Sherlock Holmes: 24 Classic Short Stories

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes contains four of Conan Doyle’s own all-time favorite Holmes mysteries, "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," "The Red-Headed League," "A Scandal in Bohemia," and "The Five Orange Pips." The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes has another three of Conan Doyle’s favorites in "The Adventure of the Reigate Squire," "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual," and "The Adventure of the Final Problem." It is in "The Final Problem," of course, that Dr. Watson sadly reports the death of Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls near Meiringen in Switzerland. Holmes’s titanic struggle with his arch enemy, Professor Moriarty, had seen them both apparently plunge over a sheer drop, although Watson never actually saw Holmes’s body. This was Conan Doyle’s attempt to bring an end to Holmes’s adventures, but he was to be resurrected by popular demand eight years later. The Memoirs also includes "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter," in which Holmes’s brother, Mycroft, appears for the first time and "The Adventure of the Gloria Scott," in which Holmes describes to Watson his very first case.