…a momentary expression, a twitch of a muscle or a glance of an eye [allows one] to fathom a man’s inmost thoughts. Deceit…was an impossibility in the case of one trained to observation and analysis…All life is a great chain, the nature of which is known whenever we are shown a single link…the Science of Deduction and Analysis is one which can only be acquired by long and patient study, nor is life long enough to allow any mortal to attain the highest possible perfection…let the inquirer begin by mastering more elementary problems…on meeting a fellow-mortal, learn at a glance to distinguish the history of the man, and the trade or profession” (13). Holmes brags that he’s the only consulting detective in the world, due to his encyclopedic knowledge of the history of crime, but he’s never hasty to express an opinion, “No data yet….It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment” (18). Later Holmes more humbly admits “genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains” (23), thereby contrasting his momentary arrogant irritation with the detectives’ quick assumptions to his own tedious accumulation of facts. Watson and Holmes come to respect each other’s complementary abilities, but this is as far as their relationship goes, at least in this novel.

Soon the action begins with the two detectives each heading off on false trails based on their incomplete analyses of facts; Lestade thinks Rache means Rachel, until Holmes tells him it’s German for revenge. He quickly assumes that Drebber’s murderer was his companion Stangerson, until the latter shows up dead. Then Gregson latches onto Arthur Charpentier, the son of the boarding house lady, who had a dust-up with Drebber, and must be the killer. Doyle is not above a bit of parody of the stances of newspapers, who each falsely interpret a murder according to their socio-political bias, “the lawless outrages of the sort usually occurred under a Liberal administration. They arose from the unsettling of the minds of the masses and the consequent weakening of authority,” (36). After both detectives have landed on dead-ends, Holmes smugly remarks, ‘You failed at the beginning of the inquiry to grasp the importance of the single real clue which was presented to you. I had the good fortune to seize upon that, and everything which has occurred since then has served to confirm my original supposition, and, indeed, was the logical sequence of it. Hence things which have perplexed you and made the case more obscure have served to enlighten me…It is a mistake to confound strangeness with mystery…These strange details, far from making the case more difficult, have really had the effect of making it less so” (47). Although Holmes assures them there will be no more murders, he also warns that “we have a shrewd and desperate man to deal with, who is supported…by another who is as clever as himself” (47), and will flee if he suspects anything. Thus Holmes has a pair of new, efficient handcuffs, which he quickly slips on the cabman’s wrists when he’s called upstairs to take Sherlock’s portmanteau, for Holmes had realized that a cab had been involved in every one of the murders.

Then the story halts for the second part, which abruptly introduces the backstory of Mormon pioneers living under the ruthless control of their prophet Brigham Young. This part is a Gothic romance, with Carpathian Mountains being replaced by North American Sierras and a desolate alkaline desert where the reader finds two survivors of a doomed migrant caravan, which had lost its way. Dying of thirst and hunger are an older man and a cherubic five-year-old girl, with obligatory golden curls to contrast with the shrunken brown skin of the man. In a touching scene the aged John Ferrier comforts the girl by telling her she’ll soon be meeting her dead mother. Somehow the lively, plump girl isn’t as near death as the grizzled man, probably a concession to the sentimental tastes of the time. At the last moment they’re found by the 10,000-strong caravan of Mormons heading to found Salt Lake City, and the condition of their rescue is that they convert and become faithful Mormons: “We shall have no wolves in our fold. Better far that your bones should bleach in this wilderness than that you should prove to be that little speck of decay which in time corrupts the whole fruit. Will you come with us on these terms?” (56), Brother Stangerson ruthlessly queries the desperate couple. The reader immediately realizes the connection with the first part, for Stangerson and Drebber are two of the four principal Mormon elders ruling the community.

Hapless Ferrier agrees to the terms, is taken in and given a homestead, which he fruitfully multiples over twelve years until he’s outstripped his Mormon neighbors in wealth. However, he refuses to marry, without giving any explanation, and lives in peace until the Mormons declare he must turn over his “daughter” to become one of the wives of their sons. “Such marriage he regarded as no marriage at all, but as a shame and a disgrace” (62). Doyle includes one sarcastic footnote that the use of an “endearing epithet”--“heifer” to refer to their wives came from a Mormon preacher’s sermon (64). Even worse is the fear Mormons had of an “omniscient and omnipotent” group, the Danite Band, who meted out punishments for deviations from any rules: “a rash word or a hasty act was followed by annihilation, and yet none knew what the nature might be of this terrible power which was suspended over them…men went about in fear and trembling…every man feared his neighbour” (63). Doyle throws in comparison with the Inquisition of Seville, the German Vehmgericht and Italy’s secret societies; none was as effective as the Danites. The two candidates selected for unfortunate Lucy are Drebber and Stangerson, both of whom have several wives, neither of whom is an appealing candidate (66).

Luckily, Lucy has found a Gentile, Jefferson Hope, whom she loves after he saved her from death among an agitated herd of long-horned cattle. Hope is a standard romantic hero from the wilds of North America, with every possible frontier skill (à la Natty Bumppo): “pioneer, scout, trapper, silver explorer, and a ranchman” (61) plus the essential “wild, fierce passion of a man of strong will and imperious temper. He had been accustomed to succeed in all that he undertook” (61). Amongst all the wild beasts of the land, “there was none so fierce and so dangerous as himself” (77). Of course, there’s no hope she’ll be allowed to leave and marry him because the Mormons are running out of women to stock the Elders’ harems (which is why unsuspecting pioneer caravans are set upon, destroyed, and the women kidnapped (63). The three set off at night to escape the deadly Mormon groups, who enforce obedience and punish sinners. After a day or two of traveling, they pause to rest while Hope goes looking for food, loses his way and returns five hours later to discover the grave of Ferrier and everything stolen. With nothing else to live for, Hope dedicates himself to revenge, “with indomitable patience and perseverance…and also a power of sustained vindictiveness, which he may have learned from the Indians amongst whom he had lived” (76). But first he has to learn what happened to Lucy, and when he finally staggers into the town he sees celebratory flags and learns she’s just been married to Drebber. But it won’t be for long because she had vowed to her father that she would rather die than be married to a Mormon, and within a month that desire is fulfilled. Hope stalks into her funeral, kisses her forehead, takes the wedding ring from her finger and leaves. Later Drebber and Stangerson break from the church and start to travel around the world, so Hope follows them, always arriving just after they’ve departed, until he traps them in London.

The novel’s finale involves Hope’s full confession and his admission that he suffers from an aortic aneurysm, which means he doesn’t have much time or know when he’ll die. He’s eager for the full story to be known, as the murders have aroused much interest, and tells how he offered each man the choice of two identical pills, one of which was poison. Hope would take the other pill, confident that providence would ensure the criminal took the poison. When Stangerson refused to comply and attacked him, Hope had no choice but to kill him, and now he’s prepared to submit to justice, which providence averts when he dies the next day.

Succinctly written, the novel focuses on Holmes’ attention to specific details, which aren’t immediately revealed to the impatient reader. Complex plot twists maintain suspense and keep the reader interested in the conclusion, which is hard to guess before Holmes provides a complete revelation of what he saw and brags, “You see, the whole thing is a chain of logical sequences without a break or flaw” (91). While factually naturalistic, the basic story is very romantic, with a Western hero who tries to save Lucy from archetypal villains, who happen to be Mormons seeking another wife. Just as the reader is always surprised by Holmes’ deductions, which nonetheless seem obvious once explained, the reader is also surprised by the connection of two such disparate worlds, as well as Hope’s “just” decision about how he’ll achieve his revenge. Suspense is a key aspect. “There is a mystery about this [murder] which stimulates the imagination; where there is no imagination there is no horror,” (31) says Holmes, a revealing statement about Doyle’s aim and the novel’s structure. While the characters function well with their limited development, Ferrier undergoes the closest description to capitalize on his emotions as he faces the prospect of death, while trying to shield the young girl. However, Doyle doesn’t explore any emotional depths in the young couple’s relationship or that between Watson and Holmes. Both couples are brought together by pragmatic needs: Lucy likes the bold stranger (who isn’t Mormon) and neither Watson nor Holmes has the funds to live independently, so they quickly establish the boundaries for their relationship. They admire each other’s abilities, and Watson is comfortable allowing Holmes to take the spotlight, although at times he finds Sherlock lacking in tact.

[Yrinsyde · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered Sherlock Holmes when I was in primary school - and I loved the stories! I still do. When I saw this book at a second-hand bookshop in Bendigo, I had to buy it. It is a lovely collection in facsimile with the original illustrations that appeared in the Strand Magazine in early 1900.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book #: 30
Title: A Treasury of Sherlock Holmes
Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
Series: Sherlock Holmes #1
Format: 686 pages, Hardcover
Pub Date: First published January 1, 1906
Started: 4/13/23 Ended: 4/13/23
Awards: none
Categories: Debut novel, First book in a Series, First appearance of a detective, Mystery written in 1880's, A book you can read in a day.
Rating: ***** five out of five stars

Actually, the only book in this omnibus that I've re-read so far is the novel, "A Study in Scarlet". I read all the Sherlock Holmes stories a long time ago. I'm doing a re-read so I can write a Goodreads review. I'm doing a challenge of reading detective novels, each one set in a different decade. I've decided to make the challenge harder by only listing first appearances of each detective. A Study in Scarlet is the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes. The introduction is by Adrian Doyle, Arthur's son. He's chosen the stories based on his personal favorites and the most iconic adventures. The first novel introduces us to Dr. Watson, a disabled war veteran (Afghanistan, shoulder wound) who is looking for a flat mate to split boarding costs with. A mutual friend introduces him to Sherlock, they hit it off, and rent 221B Baker Street. Watson starts making note of Sherlock's pecularities such as an extensive knowledge of poisons, chemistry, human anatomy, British law, sensational literature, swordsmanship, boxing and the violin. Conversely, he's
nearly ignorant of literature, astronomy, philosophy and politics. As I re-read the stories, I'll come back to this review and mark them with an asterisk, so you can see which ones I've read.

Index of Stories:
2 Novels:
* A Study in Scarlet
The Hound of the Baskervilles

27 Short Stories:
The Red-Headed League
The Adventure of the Six Napoleons
The Final Problem
The Five Orange Pips
The Adventure of the Dancing Men
The Adventure of the Dying Detective
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
The Naval Treaty
The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
Silver Blaze
The Musgrave Ritual
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
The Adventure of Black Peter
The Reigate Puzzle
The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb
The Adventure of the Second Stain
The Adventure of the Abbey Grange
The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
The Problem of Thor Bridge
The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place
The Adventure of the Devil's Foot
The Greek Interpreter
The "Gloria Scott"
The Adventure of the Priory School
The Adventure of the Empty House
His Last Bow

[Alger Smythe-Hopkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely classic detection tales, all of them... even the ones that are just dumb or include no detection.
One adavantage of the omnibus collection is that it allows one to watch the evolution of Homes and Watson as the series progresses. After a couple of early efforts Doyle mostly gave up on the Holmes - Master of Disguise gambits while also severely reigning in the deductive powers. At some point in the series came an inflection point where the tales mostly morphed into adventure novels. Hound of the Baskervilles is certainly past that point, and it certainly is among my favorite Holmes tales, so that isn't a critique. Instead it is an observation that (endearing and pioneering as they were) the first run of tales included a lot of Holmes laying upon his stomach in the grass for simply hours. This isn't interesting.
A rollicking ghost story though...
That's classic.

Anyway, a perennial favorite of mine, and in an edition I have carried with me for decades. I'll have to re-glue the binding though.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and addicting in a way. This book had about a 1000 pages, and although I did not think the stories extremely smart, they are different from anything else I have read. (I don't usually read detective or mystery.) Each story is short, so it is nice to start and finish them in a small amount of time. I also liked getting an idea of late nineteenth, early twentieth century England, and I liked Holmes' character, but especially liked Watson. The first half of the book mentions Watson being married, and the second half he does not seem to be married anymore. What happened to Mrs. Watson?? I debated about giving only 3 stars for these short stories, but leaned toward 4 for posterity's sake I suppose. I think they will continue to find an audience well into future generations.

[Clinton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first exposure to Holmes and Watson since reading Baskerville about 50 years ago. I found it an excellent sampling of Holmes' case work and soon came to appreciate Watson's narrative style and the eccentricities of Holmes' personality. The clues that solved these cases run from the masterful (the dog that didn't bark) to the absurd (a snake trained to respond to whistles). Over half of the book consists of short stories, each consuming about half an hour. The stories come from the original books, all of which are represented. This offers a good cross section of Holmes and a good choice for getting an overview of his career.

[Jarrett L. Rineer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of stories that really bring out the entire spectrum of Holmes and his 'dear boy' Watson. Really engaging. The only thing I would argue is that we are not given ALL of the facts, but most of the time we are given enough information to at least have a theory about whom the guilty party may be. I always find it interesting when Holmes shows mercy and decides to show leniency towards the perpetrators, a morally gray area for not offering full-disclosure to the law-men but seemingly well-deserved and always much appreciated.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read long ago. We're going digital, so rather than retain a physical copy on the bookshelf, I'll use Goodreads as my external memory drive.

My copy of this was likely a BOMC pick up. All public domain now, of course.

Brilliant, timeless stuff that everyone should read, following in the footsteps of and improving upon Edgar Allan Poe's Auguste Dupin. Is there anyone out there for whom the Hound of the Baskervilles was *not* nightmare fuel?

[Dan Blackley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This canon has the original Illustrations from the Strand Magazine.

[Delanie Dooms · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have another review for another edition, distributed by Crown (this being an Avenel book). I like this one more than the other one.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

really enjoyed this book, quite a variety in Mr. Holmes adventures

[Kevin Sturguess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read one, read 'em all.

[Devin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Watson is the original fangirl.

[Jonah Kruvant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every short story in Arthur Conan Doyle’s collection began with Holmes using deductive reasoning. Arthur Conan Doyle sets up the reader from the very onset that Holmes will be using this method to solve the crime of the story. Since Doyle published each story separately, this allowed first time readers of Holmes to discover Holmes’ methods. A classic example of this is in “The Red-Headed League”. When Mr. Jabez Wilson comes to Holmes to ask for his help in a case, Holmes deduces that he did manual labor because of the size of his hands. Holmes says to him, “Your right hand is quite a size larger than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more developed” (17). In the first Sherlock Holmes story, “A Scandal in Bohemia”, Holmes asks Watson how many steps there are leading to his room. When Dr. Watson cannot provide the answer, Holmes states, “I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed” (3). The distinction between seeing and observing is what separates Holmes from the rest.

I found myself reading through the story trying to pick up the hints that Holmes was figuring out, not only to solve the crime myself, but to try to get into Holmes’ mind. Although I picked up a few minor hints here or there, or even predict the murderer, I never once was able to put the pieces together like Sherlock Holmes. I did, however, relish the experience of trying to keep up with Holmes as he went about solving the case.

The stories are written like bookends. As the stories start with a display of Holmes’ deductive reasoning, they end with it as well. Holmes explains how he solved the case, bit by bit, using this very method, and in almost every story, I found myself satisfied with the result.

I'd recommend the short stories, "A Scandal in Bohemia", "The Red-Headed League", "The Adventure of the Speckled Band", and "The Adventure of the Final Problem".

[Johnathon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb collection of Sherlock Holmes stories, edited by his own son, Adrian, that makes a great primer for anyone interested in reading about the classic detective. Granted, some choices are a bit strange, such as the absence of "A Scandal in Bohemia", which introduced Irene Adler, but overall, a great read.

[Nora · Rating 5 out of 5]

My father bought me this book many years ago for a couple of dollars at an antique store. I had read a handful of the stories and one or two where studied in school, but I had never read them all in this manner.

Such wonderful writing and timeless characters. If I had to pick a fictional character who influenced me Sherlock Holmes would be the man.

Tv, movies, and adaptations of Doyle's original works have made Holmes well known throughout time and the world, however there is something satisfying about reading his original words on the page.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Twas excellent. I'd never read any Sherlock Holmes before, and then I picked this book up at my church's book sale and read all the stories start to finish. Had two long stories and many short stories and put them all together in chronological order. I don't know if you can find it in a regular bookstore, but if you can and you're a big Sherlock Holmes fan, I suggest you get it just so you can say you have the treasury.

[Ellie]

I read a Study in Scarlet, the first story in the book, and rated it separately from this collection of works. Unfortunately, even with my love for the television shows Elementary and Sherlock, there wasn't enough to entice me to continue reading. Therefore, I left it back at home during this semester while I'm at college. Maybe one day I'll pick The Treasury back up again to dive into the creations of Arthur Conan Doyle once more.

[Geekwif · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this years ago at a thrift shop out of curiosity, but I never read it. After seeing the movie I decided to pull it off the shelf. I never thought I would enjoy mysteries/crime stories, but this is great. I guess there's a good reason Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories have become classics.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly enjoyable. Very readable. I was surprised at how "fresh" the writing is, considering that it is 100 years old.

Started reading this in mid-2010. Chipping away at it between other books. Can't read it straight through - it would be too much.

Finished it in September 2011. Pretty good overall.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a summer read when I didn't have access to preferable books. Darn if ACD isn't a fine writer. Thanks to TV, he reads a little wordy and long, but for those who don't mind a jaunt into the late 1800's, this is great stuff. Well worth reading.

[Luis Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fiction. Comprehensive collection of Sherlock Holmes detective stories, featuring A Study in Scarlet and the Hound of the Basketvilles along with 27 short stories. A great collection. This book is like an old friend. First read this in 1978.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

After watching the "Sherlock" series via BBC, I thought it was time to revisit Doyle. I hadn't read him since "Hound of the Baskervilles." The TV series "Sherlock" will be airing this Sunday on PBS. Check it out.

[Rai · Rating 4 out of 5]

It takes a little while to get used to the style of the writing, but once you get into the flow it is really quite nice. I enjoyed the original version of the character Sherlock Holmes, and quite a few of the stories were still very thrilling even in a modern age.

[Paul Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent edition with all of Holmes' adventures plus "The Hound of the Baskervilles". What is really exciting is the book has the original illustrations by Sidney Paget. Conan Doyle complained that Peget had made Holmes handsomer than he had intended.

[Jim]

I have my grandmothers copy of this book from the fifties. I picked this book on and off and have read from it since preteens. I wrote some random notes with dates. Like reread in 1989. I doubt I have read them all once but read a number of them multiple times.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my introduction to Sherlock Holmes, and I enjoyed it immensely!

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent and fun. It is completely understandable why this is the pop fiction of the Victorian era. The short lenght of most of the stories makes them an easy and fun read for busy days.