This mystery written 1886 is a story that marks the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The book's title derives from a speech given by a speech given by Holmes, an amateur detective, to his friend and chronicler Watson on the nature of his work, in which he describes the story's murder investigation as his "study in scarlet": "There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, our duty is to unravel...

To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would...

'His Last Bow', the title story of this collection, tells how Sherlock Holmes is brought out of retirement to help the Government fight the German threat at the approach of the First World War. Several of the detective's earlier cases complete the volume, including 'Wisteria Lodge', 'The Bruce-Partington Plans', and 'The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax'. In 'The Dying Detective', Dr. Watson is horrified to discover Holmes at death's door from...

The second volume in a two-part set that comprises four novels and fifty-six short stories about the world's most popular and influential fictional detective: the eccentric, arrogant, and ingenious Sherlock Holmes. He and his trusted friend, Dr. Watson, venture out from their comfortable quarters at 221b Baker Street into the swirling fog of Victorian London to exercise a unique combination of detailed observation, vast knowledge, and brilliant deduction....

The world's most famous detective uses his celebrated skills of deduction in A Study in Scarlet, the tale that introduces Dr. John Watson. Recently discharged from the military, Watson takes a room with an amazing young man ? the arrogant crime expert, Sherlock Holmes. Their investigation of a bizarre crime proves to be an auspicious beginning for one of the most illustrious crime-solving partnerships of all time. The second tale, The Sign of Four,...