The Book Report #65

Episode #64

The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Return of Sherlock Holmes

The Book

My edition of the book was published by Wordsworth Editions Limited. It became part of the Wordsworth Library Collection in 2007 and was published with the original illustrations from the original work. The first complete stories book was published in 1928.

This is continuing with the book, from my to-be-read bookshelf. I received this book as a gift from a friend, who passed a few years ago, when we took a trip to the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of short stories originally printed in the Strand magazine from November 1903 to August 1904 and brought together to create an omnibus book on 7 March 1905 by George Newnes, Ltd in the UK and then earlier in America in February 1905 by McClure, Phillips & Co.

What Did I Think

In the beginning, I was a little perplexed by the simplicity of how Holmes had survived his “death” and also by the way he just waved it off as if it was nothing, which, in any case, would be the normal stance of Holmes’ character.

He outwrestled him and pushed him over the edge of the waterfall. And then disappeared by climbing up the side of the cliff.

I am a little annoyed after realising that none of the TV and movie adaptations to my knowledge, have recreated the exact version from the book. Even a web search couldn’t find a definitive answer. Not interesting enough, maybe.

The adventures that could have been shown, although Sir Doyle gave a brief description of what happened. It could have helped the story get to where it is now in the first story.

The reason he left Watson behind and returned a couple of years later was to clear up the leftovers of Moriarty’s enterprise, which led to a reunion and finishing off the last of the villain’s men with the take-back of 221B Baker Street.

Point of View

The Return of Sherlock Holmes is another collection of stories from the point of view of Dr Watson. But these stories come from the catalogue that he held back as deemed not good enough, or the details were not allowed to be read by the public, or written. But occasionally, they are reminded of a story and use it to reminisce, or enough time has passed, so it becomes a part of the new collection.

In this case, when these stories are written, Sherlock has retired. He has left Baker Street and is now living in the South Downs and is a beekeeping enthusiast.

I do like the idea that Sherlock gets to a place where he can leave the problem-solving, to a point, behind.

The many stories that continued were also a development of the character, and with the help of Watson, he was able to wean Sherlock off his heroin habits. I do like the expansion of the friendship that Sherlock would allow, the advice and help to improve his life by changing the way Sherlock deals with boredom and depression.

The Audiobook

For those who would like to listen instead of read.

Would I Recommend

Yes, this is another collection of stories for any fan of crime period drama, I would recommend. It is especially for those who want to find out what really happened in the original works.

Please give this book a go.

Would you like to purchase your very own copy?

You could try these online stores: Amazon UK/USA. Waterstones. AbeBooks UK/ USA, Barnes and Noble and eBay UK/ USA.

Alternatively, you could try your local bookshop or even your local library.