Publisher's Synopsis
The complete collection of Sherlock Holmes's adventures in crime, including all four novels featuring Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic hero. The Collection includes, ""A Study in Scarlet, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Sign of the Four & The Valley of Fear"". A Study in Scarlet is an 1887 detective novel written by Arthur Conan Doyle. The story marks the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who would become the most famous detective duo in popular fiction. When a postwar search for London lodgings introduces ailing doctor John H. Watson to quirky chemist Sherlock Holmes, their collaboration in the art of observation and deduction begins. Congenial flatmates and even better colleagues, the pair is quickly drawn into a case of murder and revenge that has Scotland Yard at their wits' end. Although Conan Doyle wrote 56 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 Sign of Four is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's second book starring legendary detective Sherlock Holmes. The story is complex, involving a secret between four ex-cons from India and a hidden treasure. More complex than the first Holmes novel, The Sign of Four also introduces the detective's drug habit and leaves breadcrumbs for the reader that lead toward the final resolution. The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of the four crime novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. It is set largely on 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. Gripping and iconic, the hound of the Baskervilles is one of the finest stories ever written. It has been adapted for film and television time and again. More than a century after its first publication, the novel continues to remain a spine-chilling classic. In 2003, the book was listed as number 128 of 200 on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's ""best-loved novel"". In 1999, it was listed as the top Holmes novel, with a perfect rating from Sherlockian scholars of 100. The Valley of Fear is the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Summoned to a mysterious manor house by one of the henchmen of his arch nemesis, Professor Moriarty, Holmes and Watson find themselves confronted by the scene of a brutal murder. But the brilliant Holmes soon reveals that there is much more to this case than first meets the eye... This fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel will delight fans of Conan Doyle's legendary detective and his faithful sidekick Watson.
