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The Best of Sherlock Holmes

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These fifteen short stories, chosen by David Stuart Davies, former Editor of Sherlock magazine, show the master detective Sherlock Holmes at his most ingenious. Faithfully supported by his chronicler, Dr Watson, Holmes pits his wits against 'the Napoleon of Crime', Professor Moriarty, assists European royalty threatened by disgrace, helps to solve the mysterious death of a young woman due to be married, and becomes involved with other intrigues that defeat the detectives of Scotland Yard. The original illustrations from The Strand magazine by Sidney Paget accompany each story.

Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully bound gift editions of much loved classic titles. Bound in real cloth, printed on high quality paper, and featuring ribbon markers and gilt edges, Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

544 pages, Hardcover

Published August 23, 2016

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About the author

Arthur Conan Doyle

15.9k books24.4k followers
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish 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.

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5 stars
105 (52%)
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60 (30%)
3 stars
25 (12%)
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2 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
Profile Image for Krystal.
2,205 reviews491 followers
February 9, 2019
The most famous detective in literature, and an absolute delight to read about. The stories themselves are always fun, trying to solve the mysteries, but just exploring how this man's mind works is so much fun.

I love the short stories because they're easy to read at any time, and they stand alone easily.

This is a great collection because it really does include most of the more popular stories, and it's an easy win if you're looking for a quick reminder of why you love these stories so much.

If you haven't read a single one by now, you really ought to get on it.
Profile Image for Iulia.
18 reviews1 follower
January 29, 2023
The bisexual panic is real.

Not as good as I remembered, but I'd probably pick it up again in a few years when I'd have forgotten most stuff.

There's more to life than crimes of passion.
Profile Image for Julia Łaskawiec.
25 reviews
May 27, 2025
cieszę się że przeczytałam ale nie powiem żeby było to dla mnie niesamowite doświadczenie
niektóre z historii utkwiły mi w pamięci ale poza okazyjnym “o” nie udało mi się wykrzesać z siebie nic więcej, postaci są mocno zdystansowane od czytelnika, książka nie oferuje materiału do przemyśleń a koncept “skubany, skąd on to wiedział?” przejada się po pierwszych trzech historiach
Profile Image for Ticiane.
33 reviews
October 12, 2020
There's nothing more to be said about Sherlock Holmes (at least not by someone like me), so I'll just say that this edition (from the Macmillan Collector's Library) is lovely and the illustrations are a great addition. The selected stories make a good job of portraing different sides from Sherlock and Watson, and there's a brief explination at the end of the book of why those were the chosen titles.
Profile Image for Nancy.
568 reviews1 follower
May 6, 2025
A great collection of short stories which show the development of Holmes' character and his methods. The original illustrations are fantastic in and of themselves and the afterword is just right. I was particularly struck by how Holmes followed his own sense of justice (especially when women were the perpetrators) and did not necessarily turn the perpetrators over to the authorities.
Profile Image for Simon Pert.
Author 6 books24 followers
September 24, 2024
A masterclass in Detective fiction. Each story showing off Holmes unique talent all reported through the eyes of his friend, Dr Watson.
Thoroughly enjoyed The selection and highly recommended.
Profile Image for Kirill Boiko.
8 reviews
May 23, 2022
Interesting character he is, Sherlock Holmes. Really liked the book, plan on reading something else soon. I haven’t read much of Conan Doyle’s works so far, unlike those of Agatha Christie. I really like that Holmes proves his points with deduction of the facts and material evidence, in comparison to Poirot’s method of psychological deduction, which is sometimes, I would say, strange and dull.
Profile Image for Sandy.
500 reviews18 followers
June 27, 2019
Used for my class at the University of Minnesota - Deductive Reasoning, The Stories of Sherlock Holmes.
167 reviews
November 1, 2020
Suce a great collection of short stories. I love Sherlock Holmes and recommend it.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews

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