The Return of Sherlock Holmes: Classic Edition Annotated

Sherlock Holmes #6

by Arthur Conan Doyle

  'Holmes,' I cried. 'Is it really you? Can it indeed be that you are alive? Is it possible that you succeeded in climbing out of that awful abyss?'

  Missing, presumed dead, for three years, Sherlock Holmes returns triumphantly to his dear companion Dr Watson. And not before time! London has never been in more need of his extraordinary a murderous individual with an air gun stalks the city.

  Among thirteen further brilliant tales of mystery, detection and deduction, Sherlock Holmes investigates the problem of the Norwood Builder, deciphers the message of the Dancing Men, and cracks the case of the Six Napoleons.

Genres: Classics, Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Short Stories, Detective, Audiobook

317 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1905

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 4 out of 5]

(A) 85% | Extraordinary
Notes: All in all, a volume without a real stand-out story, but the most consistently good of the short story collections so far.

[Federico DN · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sherlock is back!

Another excellent collection by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Amazing to see the legendary detective come back from the land of the dead relatively unscathed. A mixed bag, as always, but with some unique finds that set a difference compared to so many similar stories before. A collection that rivalizes with #4 The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, just as good; the latter only winning because of the memorable new characters, that sadly this one didn’t have.

Go for the Best, consider the Good, whatever the Meh.

The Best :
★★★★★ “The Empty House.”
★★★★☆ “Charles Augustus Milverton.” [4.5]
★★★★☆ “The Missing Three-Quarter.” [4.5]
★★★★☆ “The Solitary Cyclist.” [4.5]
★★★★☆ “The Abbey Grange.”
★★★★☆ “The Golden Pince-Nez.”

The Good :
★★★☆☆ “The Priory School.” [3.5]
★★★☆☆ “The Dancing Men.”
★★★☆☆ “The Six Napoleons.” [2.5]

The Meh :
★★☆☆☆ “The Norwood Builder.” [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ “Black Peter.”
★☆☆☆☆ “The Second Stain.” [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ “The Three Students.”

It’s public domain, you can find it HERE.

Still missing, the BBC series.



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PERSONAL NOTE :
[1905] [455p] [Collection] [Recommendable] [Pompey the dog <3]
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★★★★☆ 1. A Study in Scarlet [3.5]
★★★☆☆ 2. The Sign of Four [2.5]
★★★☆☆ 3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
★★★★☆ 4. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes [3.5]
★★★★☆ 5. The Hound of the Baskervilles
★★★★☆ 6. The Return of Sherlock Holmes
★★★☆☆ 7. The Valley of Fear
★★★★☆ 8. His Last Bow [3.5]
★★★☆☆ 9. The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes [2.5]
★★★☆☆ 10. The Complete Sherlock Holmes

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¡Sherlock volvió!

Otra excelente colección por Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Increíble ver el legendario detective volver de la tierra de los muertos relativamente indemne. Una bolsa mixta, como siempre, pero con algunos hallazgos únicos que marcan la diferencia comparado con tantos otros cuentos similares anteriores. Una colección que rivaliza con #4 Las Memorias de Sherlock Holmes, igual de bueno; el último sólo ganando por los memorables personajes nuevos, que lamentablemente esta no tuvo.

Ir por lo Mejor, considerar lo Bueno, loquesea lo Meh.

Lo Mejor :
★★★★★ "La casa deshabitada."
★★★★☆ “Charles Augustus Milverton." [4.5]
★★★★☆ "El tres cuartos desaparecido." [4.5]
★★★★☆ "El ciclista solitario." [4.5]
★★★★☆ "La granja Abbey."
★★★★☆ "Las gafas de oro."

Lo Bueno :
★★★☆☆ "El colegio Priory." [3.5]
★★★☆☆ "Los bailarines."
★★★☆☆ "Los seis napoleones." [2.5]

Lo Meh :
★★☆☆☆ "El constructor de Norwood." [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ "La aventura del negro Peter."
★☆☆☆☆ "La segunda mancha." [1.5]
★☆☆☆☆ "Los tres estudiantes."

Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.

Queda pendiente, la serie de BBC.



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NOTA PERSONAL :
[1905] [455p] [Colección] [Recomendable] [Pompeyo el perro <3]
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[Steven Medina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es muy diferente escribir por placer que por obligación.

En realidad 3,4

Para nadie es un secreto que Arthur Conan Doyle estaba harto de Sherlock Holmes. Su creación, se convirtió en un problema porque controlarlo se hacía cada vez más difícil y porque usar este personaje lo forzaba a escribir novelas policiacas, genero con el que Arthur se sentía inconforme. En ese tiempo, este género era calificado como literatura barata, por lo que para él, Sherlock Holmes no representaba su mejor literatura. Por ello, la mejor solución para liberarse de su personaje era matarlo. Tras hacerlo en el relato “El problema final”, sus seguidores lo presionaron, amenazaron y criticaron tanto por su decisión, que se sintió forzado a revivirlo. En el primer relato de esta recopilación “La casa vacía”, se explica todos los detalles del método que uso Arthur para realizar la milagrosa resurrección.

Hasta aquí toda va bien. El problema, comienza cuando empezamos a sentir el desagrado de Arthur por escribir algo por obligación, por lo que en algunos relatos, específicamente en cinco, encontraremos historias con argumentos planos, sin emoción y que no transmiten absolutamente nada. Evidentemente tienen detalles destacables, pero en comparación con los demás relatos poseen un nivel bajo.

Los trece relatos que encontraremos aquí son más extensos que los anteriores y tienen la particularidad de ser casos confidenciales, así lo declara Watson al inicio de cada uno de ellos. Sin embargo, Sherlock le da permiso para que pueda publicarlos, cuando él considera que no hay peligro de afectar a los implicados de la historia mediante su revelación. Asimismo, en esta recopilación será presentado Stanley Hopkins, un inspector que según Sherlock sigue sus métodos y tiene un talento y habilidad que lo pueden llevar a ser un gran especialista en su área, pero no los quiero engañar, ese personaje es un completo fracaso. Lo único bueno de Hopkins, es que su presencia y su mediocre habilidad, nos ayuda a recordar que Sherlock solo hay uno.

Sin más preámbulo, y como he venido haciendo en mis anteriores reseñas de Sherlock Holmes, a continuación se encuentra la calificación individual de cada relato, acompañado de la moraleja que me ha dejado cada historia.

1. La casa vacía 5/5 ⭐️
Sinopsis: Se presenta el inexplicable asesinato de Ronald Adair. Watson se acerca a la escena del crimen para observar lo ocurrido.
Opinión: Excelente. Aunque debería ser un aspecto negativo que la sinopsis, solo sirva de fachada para el verdadero centro de la historia que es la reaparición de Sherlock Holmes, creo que con las estrategias de Sherlock y el comportamiento gracioso y de asombro de Watson, es más que suficiente para excusar la publicidad engañosa que nos ofrecen en este relato. Historia para disfrutarla de inicio a fin.
Moraleja: Todas las historias pueden ser alteradas con una simple palabra, de tal manera que lo que hoy parece definitivo, mañana puede sufrir una alteración.

2. El constructor de Norwood 5/5 ⭐️
Sinopsis: John McFarlane visita a Sherlock para que lo ayude, ya que es sospechoso de un crimen del que dice ser inocente.
Opinión: Uno de mis relatos favoritos. Esta historia podría resumirse como ¿John McFarlane es inocente?, ¿es culpable? A pesar de lo simple que parece, es un caso muy interesante con una gran dificultad para resolver y con una sana competencia entre Lestrade y Sherlock para determinar quién tiene la razón. El final no me lo esperaba y quedé muy satisfecho con ese rompecabezas muy bien creado y hasta con los comentarios graciosos de Sherlock que de vez en cuando decía.
Moraleja: Déjate guiar por tu intuición a pesar de que parezca que no tienes razón.

3. Los muñecos danzantes 3/5 ⭐️
Sinopsis: Hilton Cubitt busca a Sherlock porque está preocupado por el extraño comportamiento de su esposa.
Opinión: Un relato predecible a pesar de las pocas pistas que se presentan, y donde lo más destacado es la capacidad de deducción de Sherlock, dejando impresionado tanto al inspector Martin en la resolución del caso, como a Watson en el mismísimo inicio. Sin embargo, siempre es un placer disfrutar del método deductivo de Sherlock Holmes.
Moraleja: Por más que intentemos sepultar nuestro pasado, en algún momento tendremos que enfrentarlo.

4. La aventura de la ciclista solitaria 1/5 ⭐️
Sinopsis: La señorita Victoria Smith siente que la están persiguiendo en su camino al trabajo y por ello acude a Sherlock para que la ayude con sus preocupaciones.
Opinión: Relato aburrido y sin emociones porque nunca existió un verdadero misterio, se resuelve todo de forma sencilla y es demasiado irreal. Por este tipo de relatos es que menciono al inicio de la reseña, que no es lo mismo escribir por placer que por obligación.
Moraleja: La creatividad que la mente humana puede tener para lograr sus objetivos es infinita.

5. La aventura del colegio Priory 4/5 ⭐️
Sinopsis: El profesor Huxtable visita a Sherlock Holmes por la desaparición de su estudiante Lord Saltire de diez años, que es hijo del duque de Holdernesse.
Opinión: Muy interesante. En este relato sí encontramos al Sherlock atrevido que conocemos. Un Sherlock que se fija en los pequeños detalles, que usa su descarada forma de hablar para desenmascarar al culpable y que con su gran habilidad para interrogar nos deja cautivados y con una sonrisa mordaz en el rostro. También destaco la gran habilidad de engañar y borrar huellas por parte del culpable. Gran relato.
Moraleja: Fíjate en los pequeños detalles; quizás haciéndolo, tendrás más posibilidades de solucionar tus problemas.

6. La aventura de Peter el Negro 3/5 ⭐️
Sinopsis: El inspector Hopkins está confundido por el asesinato de Peter el Negro y por ello requiere del servicio de Sherlock Holmes.
Opinión: Relato con segmentos similares a otros presentados por el autor que lo vuelve previsible en muchos momentos. Notaremos que Hopkins es un completo fracaso como inspector y que no hay fundamentos para que Sherlock tenga esperanzas en él. Otro punto negativo de este relato es que los sospechosos cuentan la verdad demasiado fácil por lo que la participación de la deducción de Holmes es casi nula.
Moraleja: Sin el uso de la lógica, resolver un problema se puede volver imposible.

7. La aventura de Charles Augustus Milverton 5/5 ⭐️
Sinopsis: Sherlock y Watson reciben una carta del chantajista Charles Augustus Milverton, con el que negociarán para evitar el escándalo de Eva Brackwell.
Opinión: Excelente. Este es uno de esos relatos que releería decenas de veces y no me cansaría nunca. Aquí conoceremos como sería Sherlock en caso de ser un ladrón y déjenme decirles que esa faceta me encantó. Verlo emocionado con su kit profesional de ladrón, intentando abrir una caja fuerte como si fuera un juguete fue algo muy gracioso y fenomenal. Además, ese cinismo y ese atrevimiento de incluso ser capaz de comprometerse en matrimonio solo para resolver un caso es algo increíble. Sherlock es un maldito genio.
Moraleja: ¿Qué riesgos estamos dispuestos a afrontar para conseguir nuestros objetivos?

8. Los seis napoleones 2/5 ⭐️
Sinopsis: De una casual visita que Lestrade hace en Baker Street, empieza una investigación para averiguar quién está destruyendo unas cerámicas baratas relacionadas a Napoleón.
Opinión: A pesar de la calificación, debo reconocer que la forma como se presentan los interrogatorios en este relato me pareció muy interesante, pero con el inconveniente de la alta similitud con el relato del Carbunclo Azul, que causa que desde el inicio ya conozcamos el final; sin embargo, la idea en general es aceptable.
Moraleja: Si alguien te quiere comprar algo insignificante por mucho dinero, contrólate y piensa antes de hacerlo. Quizás ese objeto, tenga más valor de lo que te imaginas.

9. Los tres estudiantes. 2/5 ⭐️
Sinopsis: Hilton Soames, profesor de una universidad, sospecha que alguno de los candidatos para una beca, ha entrado en su estudio a copiar las respuestas del examen que iban a presentar. Por ello, busca con urgencia a Sherlock Holmes.
Opinión: Tanto la narración como la especulación por conocer el culpable están muy bien trabajadas en este relato. El problema, es que tras leer muchos relatos de este personaje, llegamos al punto de conocer exactamente como Arthur Conan manejará los hilos en la historia; de esa manera, es sencillo deducir que el más sospechoso es inocente y viceversa. Omitiendo ese detalle, el caso es muy interesante y Sherlock lo resuelve con maestría como siempre.
Moraleja: Las tentaciones se nos presentan en el momento menos esperado.

10. Los lentes de oro. 4/5⭐️
Sinopsis: Nuevamente Hopkins está atrapado en un caso y necesita de la ayuda de Sherlock Holmes por lo que lo busca en Baker Street.
Opinión: Genial relato. Detalles como incluir un plano del lugar del crimen, describir una persona con tan solo unos lentes y el toque arrogante de Holmes, hacen de este caso uno muy especial para leer y disfrutar. El desenlace fue inesperado para mí y me divertí tras las explicaciones finales de Sherlock, porque mientras el inspector Hopkins queda atónito ante cada palabra, Watson sin ningún problema comprende sus argumentos y asiente sin inmutarse.
Moraleja: El descarte es una gran herramienta que no podemos ignorar al momento de resolver un problema.

11. El delantero desaparecido 5/5 ⭐️
Sinopsis: Cyril Overton, capitán de equipo de rugby de la Universidad de Cambridge, visita a Sherlock preocupado porque su jugador estrella ha desaparecido antes de un juego importante para ellos.
Opinión: No es frecuente terminar triste después de leer a Sherlock Holmes pero esta vez sí ha ocurrido. Un relato que nos presentará a Leslie Armstrong, un doctor que según Sherlock tiene la misma inteligencia del profesor Moriarty. Lo mejor es que no es una exageración, las estrategias de Leslie para escapar de Sherlock son muy buenas y es capaz de predecir cada uno de los movimientos y trampas que nuestro querido detective le deja por el camino. También, disfrutaremos de la recursividad de Sherlock para resolver un problema que parecía imposible. Simplemente excelente.
Moraleja: ¿Qué es lo más importante en tu vida?

12. Abbey Grange 2/5 ⭐️
Sinopsis: Sir Eustace ha muerto y nuevamente el inspector Hopkins pide ayuda a Sherlock porque él no puede aclarar los hechos.
Opinión: Un caso más el cual tiene similitudes con otros relatos anteriores. En este relato fue donde definitivamente entendí, que Hopkins es un completo inepto y que por ninguna parte tiene cualidades de detective: Se deja engañar fácilmente, se frustra permanentemente, es imprudente e incluso es pésimo razonando y usando la lógica. En cuanto al asesinato estuvo bien la explicación y el desarrollo, pero nuevamente fue predecible.
Moraleja: Por amor somos capaces de todo, hasta de asesinar.

13. La segunda mancha 4/5 ⭐️
Sinopsis: Una carta que podría causar una guerra ha desaparecido y por ello Lord Bellinger y el ministro Trelawney, le encargan la tarea de encontrarla a Sherlock Holmes.
Opinión: Como era de esperar, el último relato del libro fue muy bueno. Aunque todos los casos donde Sherlock participa son importantes, en este la responsabilidad es tan grande, que de su eficiencia en encontrar una carta dependerá que se lleve a cabo una guerra entre dos naciones. Lo curioso, es que para Sherlock está presión no existe y sigue tomándose todo con esa tranquilidad que lo caracteriza siempre. Lo mejor sin ninguna duda es la forma como Holmes manipula a todos los personajes y también el uso de una doble historia para explicar los acontecimientos. He quedado sorprendido con la revelación de Watson, donde afirma que Sherlock se ha retirado y se ha dedicado a la apicultura. Eso no me lo esperaba.
Moraleja: Confunde y vencerás.

Y bien, eso ha sido todo. He disfrutado la compañía de Sherlock y Watson en estos relatos y espero seguir haciéndolo cuando lea El valle del terror, mi próximo destino.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe I've read all the Sherlock Holmes's stories now. This series includes a few gems and overall is very good. I love Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and their interactions; although I think Watson puts up with quite a lot of condescending statements from the genius of crime solving.

Some of my favorites are ones I've read over and over, like "The Beeches" and "The Speckled Band" which are his earlier ones and are not in this collection which take place after Sherlock Holmes's return to life.

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will complete my thoughts tomorrow

As with other collections of short stories, I am now giving a quick update on all the stories, so ....
The Empty House
The wonderfully dramatic return of Sherlock and the capture of Moriarty's right hand man

The Norwood Builder
A man with a grudge tries to frame the son of the woman who spurned him. Sherlock flushes him out of hiding literally

The Dancing Men
One of my favourite short stories involving childish stick figures that convey messages to a woman who thought her past was behind her.

The Solitary Cyclist
Working as a tutor at a house in the country entails Miss Violet Smith cycling alone across a moorland twice a week, but who is the man with a beard following her, and what has happened to the odious Mr Woodley.

The Priory School
The Duke of Holdernesse's son goes missing from his school but was followed by a German master on a bicycle, can this be true. Holmes plays bloodhound following tracks across the heathland but is too late to prevent a fatality.

Black Peter
Holmes spends a day stabbing a pig with a harpoon, whilst Inspector Hopkins investigates the murder of the terror, that is Black Peter. First suspect is the son of a disgraced banker, is he lying or was Black Peter already dead.

Charles Augustus Milverton
Holmes is called in to be the intermediary in a blackmail scam with the odious Charles Augustus Milverton . Unable to secure the documents in question, Holmes resorts to plan B, but all doesn't go to plan.

The Six Napoleons
Lestrade starts Holmes on what appears to be a criminal fixated on Napoleon. What does this person have against the Emperor. However what starts as a joke soon turns serious with a murder thrown in.

The Three Students
Temporarily residing in one of Englands great University towns (hmm, I wonder which one), Holmes is called in when a professor realises the exam paper he has set, has been read by one of the students.

The Golden Pince-Nez
During a wild tempestuous November night in 1894, Inspector Hopkins braves the weather to call on Holmes and Watson. Professor Coran's assistant has been murdered at Yoxley Old Place, but not before imparting his dying words of "the Professor, it was she".

The Missing Three-Quarter
The captain of the Cambridge University Rugby team calls on Holmes when his star player goes missing just days before the Varsity match. Holmes is soon on the trail but has he met his match.

The Abbey Grange
Watson is awakened early one Winter morning in 1897 and thanks to Holmes is on his way to Kent even before the dawn. Insp Hopkins needs their help in particularly nasty murder, but he solves it before they arrive, or has he ?

The Second Stain
And so Watson relates the very last story of his good friend and companion, Sherlock Holmes. Well Sir ACD tried again to make it Holmes' last story, but we know again that didn't work.
In this story Holmes is approached by senior members of the government in yet another missing document story. Only 3 people could handle a stolen document of such import and coincidentally one of them is killed shortly after. But where is the document ? And why has the rug been moved ?

A truly wonderful collection that demonstrates that Sir ACD, really is a (the ?) master of the short story

[Saadia B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most interesting part of the book is when Sherlock Holmes returns; the emotional connection shared by Dr. Watson is not only moving but also praiseworthy. Shows how their friendship and value for one another have grown enormously throughout the years.

Coming back to the stories, I found them less suspicious and attention-grabbing in nature this time. Though Holmes was as always the best in solving them. But I strongly believe that the collection could have been better. Hence I have given it four stars rather than the usual five stars.

Best line: "Every problem becomes childish when explained" - Sherlock Holmes

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[Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note, April 7, 2023: When I read short story collections intermittently over a long period of time, my reactions are similarly written piecemeal, while they're fresh in my mind. That gives the reviews a choppy, and often repetitive, quality. I'm now trying to go back and edit some of those done in the past, to condense and rearrange them into unified wholes. Accordingly, I've now edited this one.

I suspect that I read this collection, and some of the other Holmes collections in addition to the first as well, as a kid, since here I had the experience (not for the first time, in reading these books!) of recognizing a passage of dialogue I'd read before. I definitely recall that my reading of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, back in the mists of childhood, set me to hunting up and reading every Sherlock Holmes book I could find. Only the titles of the first collection and the four novels stayed in my memory; but given my tendency to forget title information for books I read in those days, it's quite likely I read all, or at least much more, of the canon at that age than I specifically remembered!

Collecting 13 Sherlock Holmes tales which originally appeared in The Strand magazine from Oct. 1903 to Jan. 1905, and published in book form in 1905, this is the third of Doyle's five story collections featuring Holmes, the second one being The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Indeed, the lead story here, "The Adventure of the Empty House," is essentially a sequel to the last story in the previous collection, "The Adventure of the Final Problem." (In all of these collections, the arrangement of the stories is apparently in the order they were written.) The former story is one of two here that I definitely remembered already reading; the other is "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton," which is one of my favorite stories in the Holmes canon, though hard to discuss without a spoiler. (It was adapted for the PBS Mystery! TV series, starring Jeremy Brett, as "The Master Blackmailer;" I can recommend that version, but it does flesh out the original with significant added material.)

I would say that stylistically, the stories here are typical of the Holmes corpus --which is to say, very readable, flowing well, with appropriate levels of description and character development, posing challenging intellectual puzzles that call forth satisfying displays of deduction, often with atmospheric and Gothic touches, and with inherent emotional impact and sometimes thought-provoking situations. Holmes' character dominates the book, and he's definitely one of the genre's most individual and memorable sleuths. (One reviewer did mention a "a heavy reliance on 'someone's past comes back to haunt them'" and I'd agree that this is a theme that crops up in several Holmes stories, here and elsewhere.)

I guessed the main outlines of the solution in "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder," "The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist," and "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons," but it was still fun to see Holmes demonstrate and prove it, and the stories held some definite surprises nonetheless. "The Adventure of the Priory School" and "The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez" (which has two of Doyle's more memorable characters), were more stories where I'd seen the adaptation on PBS' Mystery!, so again I knew the basic solution; but the stories differed from the adaptation in some particulars, and I'd forgotten others, so they weren't spoiled reads on that account. Other mysteries were more difficult to resolve until the denouement, though in a couple of cases I'd formed a basic theory along the way which was correct as far as it went.

"The Adventure of the Dancing Men" allowed Holmes to demonstrate his code-breaking skills to advantage. In the missing-person story, "The Adventure of the Missing Three Quarter," the title comes from the terminology of the British sport of cricket --a world as new to Holmes as to me. :-) Both "The Adventure of Black Peter," (featuring the demise of a generally despised retired sea captain, his body found pinned to a wall with one of his own harpoons) and "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange" are among Holmes' grislier murder cases. But the latter was one of my favorite stories here --though its grisliness wasn't the reason I liked it! That one is marred in one place by a character's use of "white man" as a complimentary term synonymous with "man of personal integrity," which is obviously racist; but Doyle is simply reproducing there the kind of speech that a character with these characteristics and background might well have used in that era. (The same usage rears its head, for instance, in John Buchan's The 39 Steps, which dates from the same period.) One story in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes actually makes a very good statement about racial issues and is refreshingly free of the usual British racism of that day; to avoid a "spoiler," I won't identify the story, but it probably reflects the author's own attitudes more reliably than a casual comment put in the mouth of a character who appears once.

"The Adventure of the Second Stain" takes Holmes and Watson, once again, into the world of high stakes international espionage. My main take-away from "The Adventure of the Three Students" is that it reflects a mind-set of English (and probably American as well) college students in an era that still saw academic cheating as something beneath an honorable person --and indeed, still felt that a person could be honorable, and that this would actually be a good thing. (Attitudes have changed today, and not for the better; but having read this soon after being present for the signing, at the start of another school year, of the Bluefield College Honor Code by the incoming freshmen, I'm glad that I'm serving an institution that chooses to go against the grain in that respect!)

Like The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, I read this collection (this time, at least) as part of the omnibus volume The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes, which reproduces all of the illustrations of the stories done by Sidney Paget when they were first published in The Strand. These enhance the read, IMO (kids aren't the only readers who can enjoy illustrations; we adults do, too! :-) )

[Велислав Върбанов · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

„Долината на ужаса“ е много силна и мрачна криминална история! Това е последният роман за легендарните образи Холмс и Уотсън. Той се състои от две впечатляващи сюжетни линии, като в първата проследяваме разследването на Холмс на абсолютно мистериозно убийство, а пък във втората научаваме какви събития са се случили в САЩ 20 години по-рано в САЩ в страховито тайно общество от убийци...




„Накрая той запали лулата си, разположи се уютно край огнището на селската странноприемница и започна да говори бавно и откъслечно за разследвания случай, по-скоро сякаш разсъждаваше на глас, вместо да излага обмисленото си мнение.
– Това, което ни посрещна още от прага, Уотсън, е една лъжа. Огромна, явна, очевидна, нахална, безспорна лъжа! Тя е отправната ни точка. Цялата история, разказана от Баркър, е лъжа. Но историята на Баркър се потвърждава и от госпожа Дъглас. Следователно и двамата са се наговорили да лъжат. Така че сега въпросът се изяснява. Защо лъжат, каква е истината, която толкова се мъчат да скрият? Нека се опитаме, Уотсън, нека вие и аз се опитаме да надникнем зад лъжата и да възстановим истината...“

[Steven Walle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great collection of thirteen Sherlock Holmes detective stories. These occur after Sherlock supposibley dies in the last collection. The author was under a lot of pressure to revive Sherlock Holmes and masterfully does in this volume.
Enjoy and Be Blessed.
Diamond

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would probably have been better if I had spaced these out instead of reading one right after the other. That bit at the crater, had me shaking my head at Preston and Child. Must be a kind of complement or loving homage.

[Wee Lassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellentlt written collection of stories, but that's to be expected from Arthur Conan Doyle. Not quite up to the standard of some of his earlier Sherlock stories, but I freely admit that could just be a personal prefference.

[Piyangie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sherlock Holmes is back! This indeed is a happy development. I knew he was immortal. :)

With his return, Sherlock Holmes brings to us (through Dr. Watson's chronicles of course) thirteen interesting adventures of his where, as always, his brilliant analytical mind, somewhat supernatural faculties, and his power of deduction are demonstrated to his great advantage. This is the third collection of short stories I've read of Sherlock Holmes's adventures and it is the most interesting one to me. Except for a couple, all the others were generously rated between four and five stars.

The Adventure of the Empty House - 5 stars,
The Adventure of the Norwood Builder - 5 stars,
The Adventure of the Dancing Men - 5 stars,
The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist - 5 stars,
The Adventure of the Six Napoleons - 5 stars,
The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter - 5 stars,
The Adventure of the Abbey Grange - 5 stars,
The Adventure of the Priory School - 4 stars,
The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton - 4 stars,
The Adventure of the Three Students - 4 stars,
The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez - 4 stars,
The Adventure of the Second Stain - 3 stars and
The Adventure of Black Peter - 3 stars.

The eccentricity and arrogance were two marked characteristics of Sherlock Holmes. They were all the more marked in these stories, especially his arrogance. I wasn't pleased when his arrogance was directed towards Dr. Watson, but like the doctor, I also couldn't keep my annoyance for too long. The only complaint I have regarding this collection is Dr. Watson being reduced to a mere chronicler and a secretary. I wish the author had assigned a more useful role to the worthy doctor.

I'm glad that Conan Doyle bowed down to the popular opinion and decided to continue the series long after his decision to end of the series with The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes . We readers otherwise would have been deprived of some of the best adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

[Alaska Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

sherlock es el ser más ingenioso, sassy, divertido, leal, enérgico y maravilloso que mis ojos jamas hayan tenido el placer de leer y me hace genuina ilusión haberlo encontrado en este momento de mi vida.

[Kenchiin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quality varies among the different short stories, but overall... a pleasure to read.

[Alina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed these stories with Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson, almost all were very interesting.

[Aishu Rehman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Return of Sherlock Holmes collects thirteen short stories featuring the famous detective, all supposedly written and published by John Watson, his best friend, roommate, and confidante. (With a disappearing wife.) After the events of “The Adventure of the Final Problem”, Holmes returns, in dramatic fashion, and the two set out to solve crimes all over London, from theft to blackmail to international espionage.

While I have plenty more to say about the “I Believe in Sherlock” movement (I may have participated?), I’ll just say here that it amazes and humbles me that Holmes’ “death” has always affected fans to the point of action. And I was wondering how Doyle would actually bring him back. “The Adventure of the Empty House” does not disappoint. While the stories are ultimately adventure pieces, Holmes and Watson’s reunion is actually touching and the two do communicate how much they mean to each other—in fact, Holmes underestimated the affect his disappearance would have on Watson. They fall back into their familiar rhythm over the course of the story; they’re even a little handsy with each other as they readjust. I mean, more than usual. And at the end, all returns to status quo. (Holmes buys Watson’s practice in a roundabout manner and Mary seems to have vanished into thin air, so now they’re just living solely on Holmes’ paycheck, I assume. Oh, boys.)

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

***The Summer of Sherlock 2019***

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle may have been reluctant to raise Sherlock Holmes from the dead, but he certainly provided some entertaining stories after his sudden return.

I confess that I was quite chuffed when I had figured out what was going on in The Adventure of the Six Napoleons before the great detective was ready to reveal the motivation of the criminal. And I still have some nagging memories concerning The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton, as I am sure that I have previously encountered this plotline and I cannot remember where! Most likely in a more recent book in which someone has borrowed from the master, but I am being driven mad because I cannot recall the source.

I am so glad that Doyle brought Holmes back if only because we got The Adventure of the Dancing Men out of the deal. What an excellent story of code-breaking and villain-catching!

I hold the author to blame, however, for the idea that men should be cold, intellectual, and detached from society. I think that our society would be much better if more men aspired to be John Watson, rather than Sherlock Holmes!

[°°°·.°·..·°¯°·._.· ʜᴇʟᴇɴ Ροζουλί Εωσφόρος ·._.·°¯°·.·° .·°°° ★·.·´¯`·.·★ Ⓥⓔⓡⓝⓤⓢ Ⓟⓞⓡⓣⓘⓣⓞⓡ Ⓐⓡⓒⓐⓝⓤⓢ Ταμετούρο Αμ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Όταν η μαγεία του κλασικού συναντάει την ψυχολογία της αναγνωστικής απόλαυσης.





Καλή ανάγνωση.
Πολλούς και σεμνούς ασπασμούς.

[Isa Cantos (Crónicas de una Merodeadora) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Calificación: 2.84★

The adventure of the empty house ★★★
The adventure of the Norwood builder ★★★
The adventure of the dancing men ★★★
The adventure of the solitary cyclist ★★★
The adventure of the Priory School★★
The adventure of Black Peter★★★
The adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton★★★★
The adventure of the six Napoleons★★★★
The adventure of the three students ★★
The adventure of the golden pince-nez★★★
The adventure of the missing three-quarter★
The adventure of the Abbey Grange★★★★
The adventure of the second stain★★

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know now why this collection of 13 short stories is called “The Return..” In the last story of “Memoirs” entitled The Final Problem, Watson says that Holmes has retired and will no longer publish new stories. Now in real life, between that story which was published in 1893 and 1903, the period called by Sherlock fans as “The Great Hiatus,” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle only wrote his third novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles (said to be his greatest novel). So, while writing the first story of the collection, Doyle was in full hope that the interest in his characters, Holmes and Watson, would be revived. I actually rested for few days in between reading the two collections and I would say that on the 6th day, I felt that I was missing Sherlock Holmes so I returned to my daily reading and finished this book in 4 days including two heavy weekend reading days:

The Adventure of the Empty House tells that Holmes has survived the fall from the Reinchenbach Falls with his archenemy Professor Mortiary. However, one of Mortiary’s confederates, Moran, knows about this so Holmes hides for three years and comes back in disguise. Watson, now a widower, recognizes him and so they are both back to resolving crimes in London. Their first assignment is the murder of Ronald Adair in Park Lane and the culprit is no other than his card playmate, who is but Moran. Very enjoyable after almost a week of not reading Sherlock Holmes. My friend is correct in advising me of not reading this canon without letup. Holmes almost convinced me went abroad to see the Dalai Lama! – 4 STARS

The Adventure of the Norwood Builder is about Oldacre who wants to start a new life so he fakes his murder and sets up the son of the woman who has ditched him. Holmes does the unorthodox solution: fakes a fire and let the 3 cohorts to shout “Fire!” Oldacre comes out from the hiding. Also enjoyable but I could not believe that Oldacre did not know that the fire was staged. - 3 STARS

The Adventure of the Dancing Men is about the death of a couple, American lady called Elsie and the British guy called Cubitt. Prior to their deaths, the images of the 15 Dancing Men mysteriously appear in their house. Although I loved the idea, I just can’t imagine how the ditched American lover was able to draw them on the wall without being caught. Oh, also what happened to the fingerprints on the guns used? - 2 STARS

The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist Violet is seeing a man on a bicycle following her. It seems to have something to do with the uncle who contacts Carruthers and Woodley to ensure the well-being of Violet and her mother. Quite ordinary. I thought it would have been more interesting if the love story is highlighted more. But then this is Sherlock Holmes and not Nicholas Sparks. - 2 STARS

The Adventure of the Priory School Lord Saltire is missing from Priory School. Apparently, he leaves the school and is chased by Heidegger, the school’s master. The boy is reported to be unhappy at home and it is assumed to be the reason. Holmes and Watson deduced by first looking at the cow’s tracks and noticing that one of the bicycles has a patch. I liked this one because it has a second set of characters that come out during the deduction part that I did not expect coming. - 3 STARS

The Adventure of Black Peter A whaler father is found dead, murdered in his store. His family is happy because he, abusive to them, is finally out of their lives. Investigator Hopkins asks for help from Holmes and Watson. Holmes sees the initial on the cover of the diary in the crime scene and it leads him to the culprit. Seems ordinary to me. - 2 STARS

The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton The character of Charles Augustus Milverton is based on the life of Charles Augustus Howell (1840-1890) who persuaded the poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti to dig the up the poems he buried with his wife Elizabeth Siddal. He was said to have used those letters to bribe well-known personalities. Sir Conan Doyle used this true-to-life situation as a backdrop of this story. Here, Holmes is hired by a debutante Lady Eva Blackwell to retrieve compromising letters from a blackmailer, Milverton. Holmes disguises as a plumber, applies in the Blackwell mansion and get engaged with one of the maids. Conan Doyle has limitless imagination and can make Holmes do everything especially all these almost unbelievable disguises. - 4 STARS

The Adventure of the Six Napoleons The busts of Napoleon are being shattered night after night by an unknown person. Through the power of Holmes’ deduction he found out why. Direct storytelling. I thought it had something to do with British hating Napoleon, a French military commander and conquerer. Until the revelation. - 3 STARS

The Adventure of the Three Students Three students are suspected to have “prototype” of the exams that would qualify them for a big scholarship. The incident happens when the professor is out from his office. Holmes is consulted to do a mini-mini-minimo. I liked this because it is simple and brought back memories of classmates who were caught cheating during exams in school. Not that I did not think of committing similar acts! - 4 STARS

The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez The Golden Pince-Nez is a pair of eyeglasses that gets lost during an accident killing of Willoughby Smith, secretary to Professor Coram. Check the back of the bookcase. This story is short and quite uncomplicated compared to the other stories but I enjoyed it! - 3 STARS

The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter Very sad discovery where Staunton is. I thought that this story is sport-related until the ending. Quite surprisingly, I am liking the Holmes stories with light straightforward resolutions. - 3 STARS

The Adventure of the Abbey Grange An abusive husband, Sir Eustace Brackenstall is murdered while his wife for 18 months, Lady Brackenstall is tied on a post. The lady and her maid say that the culprit is a group of 3 burglars. The answer is obvious. I knew it! I was able to predict this one! - 2 STARS

The Adventure of the Second Stain A missing document from the dispatch box of the Secretary of State, Lord Bellinger. He believes that no one knows the importance of that document even his wife, Lady Bellinger. Then one of the spies hired by Holmes is killed. Tight plot. I did not see the ending coming but I again anticipated the marital problem. - 3 STARS

Now my reading of the short stories about Sherlock Holmes is becoming interesting. There is a formula: crime  initial investigation  seems lame/untrue  investigate  first clues  deduction  new characters/setting/real events  conclusion. So, while reading, I can tell where I am. Then if I can predict what happens in the last two stages, it makes me happy. The only thing that I should improve on is how to do deductions! I have not been able to think the way Holmes does! He is just too smart!

[Lorna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Return of Sherlock Holmes was another delightful anthology of short stories of some of the most famous cases solved by our beloved sleuth who possesses not only excellent deductive powers but a giant intellect having anatomy, chemistry, mathematics, British law, philosophy and literature at his command. I have been hooked on this series since finally reading the first story about Sherlock Holmes, A Study in Scarlet, and continuing to make my way through this amazing offering by Sir Conan Doyle.

A few of my favorite included The Adventure of the Empty House involving the murder of the Honourable Ronald Adair under most unusual and inexplicable circumstances. Another favorite was The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist, involving the case of Miss Violet Smith, the solitary cyclist of Charlington and the mysterious sequel of their investigation that culminated in an unexpected tragedy. Another favorite was The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, again summoned by Scotland Yard to assist in the mysterious cases of the metodical destruction of the remaining six busts of Napoleon. And one of my favorite when it came to the power of Holmes' deductive reasoning was The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez. Also not to be missed were the last two stories, The Adventure of the Abby Grange and The Adventure of the Second Stain.

It has been said that from the years 1894 to 1901 that Mr. Sherlock Holmes was a very busy man as there was no public case of any difficulty in which he was not consulted. But in the words of Holmes' friend, confidant, and chronicler of his stories, Dr. John Watson:

"I shall, however, preserve my former rule, and give preference to those cases which derive their interest not so much from the brutality of the crime as from the ingenuity and dramatic quality of the solution."

[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Return of Sherlock Holmes is yet another collection of short stories.

Sherlock Holmes is dead and Watson has lost both his best friend and also his wife. He isn't the same person he was before. But then he finds out that Sherlock Holmes is still alive, and things change for him.

This book started out a bit slow but it picked up pace as the book progressed. It is also a lot longer than the other Sherlock Holmes books that I have read. Overall, I enjoyed it but I didn't love it as much as I had loved other Sherlock Holmes books.

3.75 stars

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

After Doyle said he would no longer write about his famous consulting detective, one might reasonably expect the quality of his stories to go down after he returned to them (due to popular demand), but I didn’t find that the case (pun unintended). Yes, some of the elements are a bit overfamiliar by now, but fans expected those, and without them Holmes and Watson are not themselves.

The murders seem more violent (give the people what they want?), but the humorous dialogue (“…so you can put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mr. Busybody Holmes!” and “What did you do, Hopkins, after you made certain that you had made certain of nothing?”); and the nice descriptive writing (…ten miles of man’s handiwork on every side of us, to feel the iron grip of Nature…to the huge elemental forces all London was no more than the molehills that dot the fields.) are still present, along with something new—graphics (drawings mostly) provided to the readers so they can see what Sherlock sees.

At the end of this collection, Watson says Sherlock no longer wants his stories to be published now that he has retired to the country. He wants no more publicity and to be left in peace. Poor Doyle.

[Paul Secor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was either my 4th or 5th reading of these stories. Some were slightly far fetched, but Holmes and Watson are always worth five stars.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls · Rating 3 out of 5]

NOTE: Original review magically deleted by nefarious internet forces

The sixth installment of the Holmes series, and the third collection of short stories, tells of Holmes' survival from his apparent fate in The Adventure of the Final Problem. Doyle's writing style has noticably improved since the prior short story collection, and the plot ideas, which had grown quite stale, are generally more creative although there is still a heavy reliance on "someone's past comes back to haunt them."

The Adventure of the Empty House - 3/5 - explains Holmes' return but not much of a mystery to solve

The Adventure of the Norwood Builder - 3/5 - surprising twist to this murder

The Adventure of the Dancing Men - 4/5 - past comes back to haunt someone, but the code is fun and makes the old plot more tolerable

The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist - 4/5 - So look out for those beauties oh yeah

The Adventure of the Priory School - 4/5 - longer Holmes story with lots of work for Holmes and Watson to do

The Adventure of Black Peter - 3/5 - what's that you say? Someone's past has come back to haunt them?

The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton - 4/5 - Holmes and Watson on the other side of the law!

Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Six Napoleons - 4/5 - Not hard to figure out but fun nevertheless

The Adventure Of The Three Students - 4/5 - Holmes and Watson back to school

The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez - 3/5 - Someone's past comes back to...aw, you know the rest

The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter - 3/5 - *sigh*...would you believe it? Someone's past comes back to haunt them...

Adventure of the Abbey Grange - 4/5 - Case solved! Or is it...?

The Adventure of the Second Stain - 4/5 - there must have been a second stain, over there on the grassy knoll!

[Razvan Banciu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing more than average, but that's only my humble opinion. Sherlock has some (not too many... ) brilliant reasonings ant that's all.
On the other hand the stories are sometimes childish (particularly that with the bicyclist who tries to protect the lady), full of too convenient circumstances (two men have the same initials, someone intends to do a crime exactly the day, place and hour Holmes expects) or too obvious, like the story with the six Napoleons.
So, if you ask me, three out of five is a fair assessment.

[Hari Hara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic collection. Surely 5 out of 5

[Garima · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say, I am simply Sherlocked :)

[Tristram Shandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never Say Die, Watson!

In 1901 Arthur Conan Doyle heard about the legend of a ghostly hound haunting the marshes of Dartmoor, and he was so fascinated by this tale that he decided to turn it into a story about an old family curse. Originally, there was no talk of Sherlock Holmes in this context at first, but since it occurred to the writer that he would need the character of a detective in his tale to have the family mystery unravelled, Doyle made up his mind to reactivate Sherlock Holmes, a conclusion in which the prospect of increasing his royalty from the Strand Magazine might have had some little momentum. However, as readers knew – to their chagrin – Holmes had met the Grim Reaper in his final struggle with Professor Moriarty, and therefore Doyle set the story told in The Hound of the Baskervilles before the fatal duel between the master detective and the master scoundrel.

Some time later, though, Doyle gave in to further public demand for new Sherlock Holmes adventures, although before killing off his popular creation in the Reichenbach Falls he was sure that unless he killed Holmes, Holmes would sooner or later kill him. This time, however, it seemed impossible to have all the new cases take place before 1891, and so Doyle did something that is very familiar to watchers of modern soap operas: He undid the death of a character by retrospectively rewriting part of the story. As can be expected of Doyle, he was a little bit more imaginative than simply to claim that Watson had just dreamed Holmes’s death – a solution that would have laid itself open to troubling psychoanalytical interpretations, by the way –; instead, in the first story, The Empty House, we learn what really happened on that fateful day in Switzerland, and also why Holmes had chosen to pass for dead from 1891-94. Giving a credible account of how Holmes could have made his escape from the annoying scrape into which he was put by Moriarty, Doyle had to cheat a little bit by retrospectively altering decisive details given in Watson’s original account of the demise of Sherlock Holmes. All the same, he does it in a way that rather wrests an indulgent smile from his readers than make them bristle, for example here:

”’I stood up and examined the rocky wall behind me. In your picturesque account of the matter, which I read with great interest some months later, you assert that the wall was sheer. That was not literally true. A few small footholds presented themselves, and there was some indication of a ledge. […]’”

Probably, Watson, who might have used his years with Sherlock Holmes to hone his powers of observation, also overlooked the canopied moving stairs that lead from the ledge directly to a smokers’ lounge from which the detective was able to follow the aftermath of the Reichenbach Fall events? Be that as it may, Holmes and Watson are once again reunited and, since Watson’s wife Mary has deplorably died, or conveniently been abducted by aliens, or simply vanished into thin air – our narrator hardly thinks it worthwhile to let us in on that secret –, the two men take up lodgings once again at 221b Baker Street and embark on a series of adventures the first one of which is laying Moriarty’s right hand, Colonel Sebastian Moran, by the heels.

”’[…] We will see if my three years of absence have entirely taken away my power to surprise you.’”

Thus Holmes to Watson in the course of their emotion-laden first encounter after such a long spell of time, and yes! most of the new cases collected in The Return of Sherlock Holmes are highly entertaining and may well surprise the first-time reader, and it is from this collection, as well as from its two predecessors, that most film adaptations draw their material. There are some sparkling highlights among them, such as The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist or The Adventure of the Priory School, which are well-known to any one even slightly familiar with Sherlock Holmes. At times, however, Doyle also practises the art of recycling his old tricks as when, in The Adventure of the Norwood Builder, Holmes uses a controlled fire to solve his case, and what is good enough to baffle an extraordinary woman like Irene Adler will most certainly do its service to bring down a lesser criminal. The only thing that I found strange about this adventure is how the police could take charred rabbit bones for the remains of a human body – but if I remember correctly, Lestrade was on the case, and so again, it makes perfect sense. In one instance, namely The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, the parallel to an older case is so obvious – you surely remember the Christmas geese, don’t you? – that one may begin to fear that Doyle’s inventiveness was beginning to slacken, but these doubts are soon dispelled.

All in all, there are some very effective murder mysteries in this collection, my favourite being The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez, where Holmes gets a wonderful opportunity to show his skills of observation, deduction and, above all, setting traps. Other stories, like the one about Holmes’s encounter with the ruthless blackmailer Charles Augustus Milverton, an evil Mr. Pickwick, on the whole put our sleuth into the role of an observer. This story is remarkable nevertheless because it gives us a glimpse on the darker side of Sherlock Holmes – when, seeing the affair as ”a sporting duel between this fellow Milverton and [himself]”, he ruthlessly engages himself to Milverton’s maid in order to win her confidence and gain access into her master’s well-guarded house. Watson utters his qualms about Holmes’s procedure but is rebuffed in this way:

”’You can’t help it, my dear Watson. You must play your cards as best you can when such a stake is on the table. […]’”

Surely, such a degree of callous indifference to the feelings of a housemaid displays an unsettling streak of misogyny in Holmes’s character that should incur more censure from Watson. As usual, we also get a lot of hints at cases that didn’t find their way into Watson’s published collection but nevertheless have such an appetizing ring of mystery and oddness about them that we ardently wish someone would spread them before the public eye:

”In this memorable year ‘95, a curious and incongruous succession of cases had engaged his attention, ranging from his famous investigation of the sudden death of Cardinal Tosca — an inquiry which was carried out by him at the express desire of His Holiness the Pope — down to his arrest of Wilson, the notorious canary-trainer, which removed a plague-spot from the East End of London.”

Just imagine what kind of man Wilson, the notorious canary-trainer, might have been, and what the canaries could have been trained at – theft, burglary, impersonation of bigger birds like Christmas geese? Interestingly, Doyle seems to have thought that The Return of Sherlock Holmes should have been his very last foray into the exciting professional life of Sherlock Holmes, because at the beginning of the last story, The Adventure of the Second Stain, Watson tells us that Holmes has by now retired from his work and become a beekeeper on the Sussex Downs and that at his express wish, Watson is to abstain from publishing further cases from his career. Still, we need not despair because, as history would show, Holmes had not done with Doyle yet.

[Irena · Rating 5 out of 5]

The men and women of victorian England went about wearing black armbands in mourning the death of fictional Sherlock Holmes after ACD's last story collection, which was meant to be the last.
The following Hound of the Baskervilles was not a true SH story insomuch as it was Watson's story. The world needed another collection, apparently.
If you read all the Sherlock Homles story collections in order and in a quick succession like I did, you'll tire out somewhat and distinguishing them all becomes hard. However, this collection is consistently good, but the different stories are indistinguishable and forgetable (to me).
So read this if you simply enjoy SH.