Product Details


List Price:	$16.99
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Release Date:	September, 2002
Media:	Hardcover
ISBN:	0517220784

Availability:	Usually ships within 24 hours
Average Review:	Based on 91 reviews.

Description:
This volume, authorized by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's estate, contains all 4 full-length novels and all 56 short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes. At over a thousand pages, the weighty tome is a perfect gift for budding amateur sleuths, and it is an ideal companion for a long stay on a desert island (or a leisurely trip through the English countryside). As the reader wades past the tense introductions of A Study in Scarlet and moves towards such classic tales as The Hound of the Baskervilles, "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," and "The Final Problem," she is sure to draw her own conclusions about Holmes's veiled past and his quirky relationship with his "Boswell," Watson. Doyle never revealed much about Holmes's early life, but the joy of reading the complete Holmes is assembling the trivia of each story into something like a portrait of the detective and his creator. By the end of the long journey through London and across Europe (with a long stopover at Reichenbach Falls), one is apt to have found a friend for life. --Patrick O'Kelley

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Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review:

Based on 91 reviews.

Buy it now!!!
THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES is an anthology of every Sherlock Holmes story ever written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This single volume is an absolute treasure; it reveals to us one of the most influential and powerful characters conceived of in the history of literature. Holmes' many adventures manage to transcend the boundaries of the mystery genre and set their permanent mark on the fabric of Western society. The now cliche "Elementary, my dear Watson" reveals how both the sheer genius of Holmes and the unwavering loyalty of Watson have been forever integrated into our collective memory.

If you have ever read Sherlock Holmes in your life and have enjoyed it, please pick up a copy of this book. Reading it again will merely add to your enjoyment. The astounding revelations and brilliant logic of Holmes never lose their novelty.

If you have never read Sherlock Holmes, you have truly missed out on one of the memorable characters in English literature. I urge you to purchase this book immediately. You will not be disappointed.

In summary, THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES is a must buy for those who do not already own it. I give it my highest recommendation!

All the tales of the greatest detective in literary history
The complete adventures of Sherlock Holmes is an excellent gift for young and old alike. I first read these stories in Junior High School and loved them then. After reading the complete collection a second time, my appreciation of the excellence of these stories has only increased. Like Dickens's great novels such as David Copperfield, a second and even third visit to The Complete Adventures is both warranted and rewarded. Those people who loved the late Jeremy Brett's characterization of Holmes on PBS's "Mystery," are almost certain to find the stories on which this series is based equally entertaining.

From our first encounter with Holmes in Conan Doyle's introductory novel, A Study in Scarlet, and his meeting with Dr. Watson, with whom he shared rooms at the now famous 221B Baker Street, we are fascinated by the uniqueness of Holmes's eccentric character, his incredible intelligence in all things concerning the science of deduction, his total dedication to his craft, and the enormous resources of energy and determination he calls on to solve problems no one else can master.

Holmes is a consulting detective; that is, he is the court of last appeal when the police, government officials, and private citizens can find help no where else. What makes Holmes special is not only his vast knowledge related to crime and the master criminal, like the infamous Professor Moriarty, but his incredible powers of observation and deduction, which he uses in almost every story to amaze Dr. Watson and the various detectives of Scotland Yard who come seeking his help.

Conan Doyle is a fine writer and he wanted to turn his attention to other projects and so decided to kill off Holmes at a last meeting with Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls in the Alps in the highly recommended story, The Adventure of the Final Problem. As we might expect, Holmes is not so easily disposed of. The demand for more adventures prompted Conan Doyle to publish a final volume of stories of the greatest detective in literary history.

What else needs to be said?
This is the best way I can summarize the book: Without question the best detective fiction ever written. Period. Doyle's Holmes & Watson is one of the greatest creations in literature. The logical and deductive analysis is profound, as well as the characters & stories themselves. Holmes, while on the surface possesses extremely rare qualities which almost any person in the world would want to have, also houses many imperfections, making him all the more believable. There is Watson, his trusted chronicler and close friend by his side, there to give humor and even more realism to it all, and to provide a balance to Holmes. Among the best reads you'll find are "The Hound of the Baskervilles", "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," "The Final Problem," & "The Red-Headed League". Set in Victorian England during the late 1800's and early 1900's, I think the London environment provides that much more to the characters and original storylines. It's one of the cornerstones of the Holmes mystique, I think. Unforgettable characters such as Mr. Stapleton, Charles Augustus Milverton, Inspector Lestrade, and of course the greatest villain of all-time (just edging out Keyser Soze), Professor James Moriarty. The stories are unbelievable, and how Doyle managed to write them while in a physician's office I'm not sure. Every story I read I tried to figure out the ending as best I could, and of the 60 written I managed once or twice. If you haven't read Holmes' adventures before, or have but are not in possession of all of them, get this book asap.