Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle KStJ DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer, who created the character Sherlock Holmes. Originally a physician, in 1887 he published A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and more than fifty short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Doyle was a prolific writer; other than 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”, helped to popularise the mystery of the Mary Celeste.

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The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

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The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes


, Book # 9
Headline Review
June 16th, 1927
Paperback
304
English
March 21, 2021 April 13, 2021
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'Mr Sherlock Holmes, the well-known private detective, was the victim of a murderous assault this morning which has left him in a precarious position'.

Dr Watson stops dead in his tracks when he reads of the attempt on his friend's life. The forces of nature turn against man, love breeds hatred and cowardice, mothers appear to attack their own children, and Sherlock Holmes, the one man who can redress the balance, seemingly lies at death's door ...

When an assassination attempt is made on the great detective's life it seems that no one can escape the death and dread which blights Britain...

Last (finally) book dedicated to Sherlock Holmes and very short review. This is also a collection of stories that I honestly don’t remember that much. I don’t think I’ll miss Sherlock and his cases, often all the same or better with the same formula, so I’m happy to have finished this series (but not because I liked it).

Doyle’s style is obviously old, very often his descriptions of people who are not white and European are grotesque and somewhat racist which obviously at that time were accepted but been a few years later and having progressed (at least a little) socially it bothers me.

I will also certainly not reread it because rereading a detective story when you already know the end is not the best (even if I only did it once) and I honestly don’t understand his success. Especially for the collections of short stories that I don’t find illuminating at all.

His Last Bow

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His Last Bow


, Book # 8
Feedbooks
1913
eBook
165
English
March 11, 2021 March 17, 2021
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His Last Bow is a collection of seven Sherlock Holmes stories (eight in American editions) by Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as the title of one of the stories in that collection. Originally published in 1917, it contains the various Holmes stories published between 1908 and 1913, as well as the one-off title story from 1917.
The collection was originally called Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes and did not contain the actual story His Last Bow, which appeared later, after the full-length The Valley of Fear was published. However later editions added it and changed the title. Some recent complete editions have restored the earlier title.
When the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes were published in the USA for the first time, the publishers believed "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" was too scandalous for the American public, since it dealt with the theme of adultery. As a result, this story was not published in the USA until many years later, when it was added to His Last Bow. Even today, most American editions of the canon include it with His Last Bow, while most British editions keep the story in its original place in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

About the book

Short review. Very short.

Eighth and penultimate book (thank God) dedicated to Sherlock Holmes. We are back to a collections of stories that, as you know, is not my forte and, unfortunately, the last one will be one, too (I already plan to take a lifetime to read it).

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The Valley of Fear

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The Valley of Fear


, Book # 7
Headline
February 27th 1915
eBook
141
English
February 4, 2021 February 6, 2021
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The greatest detective of them all is back...

'It is the Valley of Fear, the Valley of Death. The terror is in the hearts of the people from the dusk to the dawn. Wait, young man, and you will learn for yourself'.

A coded message summons Sherlock Holmes to the aide of one Mr Douglas. But before Holmes can reach him Douglas is found dead. He recognises the calling card of his nemesis, Professor James Moriarty - this was most definitely murder...

About the book

Seventh book dedicated to Sherlock Holmes and this is the last long novel. Sherlock need to decrypt a message which will bring him to investigate a case with origins in the new world and the first American gangsters.

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The Hound of the Baskervilles

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The Hound of the Baskervilles

, Book # 5
Signet
August 1901
Paperback
256
English
November 25, 2020 December 27, 2020

We owe The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) to Arthur Conan Doyle's good friend Fletcher "Bobbles" Robinson, who took him to visit some scary English moors and prehistoric ruins, and told him marvelous local legends about escaped prisoners and a 17th-century aristocrat who fell afoul of the family dog. Doyle transmogrified the legend: generations ago, a hound of hell tore out the throat of devilish Hugo Baskerville on the moonlit moor. Poor, accursed Baskerville Hall now has another mysterious death: that of Sir Charles Baskerville. Could the culprit somehow be mixed up with secretive servant Barrymore, history-obsessed Dr. Frankland, butterfly-chasing Stapleton, or Selden, the Notting Hill murderer at large? Someone's been signaling with candles from the mansion's windows. Nor can supernatural forces be ruled out. Can Dr. Watson--left alone by Sherlock Holmes to sleuth in fear for much of the novel--save the next Baskerville, Sir Henry, from the hound's fangs?

About the book

The Hound of the Baskervilles is perhaps Doyle’s most famous book. And I have to say that it is the one that I liked most. We finally get to know Mortimer and I must advise against reading the books in the order that Goodreads says to read them. Read the anthologies of short stories after the novels. Unfortunately in the anthologies there are references to Mortimer that come out of nowhere and therefore the story is not known. Indeed, it is not known even now after reading a novel with him as the protagonist (or almost).

Be that as it may, the book is about an old legend or curse that all Baskervilles are forced to endure. But Sherlock doesn’t believe in curses and therefore tries to find out what’s behind this rumour.

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The Return of Sherlock Holmes

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The Return of Sherlock Holmes
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, Book # 5
Wisehouse Classics
1904
eBook
396
English
June 22, 2020 June 27, 2020

The Return of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of 13 Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in 1903-1904, by Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories were published in the Strand Magazine in Great Britain, and Collier's in the United States.

The book was first published in February 1905 by McClure, Phillips & Co. (New York) then on March 7, 1905 by Georges Newnes, Ltd. (London) and was the first Holmes collection since 1893, when Holmes had "died" in "The Final Problem". Having published The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1901–1902 (setting it before Holmes' death) Doyle came under intense pressure to revive his famous character.

The first story is set in 1894 and has Holmes returning in London and explaining the period from 1891–94, a period called “The Great Hiatus” by Sherlockian enthusiasts. Also of note is Watson's statement in the last story of the cycle that Holmes has retired, and forbids him to publish any more stories.

About the book

Another collection of stories dedicated to Sherlock Holmes always narrated by the faithful Watson. For this book, too, I will not summarise all the stories and also the review is not long as I still don’t like collections of stories. But to read the whole series you have to read them right?

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