Born on 22 May 1859 in Edinburgh, SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE started writing stories as a student. With a repertoire of over thirty books, hundred and fifty short stories, essays, plays and poems, he earned the distinction of being one of the greatest short story writers ever, since Edgar Allan Poe. A master of all literary genres, his memorable creation is the invincible sleuth Sherlock Holmes whom the readers are introduced to in his first novel, A Study in Scarlet (1887). Such was the charisma of this Great Detective that when the author decided to kill Holmes in His Last Bow (1893), he was compelled to bring Holmes back after vociferous demands from readers. A two-volume com- pendium, Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels & Stories 1 comprises some of the significant adventures of the iconoclastic detective The Adventure of the Speckled Band, The Musgrave Ritual, A Scandal in Bohemia, and The Five Orange Pips among others. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes adds another dimension to this comprehensive collection. A war correspondent, a spiritualist, an athlete and a historian, the author was knighted for his contribution in a South African field hospital during the Boer War in 1902. He died on 7 July 1930 in Crowborough, Sussex.
Perhaps when a man has special knowledge and special powers like my own, it rather encourages him to seek a complex explanation when a simpler one is at hand. Presumed dead after plunging into the Reichenbach Falls with his archenemy Professor Moriarty, the sharp-witted detective Sherlock Holmes returns after a hiatus of three years. When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle killed off Holmes in ‘The Final Problem’, he came under intense pressure from fans to revive the beloved detective in a credulous way. Thus, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Holmes surprises his sidekick Doctor Watson with his return and exhibits the analytical skills and impeccable logic that continue to charm readers across time. Set in the period after Holmes’s “resurrection”, this collection has some of the most enchanting stories such as ‘The Adventure of the Norwood Builder’, ‘The Adventure of the Dancing Men’, and ‘The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist’, which have been adapted to film, television, and radio. A keepsake edition.
