All the Conan Doyle stories together – fantastic : Sherlock Holmes? What can one say about these stories that has not already been said? They provide a glimpse into London at the turn of the 19th century. <p> The ingenuity of the plots, the clever criminals, Holmes reasoning, Dr. Watsons amazement: these are all fascinating to read and experience. Holmes is part of English literature and worthwhile reading for anyone. What is even more fascinating is that for some plots, no crime was involved. <p> Yes, some stories involved interesting schemes without a murder or a theft. In one, Holmes even let a murderer go because he thought the crime was justified. Dr. Watson, never pictured in film as being a husband, marries one of the female characters in one of the stories. <p> Youve seen the more criminally sensational tales in film; but there is much more and their reading is even better. Even more interesting is that you will recognize many of Doyles plots in contemporary cinema. <p> This collection is a must have for anyones reading list, it contains: <p> Tales of Terror, The Horror of the Heights, The Leather Funnel, The New Catacomb, The Case of Lady Sannox, The Terror of Blue John Gap, The Brazilian Cat, Tales of Mystery, The Lost Special, The Beetle-Hunter, The Man with the Watches, The Japanned Box, The Black Doctor, The Jew?s Breastplate
Fans of the Sherlock Holmes series may be as surprised by the complete change of style that this novel represents for its author. Gone are the formulas, the formal language, the stilted dialogue, and the gamesmanship between author and reader that characterize the Holmes novels, however delightful and successful those may be as mysteries. Instead, we see Doyle letting his imagination run free in a sci-fi romp that is both fun and funny, and often thoughtful. Written in 1912, during an eight-year hiatus from his Sherlock Holmes novels, and six years after his last historical novel, The Lost World is the first of five works involving temperamental Professor Edward Challenger, a scientist investigating evolution and related subjects. <p> Challenger is a scientific outcast, vilified for his most recent paper, in which he claimed to have seen dinosaurs and pre-historic creatures in a remote area of South America, but which he refuses to locate on a map. Blaming the press for much of the controversy over his research, he despises reporters, and regularly assaults them. Young Ed Malone, a reporter looking for more excitement than he is getting on his regular beat, manages to make a connection with Challenger, after passing a test of his mettle. <p> Along with two other scientists, Elizabeth Summerlee and Lord John Roxton, they travel with Challenger to the mysterious plateau in Brazil where he claims to have seen extraordinary beasts believed dead for millions of years. Malones newspaper, which partially funded the expedition, expects him to send daily reports of his adventures by messenger back to civilization. These form much of the novels narrative. <p> The place where Challenger has made his discoveries, which the other scientists are soon able to verify, is at the base of a high plateau in the jungle which has protected it from intrusion by man. This self-contained universe has protected creatures that have become extinct elsewhere. The scientists often death-defying thrills–with canoes going over falls, shooting by headhunters, vengeance taken by one of the guides for past crimes, a war to the death between two separate, but related, species on the evolutionary tree, attacks by pre-historic creatures, and even a love story–make this novel non-stop fun to read. <p> Far more relaxed in style and more imaginative in content than the novels for which Doyle is now (justifiably) famous, The Lost World, written almost a hundred years ago, builds on our universal spirit of adventure and our never-ending fascination with dinosaurs and their behavior.
In this, the second Sherlock Holmes story written by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes is called upon by a young lady who needs the great detectives help with a mystery. However, when this mystery leads to murder, Holmes must seek to uncover secrets that have lain hidden for many years, and have their roots in treacheries upon treacheries in far-off India. Theres a one-legged man who is at the center of this mystery, and he has a murderous friend who may just be the end of Sherlock Holmes! <p> This is the second ever Sherlock Holmes story, written in 1890. As with the very best of the Holmes story, this one is absolutely gripping, carrying a fascinating story with mysteries wrapped up in mysteries that only Mr. Holmes can possibly conquer. As an added bonus, in this story, we get to learn about Dr. Watsons meeting of his true love, and his eventual marriage – which should end some rumors that people spread. <p> This is a great story, one that is sure to please any fan of mysteries, and is certain to delight any Sherlock Holmes fan!
We owe 1902s The Hound of the Baskervilles to Arthur Conan Doyles good friend Fletcher Bobbles Robinson, who took him to visit some scary English moors and prehistoric ruins, and told him marvelous local legends about escaped prisoners and a 17th-century aristocrat who fell afoul of the family dog. Doyle transmogrified the legend: generations ago, a hound of hell tore out the throat of devilish Hugo Baskerville on the moonlit moor. Poor, accursed Baskerville Hall now has another mysterious death: that of Sir Charles Baskerville. Could the culprit somehow be mixed up with secretive servant Barrymore, history-obsessed Dr. Frankland, butterfly-chasing Stapleton, or Selden, the Notting Hill murderer at large? Someones been signaling with candles from the mansions windows. Nor can supernatural forces be ruled out. Can Dr. Watson–left alone by Sherlock Holmes to sleuth in fear for much of the novel–save the next Baskerville, Sir Henry, from the hounds fangs? <p> Many Holmes fans prefer Doyles complete short stories, but their clockwork logic doesnt match the authors boast about this novel: its a real Creeper! What distinguishes this particular Hound is its fulfillment of Doyles great debt to Edgar Allan Poe–its full of ancient woe, low moans, a Grimpen Mire that sucks ponies to Dostoyevskian deaths, and locals digging up Neolithic skulls without next-of-kins consent. The longer one stays here the more does the spirit of the moor sink into ones soul, Watson realizes. Rank reeds and lush, slimy water-plants sent an odour of decay … while a false step plunged us more than once thigh-deep into the dark, quivering mire, which shook for yards in soft undulations around our feet … it was as if some malignant hand was tugging us down into those obscene depths. Read on–but, reader, watch your step!
From ?A Scandal in Bohemia,? in which Sherlock Holmes is famously outwitted by a woman, the captivating Irene Adler, to ?The Five Orange Pips,? in which the master detective is pitted against the Ku Klux Klan, to ?The Final Problem,? in which Holmes and his archenemy, Professor Moriarty, face each other in a showdown at the Reichenbach Falls, the stories that appear in The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes bear witness to the flowering of author Arthur Conan Doyle?s genius. ?The plain fact,? the celebrated mystery writer Vincent Starrett asserted, ?is that Sherlock Holmes is still a more commanding figure in the world than most of the warriors and statesmen in whose present existence we are invited to believe.?