The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Dr. Conan Doyle's stories of his amateur detective, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, have already gained a wide popularity in the columns of the Strand Magazine, and they now appear in a collected form which will be welcomed by a large circle of readers. The stories are ingeniously constructed and well written, and the detective's methods, though sometimes a little strained, are generally ingenious and amusing. The volume contains a dozen adventures, all of which are readable and some of which are decidedly exciting. The author has the art of keeping up the reader's interest to the end, and his style is bright and unpretentious.

The "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" are full of interesting subtleties and wily surprises. Each story has its own peculiar interest and several are extremely dramatic. "The Speckled Band" is decidedly the most thrilling; its unexpected denouements take the breath away. "The Five Orange Pips" is a close second for excitement. Dr. Conan Doyle has the rare gift of making the incredible seem plausible, and his detective, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, is a creation of genuine originality. The stories are admirably constructed, and the interest never flags from the first page to the last.

Dr. Conan Doyle's education as a student of medicine taught him how to observe, and his practice, both as a general practitioner and a specialist, has been a splendid training for a man, gifted as he is with eyes, memory, and imagination. Eyes and ears which can see and hear, memory to record, at once and to recall at pleasure the impressions of the senses, and an imagination capable of weaving a theory or piecing together a broken chain or unravelling a tangled clue, such are the implements of his trade. The "Adventures" are a remarkable series of detective tales, in which the author has succeeded in elevating what might have been mere sensationalism into something approaching a science.

These stories are absolutly entertaining — Sherlock Holmes is a icon for a reason. But some of the "mysteries" are pretty easy to solve if you pay attention and theres some lowkey racism and sexism that makes you wince. The Red-Headed League is probably the best one. Good bathroom reading because each story is short. Not as good as the novels though.

Reading this collection you realise how much modern detective stories owe to Conan Doyle. Holmes is brilliant, Watson is the perfect sidekick, and the mysteries are genuinely clever. A Scandal in Bohemia is my favourite — Irene Adler is such a great character. Some of the stories are stronger than others but even the weaker ones are entertaining. Highly recomend.