I must say that I was pleasantly
surprised with my experience reading these tales. I knew absolutely
nothing about Sherlock Holmes going into reading this collection. At
first when I started reading, I was a little confused by the format,
having at first expected a novel. It didn't help that I was reading
on my Iphone and didn't have a sense at most points of how far into
the book I was. But the stories I was reading were pretty
interesting and what I loved most of all, surprising. Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle was clearly a clever writer who had a remarkable ability
to guide his reader through his stories at his own pace. He never
accidentally lets a clue slip so the reader can easily guess as to
who committed what crime and why. And considering the sheer amount
of these stories, it is remarkable that he was able to create such a
variety of scenarios with which to entertain the public.
Upon finishing this set of tales, I
wanted to find out which exactly of the Sherlock tales I had read so
far and how many others were left. I knew there were others, I had
heard of the Hound of Baskervilles but I wasn't sure of the amount of
additional titles. Now let me just say, clear and organized
information about Sherlock Holmes is not easy to come by. Which to
be fair to those who attempt to explain Sherlock Holmes, the problem
is most of the stories are short tales that were released over time
in a variety of publications that were then later complied into the
volumes with the titles most people are more familiar with. These
short stories were broken up with intermittent longer novels about
the great detective. From my own detective work this is the overall
breakdown and chronology of the tales:
Complete
Sherlock Holmes. (source
http://www.sherlockian.net/canon/index.html)
The
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
A
Scandal in Bohemia,
1891
The
Red-headed League,
1891
A
Case of Identity,
1891
The
Five Orange Pips,
1891
The
Blue Carbuncle,
1892
The
Speckled Band,
1892
The
Engineer's Thumb,
1892
The
Noble Bachelor,
1892
The
Beryl Coronet,
1892
The
Copper Beeches,
1892
The
Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Silver
Blaze,
1892
The
Yellow Face,
1893
The
Stock-broker's Clerk,
1893
The
'Gloria Scott',
1893
The
Musgrave Ritual,
1893
The
Reigate Squires,
1893
The
Crooked Man,
1893
The
Resident Patient,
1893
The
Greek Interpreter,
1893
The
Naval Treaty,
1893
The
Final Problem,
1893
The
Return of Sherlock Holmes
The
Empty House,
1903
The
Norwood Builder,
1903
The
Dancing Men,
1903
The
Solitary Cyclist,
1903
The
Priory School,
1904
Black
Peter,
1904
The
Six Napoleons,
1904
The
Three Students,
1904
The
Golden Pince-Nez,
1904
The
Abbey Grange,
1904
The
Second Stain,
1904
His
Last Bow
Wisteria
Lodge,
1908
The
Cardboard Box,
1893
The
Red Circle,
1911
The
Dying Detective,
1913
Lady
Frances Carfax,
1911
The
Devil's Foot,
1910
His
Last Bow,
1917
The
Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
The
Illustrious Client,
1924
The
Blanched Soldier,
1926
The
Mazarin Stone,
1921
The
Three Gables,
1926
The
Sussex Vampire,
1924
The
Three Garridebs,
1924
Thor
Bridge,
1922
The
Creeping Man,
1923
The
Lion's Mane,
1926
The
Veiled Lodger,
1927
Shoscombe
Old Place,
1927
The
Retired Colourman,
1926
