The Firm of Girdlestone

The Firm of Girdlestone is a novel by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was first published in 1890 by Chatto and Windus in London, England. In 1915 a silent film adaptation The Firm of Girdlestone was made. A 1958 BBC television adaptation The Firm of Girdlestone was also produced.

 

The Mystery of Cloomber

The Mystery of Cloomber is a novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The book is narrated by John Fothergill West, a Scottish man who has moved with his family from Edinburgh to Wigtownshire to care for the estate of his father's half-brother, William Farintosh. Near their residence—Branksome—is Cloomber Hall, which for many years has not had a tenant. After a little while it is settled in by John Berthier Heatherstone, a retiree from the British Indian Army. General Heatherstone is nervous to the point of being paranoid. As the story unfolds, it becomes evident that his fears are connected with some people in India whom he has offended somehow. People hear a strange sound, like the tolling of a bell, in his presence, which seems to cause general great discomfort. Every year his paranoia reaches its climax around the October 5, after which his fears subside for a while. 

   What dark deed from the past haunts Major Heatherstone? Why does he live like a hermit at Cloomber Hall, forbidding his children to venture beyond the estate grounds? Why is he plagued by the sound of a tolling bell, and why does his paranoia rise to frantic levels each year on October 5? With the sudden appearance of three shipwrecked Buddhist monks, the answers to these questions follow close behind.

     Arthur Conan Doyle's gothic thriller unfolds in his native Scotland, in a remote coastal village surrounded by dreary moors. The creator of "Sherlock Holmes" combines his skill at weaving tales of mystery with his deep fascination with spiritualism and the paranormal. First published in 1889, the novel offers a cautionary view of British colonialism in the form of a captivating story of murder and revenge.

The Lost World

The Lost World is a science fiction novel by British writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1912, concerning an expedition to a plateau in the Amazon basin of South America where prehistoric animals still survive. It was originally published serially in The Strand Magazine and illustrated by New-Zealand-born artist Harry Roundtree during the months of April-November 1912. The character of “Professor Challenger” was introduced in this book. The novel also describes a war between indigenous people and a vicious tribe of ape-like creatures.

The Valley of Fear

Serialised from September 1914-May 1915 in the Strand Magazine, The Valley of Fear, is the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This installment is based on the real life exploits of Molly Maguires and Pinkerton agent James McParland. It was published as a book in February 1915 in New York. 

    Holmes infiltrates an order of seedy participants. The order was supposedly destroyed years ago, but after many years, those who escaped judgment must answer for their mistakes.

     Providing any more information would lead any good reader astray or possibly spoil this intricate, historical, and fabulously written novel.

The Sign of Four

The Sign of the Four (1890), also called The Sign of Four, is the second novel featuring Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six stories starring the fictional detective.

    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described how he was commissioned to write the story over a dinner with Joseph M. Stoddart, managing editor of an American publication Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, at the Langham Hotel in London on August 30, 1889. Stoddart wanted to produce an English version of Lippincott’s with a British editor and British contributors. The dinner was also attended by Oscar Wilde, who eventually contributed The Picture of Dorian Gray to the July 1890 issue. Doyle discussed what he called this “golden evening” in his 1924 autobiography Memories and Adventures.

   The novel first appeared in the February 1890 edition of Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine as The Sign of the Four; or The Problem of the Sholtos (five-word title), appearing in both London and Philadelphia. The British edition of the magazine originally sold for a shilling, and the American for twenty-five cents. Surviving copies are now worth several thousand dollars.

A Study in Scarlet

A Study in Scarlet is an 1887 detective novel by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Written in 1886, the story marks the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who would become two of the most famous characters in popular fiction. The book’s title derives from 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.”

    The story, and its main characters, attracted little public interest when it first appeared. Only eleven complete copies of the magazine in which the story first appeared, Beeton’s Christmas Annual for 1887, are known to exist now, and they have considerable value. Although Conan Doyle wrote fifty-six short stories featuring Holmes, A Study in Scarlet is one of only four full-length novels in the original canon. The novel was followed by The Sign of the Four, published in 1890. A Study in Scarlet was the first work of detective fiction to incorporate the magnifying glass as an investigative tool.

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes is the final set of twelve (out of a total of fifty-six) Sherlock Holmes short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle first published in The Strand Magazine between October 1921-April 1927.

    The first British edition and the first American edition of the collection were both published in June 1927; however, they had slightly different titles: The title of the British collection was The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (hyphenated “Case-Book”), whereas the title of the American version was The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes (“Case Book” as two words). Further confusing the issue of the title, some later publishers published the collection under the title The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (“Casebook” as a single word).

His Last Bow

His Last Bow: Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of previously published Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, including the titular short story, His Last Bow: The War Service of Sherlock Holmes (1917). The collection’s first United States edition adjusts the anthology’s subtitle to "Some Later Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes." All editions contain a brief preface by “John H. Watson, M.D.,” assuring readers as of the date of publication (1917), and the fact Holmes is long retired from his profession of detective but is still alive and well, albeit suffering from a touch of rheumatism.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes

The Return of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of thirteen Sherlock Holmes stories originally published in 1903-1904 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories were published in The Strand Magazine in Great Britain, and Collier’s in the United States.

   The book was first published in February 1905 by McClure, Phillips & Co. (New York), then on March 7, 1905, by Georges Newnes, Ltd. (London). It was the first Holmes collection since 1893 when Holmes “died” in The Final Problem. Having published The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1901-1902 (setting it before Holmes’ death), Doyle came under intense pressure to revive his famous character.

    The first story is set in 1894 and has Holmes returning to London and explaining the period from 1891-94, a period called “The Great Hiatus” by Sherlockian enthusiasts. Also of note is Watson’s statement in the last story of the cycle that Holmes has retired, forbidding him to publish any more stories.

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories originally published in 1894 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The first London edition in 1894 did not include The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, although all twelve stories appeared in The Strand Magazine. The first United States edition included the story, but it was quickly replaced with a revised edition omitting it.

    The reasoning behind the suppression of the story is unclear. In Britain the story was apparently removed at Doyle’s request as it included adultery and so was unsuitable for younger readers. This may have also been the cause for the rapid removal of the story from the United States edition and some sources state the publishers believed the story was too scandalous for the American public.

    As a result this story was not republished in the United States until many years later, when it was added to His Last Bow. Even today most American editions of the canon include it with His Last Bow, while most British editions keep the story in its original place in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third crime novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialized in The Strand Magazine from August 1901-April 1902, it is set largely in Dartmoor in Devon in England’s West Country and tells the story of an attempted murder inspired by the legend of a fearsome, diabolical hound of supernatural origin. Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr. Watson investigate the case. This was the first appearance of Holmes since his apparent death in The Final Problem, and the success of The Hound of the Baskervilles led to the character’s eventual revival.

    In 2003 the book was listed as No. 128 of 200 on the BBC’s The Big Read poll of the United Kingdom’s “Best-Loved Novel.” In 1999 it was listed as the top Holmes novel with a perfect rating from Sherlockian scholars of 100.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of twelve short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. It was first published on October 14, 1892, although the individual stories were serialized in The Strand Magazine between June 1891-July 1892. The stories are not in chronological order, and the only characters common to all twelve are Holmes and Dr. Watson. The stories are related in first-person narrative from Watson’s point of view.

    In general the stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes identify, and try to correct, social injustices. Holmes is portrayed as offering a new, fairer sense of justice. The stories were well received and boosted the subscriptions figures of The Strand Magazine, prompting Doyle to demand more money for his next set of stories. The first story, A Scandal in Bohemia, includes the character of Irene Adler, who, despite being featured only within this one story by Doyle, is a prominent character in modern Sherlock Holmes adaptations, generally as a love interest for Holmes. Doyle included four of the twelve stories from this collection in his twelve favorite Sherlock Holmes stories, picking The Adventure of the Speckled Band as his overall favorite.