The Collected Works of Arthur Conan Doyle: Including The Sherlock Holmes Series, Poems, Plays, Works on Spirituality, History Books & Memoirs

By Arthur Conan Doyle, D. H. Friston, George Hutchinson and 14 more

This carefully edited collection has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices.
Table of contents:
Sherlock Holmes
A Study in Scarlet
The Sign of Four
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Valley of Fear
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
His Last Bow
The Field Bazaar
How Watson Learned the Trick
Professor Challenger
The Lost World
The Poison Belt
When the World Screamed
Brigadier Gerard
The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard
The Crime of the Brigadier
The Adventures of Gerard
Novels
Micah Clarke
The White Company
The Great Shadow
The Refugees
Rodney Stone
Uncle Bernac
Sir Nigel
Mystery of Cloomber
The Firm of Girdlestone
The Doings of Raffles Haw
Beyond The City
The Parasite
The Stark Munro Letters
The Tragedy of the Korosko
A Duet
Short Story Collections
Mysteries and Adventures
The Captain of the Pole-Star, and Other Tales
Round the Red Lamp
Stories of War and Sport
Round the Fire Stories
The Last Galley: Impressions and Tales
Danger and Other Stories
Tales of Pirates and Blue Water
Other Stories
Poetry
Songs of Action
Songs of the Road
The Guards Came Through, and Other Poems
Plays
Sherlock Holmes
The Crown Diamond
Jane Annie
Waterloo
A Pot of Caviare
The Speckled Band
The Journey
Spiritualism
The New Revelation
The Vital Message
The Wanderings of a Spiritualist
The Coming of the Fairies
Stranger Than Fiction
Fairies Photographed
The Uncharted Coast
Historical Works
The Great Boer War
The War in South Africa
The Crime of the Congo
The German War
A Visit to Three Fronts
A History of the Great War
A Glimpse of the Army
The Duello in France
True Crime Stories
Personal Memoirs
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was a British writer best known for his detective fiction featuring the character Sherlock Holmes. He was a prolific writer whose other works include fantasy and science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Musaicum Books
• Release date: Oct 6, 2017
• ISBN: 9788027219315

Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was a Scottish writer and physician, most famous for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes and long-suffering sidekick Dr Watson. Conan Doyle was a prolific writer whose other works include fantasy and science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels.

Reviews for The Collected Works of Arthur Conan Doyle

[bobbybslax · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

(Audiobook) Wasn't overly impressed with this, but perhaps that's due to it being among the first of its genre. It had two key features I enjoyed, whoever: 1) Watson's first meeting with Holmes and 2) the surprisingly long whodunnit explanation in Part 2. I often struggle with mystery books given their penchant to focus on a large cast of names, objects, places, and other nouns which I find hard to keep track of and continually visualize in my head. I encounter this issue with some more detail-obsessed fantasy stories, too. So, I became lost throughout a lot of the first half even though it was still mildly enjoyable (in great part due to Stephen Fry's narration). The most consistently amusing part of that half is Watson's developing relationship with Holmes, in which we get to discover the detective's eccentricities along with his new sidekick. I often enjoy buddy (cop) comedies, so that stuff provided a more easy connection than the actual investigation. The book then switches out of Watson's POV for most of the second half, providing an extended backstory for the killer and his motivation. While long and not always riveting, it was a novel approach to the often tedious form of exposition dumps you find in mysteries. By the end of it I had even sympathized with the killer enough to hope to see them victorious. It became the emotional throughline of the book how the Holmes-Watson dynamic used to be, but I wouldn't say either of those elements were particularly deep or resolved. A short, mildly entertaining read.

[therebelprince · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I've long felt bad about never having read any of the nine books that make up the Sherlock Holmes canon, so finally I've rectified that... and what an odd little work it is.

The first half of the book is what's important, historically, but it's the least interesting. Conan Doyle doesn't write natural dialogue, and a result the discussions between Watson and Holmes come across more like a treatise on how detective work - in the real world and in novels - is evolving and progressing. While this is all very very interesting, particularly to someone like myself who has read a lot of Christie and Poe etc, it feels like an essay that has been structured in story form, rather than the other way around.

On top of this, I concede that I have a bias against this "one really smart quirky man always outdoes everyone" formula. Holmes started it, but it's returned in the last ten years or so to television, and personally I think it just weakens the narrative when every other character functions only as a sounding board for our god of a leading man. Sherlock is cunningly described by Watson as a seemingly paradoxical man who in fact has rational reasons for all of his education and activities, although even the great detective can't seem to fix his (bipolar?) moods. As their friendship is still embryonic at this stage, Watson can give us no insight into Holmes' life, and Holmes offers none, so he remains a cipher. But I'm treating this as a pilot episode, so that's okay. More immediately fascinating are the elements of contemporary life: street beggars working for Holmes, the necessary advantages and disadvantages that came from being a police officer in the era - thrilling stuff.

The second half is a mixed bag also. Conan Doyle is an admirable prose writer, and his description of the events twenty years prior to the murders is captivating and gripping. On the other hand, it is filled with amazingly anti-Mormon sentiment. I'm no religious sympathiser myself, but I couldn't take it seriously when the narrator assured us that all Mormons kill or destroy anyone who attempts to leave their faith.

An odd little novel, and I've already started the second one, since I'm very eager to see if Conan Doyle can somehow retain his marvelous leading character, whilst furthering his skills in the other required areas.

(Two and a half stars)

[joeydag · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Was this the one with all the red heads?

[seriousgrace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Study in Scarlet is in two parts. Part one: "Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., Late of the Army Medical Department." It's here that Dr. Watson and Mr. Sherlock Holmes meet for the first time. Watson, arriving in London and needing a place to stay, learns of Holmes looking to share his apartment. From the very beginning they are thrown together in a murder mystery. Watson is astounded by Holmes's ability to deduce facts from the smallest pieces of evidence.Part two: "Country of the Saints" steps back in time and tells the story of the Brigham Young and the Mormons settling in the plains of Utah. John Ferrier meets up with the four elders, Stangerson, Kemball, Jonston & Drebber and they take him and his young companion in. This story sets the backdrop for the murder mystery Holmes is trying to solve.

[davido1103 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Classic (1st) Sherlock Holmes, very well read. The Mormons don't come out so well in this story...

[gunnargrey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not even gonna try to calculate how long it's been since I've read these original Holmes stories. They're still just as good as I remember from way back when. I admit I skip the little detour in the middle about how the original crimes happened. It's not necessary to enjoy the real story, which is how Holmes and Watson got together and started solving crimes. Very good story.

[gogglemiss · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Thought I'd give this author a try, and I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the story. The second part was even more intriguing, and fitted well. Will be reading more from ACD.

[kakadoo202 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Holmes is just too full of himself.

[booklove2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sherlock was one of the books I thought I'd never read... until I caught the BBC series. After reading, I think both the series and the books are fantastic in their own ways. This is my favorite of the first three Sherlock books. I'm planning on reading the others at another time. I had to write a review after a previous reviewer said they didn't like the books after seeing the series. It IS possible to enjoy both!

[smgs5vzhang · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sherlock Holmes is an iconic character, and his first book is (I think) his best. A Study in Scarlet introduces Mr Holmes and showcases his analytical genius as he navigates through the first of many cases the detective solves. A classic.

[bkwurm · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What better place to start reading Holmes than at the beginning? Although not usually a fan of mysteries, I enjoyed reading about Holmes and his unapologetically superior powers of observation and deduction. It was nice to begin at the beginning and read about how Holmes and Watson first met, but I am looking forward to moving past the introduction stage and discovering more of the depth in their characters and their friendship.As for the story itself, the spiral of story upon story upon story kept me engaged and entertained. The abrupt switch in the middle of the book from a 1900s London crime scene to an unexplored, pre-Mormon Utah was more than a little confusing, but once I figured out it was part of the story the switch was easy enough to follow. I don't know if I liked it enough to read the entire Holmes saga, but for now I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.

[momma2_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this Holmes tale much more than "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." The depth of the mystery was much greater than in the shorter vignettes and took me completely by surprise. At one point I had to actually look up information on the book to make sure it was one story and not two shorter ones because the second part was not obviously a flashback. Well done mystery and an enjoyable read.

[booksfordinner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Funny... I guess I read this 30 years ago when I was a kid, and compared to the short stories, I didn't remember it too well... halfway through the book and all of a sudden there are four or five chapters in Utah with Bringham Young and the Mormons? Huh? What happened to the pocket watches and the gaslights and the coach-and-fours? Still great, of course.

[mathewbridle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved the story and the way it was constructed then deconstructed at the end to show the thinking of the great detective. I look forward to reading the rest of Conan Doyle's work which I have just acquired on Kindle.

[trilliams · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Deduction porn, really. Rather large digression in the middle though.

[jessiqa_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first novel featuring Sherlock Holmes. As an introduction, it's perfect. Almost. The book comes in two parts. The first part is Holmes meeting Watson and working their first case together. The second part follows the story of the murderer, detailing his background and motive. At the end of that section the two stories join and he relates his tale to Holmes, Watson, and the police.The first part is obviously the best, since it features Holmes. After all, he is the reason I read the book, so it was a little disappointing to have him absent from nearly half of it. On the other hand, this is the first Holmes book, so Conan Doyle had very little way of anticipating the draw his detective would have on the audience.I already know the character so well, most recently from BBC's Sherlock (which, by the way, does a tremendous job at following this story in the episode titled "A Study In Pink.") and I couldn't help but smile at everything that I recognized and all the little details that I knew would figure in later, like testing poison on Watson's dog. I highly recommend this to any Holmes fan. the book is fast and fresh. It may be over 100 years old, but it doesn't feel like it. Go for it!

[dulac3_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

_A Study in Scarlet_ is an interesting book for several reasons. Here we have the first written adventure of Sherlock Holmes and get both the first introduction to the famous sleuth and his comrade Dr. Watson, as well as details of their first meeting. We are treated to a somewhat humorous précis of Watson’s first impressions of his strange room-mate (detailed in several other reviews) and even manage to see a fledgling Holmes occasionally wrong, or at least not 100% accurate, in some of his initial surmises at the mystery they become embroiled in. We also see the somewhat ambivalent and competitive relationship Holmes has with Scotland Yard and his disdain for the official investigators and their inferior methods of detection.

The mystery itself involves the double homicide of two Americans and an embarrassment of mysterious clues at the place of the first murder. Of course both Scotland Yard detectives assigned to the case manage to make the wrong assumptions and go off in different directions, though Holmes has to grudgingly admit that they “are coming along” and even wonders at one point if they have managed to beat him to the punch when one of his own assumptions seems to have gone awry.

The story is actually in two parts, the first of which covers the initial mystery and the very engrossing portrait of Holmes and his many quirks. Holmes ultimately proves able to solve the mystery by the end of this section in a fashion perhaps more mysterious than the murders themselves. From here we go to a flashback of events separated in both time and space by great distance in order to be given the background of the two murders in London and many readers seem to have a big problem with this. I actually found this section, while certainly a bit jarring at first, to be a well-written and entertaining story in itself. Its chief failings seem to be that a) it is not a story involving Sherlock Holmes, and b) the historicity of some of its facts can be considered somewhat questionable as it turns the early Mormons and their leaders into some kind of nefarious secret society rivalling even the Illuminati or Rosicrucians. I didn’t find either of these elements to be too great of an obstacle personally. I knew that we would return to Holmes & Watson in due course to be provided with our explanations and revelations and if I wasn’t being given a straight history lesson on the true founding of Salt Lake City, then I was certainly given an entertaining tale that was probably more interesting than the facts themselves would have been. The only part of this tale I really found questionable was that a man like Jefferson Hope would simply wait a month for Lucy to die of a broken heart after she’d been abducted and didn’t try to rescue her, even if it proved impossible and meant his death.

The culmination of both stories as they meet in the rooms of Holmes and Watson at 221B Baker Street in London was satisfying and I highly recommend this story. Another 4, or 4.5 star book from Doyle.

[jaguar897 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Since I was young I can always remember Sherlock Holmes portrayed as a portly older man, smoking on his pipe solving mysteries. Then I saw the 2010 Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downy, Jr. (yummmmmmy) and surprisingly enough Holmes was portrayed as an OCD bad ass mystery solver. Huh?! Naturally, I had to read the book now to figure out where they got this Holmes from.
Turns out the movie was not far off the mark and I’ve been lied to by those old PBS shows. Holmes was a moody freakaziod retaining and using a mass amount of information to solve mysteries. He was a bit of a bad boy who could fight and even smoked cocaine. Who knew?! I’m so glad I picked this up with the encouragement of some of my GR friends, because I thought it was going to be boring but it ended up being exciting.
I loved the mystery itself and the story behind it, but the story did slow down once the explanation of the mystery occurred. The book just took a completely different turn than what I was expecting and I almost felt like I was reading two separate books. It did come together in the end, but the explanation could have been shortened without losing the overall gist of the plot. From what I’ve been told the Holmes story gets much better with each story, so I look forward to reading more.

[archren · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

If you are a science fiction fan, you have probably already read the Sherlock Holmes books. I know I’m late to the bandwagon on this, but if you’ve been avoiding them for some reason, let me add my voice of encouragement. You should read at least one Sherlock Holmes mystery in your life. This was my first, and I really enjoyed it. In this first volume, Dr. Watson meets Sherlock Holmes and they become roommates. Holmes demonstrates all the nigh-magical powers that his deductive reasoning grant him from the start. Watson finds this at once mysterious and fascinating, resolving to chronicle Holmes’ skill. Those skills are tested by the death of a man in an empty house, with no wounds, covered in blood. Whodunnit? The language holds up quite well for the modern reader. It is a little archaic, but flows just fine. The most anachronistic part of it is the structure. For one, unlike a modern mystery, the reader doesn’t have access to all the clues and has no chance to solve the puzzle on their own. Also, Sherlock Holmes reveals the murder in the middle of the story instead of at the end. After the big reveal, the scene shifts so suddenly that I was afraid that my download of the ebook had been corrupted, and that there was another book in the middle of mine. It goes from Holmes’ rooms in London to the middle of the American Western desert forty years previously, where a man and a girl are dying of thirst. This shift was mind bogglingly abrupt, but by following it all the way through one learns about why Holmes’ was right in his identification of the murderer. This emphasis on deductive reasoning and its power forms a strong link with the mindset of your average science fiction novel – things are known and knowable, the universe works logically and predictably, and by applying logic the most difficult puzzles can be solved. However, by being set in a “normal” setting, it is non-threatening to your everyday reader. I imagine that you can draw a direct line from the popularity of the Holmes’ stories to the popularity of the currently multiplying CSI series. So if you’re a fan of science fiction, or just forensics, this book should be a part of your library.

[jopearson56 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The first Sherlock Holmes book -- did Conan Doyle invent the filtering of a story through a secondary participant (Dr. Watson)? I haven't ever read any Sherlock Holmes books, and I wasn't overly impressed. It was okay and a quick read, but Holmes seems like a pretty arrogant SOB to me. Knows too much and is glad to tell everyone so. The Utah digression was distracting.

[ruthich · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The original and best Sherlock Holmes story, about fear, hatred, tragedy, recrimination, and all with a back story of Mormonism in the USA. If you have not read this yet, I'd encourage you to. You'll be hard pushed to find better mystery writing today.

[folkeb_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The quirky character of famous detective Sherlock Holmes is introduced with rapid language and ensuing hilarity in A Study in Scarlet, the first of the Holmes novels. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle engages readers in a story filled with twists, turns, and trails with dead ends. Told initially from the reminiscences of Doctor Watson, A Study in Scarlet follows the team through their first case together, a seemingly unsolvable murder. The oblivious Scotland Yard cannot find a single clue as to a potential suspect or the method of murder when Sherlock Holmes is called to assist. Witty banter allows readers to become acquainted with Holmes, and nonstop action (he seems incapable of sitting still or even sleeping) keeps the plot flowing with ease. Readers remain hooked as Conan Doyle presents new characters with perplexing additions to the case, another murder and a disguise that deceives even Holmes. Natural dialogue and picturesque descriptions bring the reader right to the streets of London, always one erratic step behind Sherlock.After Holmes abruptly and unexpectedly apprehends a suspect in the murders of Americans E.J. Drebber and Joseph Stangerson, readers are taken back many years before the crimes were ever committed and given a look into their past. Conan Doyle’s narrative here is slow and struggles without the character of Holmes to push the story along, but readers will press forward, searching for answers that seem nonexistent in this baffling mystery. Bookworms will be left searching for the next Holmes novel, eager for more stories of the witty and relentless detective.Paige

[ajbraithwaite_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I think this is the first time I've read a Sherlock Holmes story. They're so familiar from film and TV adaptations that it's good to get back to the original. I was startled by the change of pace in part two, where we're thrown out of 1880s London and into the Mormons' journey to Utah and the story of John and Lucy Ferrier. I'm guessing Conan Doyle doesn't have too many Mormon fans...

[john257hopper · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This, the very first Sherlock Holmes story, is a re-read, I have read the whole canon several times before. It is particularly striking as being a story of two halves. After the initial meeting between Holmes and Watson - surely one of the most significant and memorable literary acquaintanceships - the story of murder unfolds against the London backdrop that is considered so typically Sherlockian. The mystery is solved half way through. The second half is then a sympathetic backstory of why the murderer committed his crimes, which takes us to Utah and the Mormons (whose cultish nature depicted here is the source of the evil). This is very atypical Conan Doyle material, but brilliantly and dramatically described, his evocation of the bleak and barren landscape every bit as convincing as that of the more familiar foggy London streets. No doubt this contrastingly wide spaced environment is part of the reason why this story has been much less adapted for the screen than Hound of the Baskervilles (Dartmoor is more accessible and realisable than the Utah desert!) or The Sign of Four (set in London). But this is a real classic that deserves to be better known as the beginning of a literary legend. 5/5

[eclecticdodo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I've never read any Sherlock Holmes before, so I thought I ought to start at the beginning. Most of the story is told by Watson, recording events after the fact in the form of a rather formal diary. A section is more of a traditional story, recounting events that took place in America which provide the motive for the crime. I didn't enjoy this writing style nearly so much as the first. I found the facts a little thin on the ground, and Holmes supposed deductions far too obscure to form a really engaging mystery. Overall a good book, but not great.

[krizia_lazaro_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is were it all started. It was okay. A bit on the boring side. There are better Sherlock Holmes story than this one.

[kuroonehalf · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My first Sherlock Holmes book, so I figured I'd start from the beginning.

Starts off with a bang - Holmes and Wattson are swiftly established and the mystery put in motion, and all of it runs nicely and without contrivances. The problem comes in halfway into the book where there is a huge shift in narration, that I can't go into due to its spoilerific nature, but that completely breaks apart the flow of the book for the proceeding 30% of it. At the end it ties back up with some good stuff, but it's unfortunate that the middle was such a drag.

[ishanella · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I’m a lover of mysteries. I grew up watching Perry Mason with my grandmother (did I just age myself?), Columbo and Matlock came out on top as well, and currently, I enjoy a lot of detective shows. So, Sherlock Holmes always appealed to me, but I never read a full length novel (shocker!). So, in my attempt to rectify this, I decided to listen to the audiobook version of A Study in Scarlet. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a bit of a genius. I wish I could just say, “read this book!” and be done with it, but, I’ll try to be coherent.

A Study in Scarlet is written in two parts, John Watson is the narrator. He is introduced to Sherlock Holmes and the two agree to share a room together - the famous 221B Baker Street lodgings. Their introduction to each other is detailed and a bit tedious, but we learn, along with Watson, the curious nature of Holmes; his diverse visitors and his strange habits. The case starts, as most do, with a murder. Holmes is called to the scene of the crime where he is asked to aid in the murder investigation of Enoch Drebber, who was found dead in a building with the word “RACHE” scribbled above the corpse. Soon, another corpse shows up - Stangerson, the Drebber’s secretary is found dead with “RACHE” written above the corpse.

The first part focuses on the present, the murder of the two men and Holmes’s deduction of the killer. As Watson is relaying the story, the reader isn’t privvy to Holmes’s methods until he reveals them to Watson - who asks intellegent questions (even though he does spend most of the beginning questioning Holmes’s authenticity).

The second part of the story switches to the past and is written in third person. It follows the story of John Ferrier and Lucy, two lone survivors of a party of pioneers who are rescued by a group of Mormons. The sudden switch in story and perspective is a bit jarring, but I was quickly sucked into the society and Lucy’s situation Information on Stangerson and Drebber’s past is revealed in such a way that I felt empathetic towards their murderer - a really interesting twist.

Though it’s very heavy on the narration and light on the dialogue, and though the pace is rather slow, A Study in Scarlet still managed to capture my imagination and only served to cement my love of Holmes. If you’re a fan of mysteries and smart reads, then A Study in Scarlet will be a great read for you.

[nx74defiant · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

After they caught a suspect the story suddenly changes to the American west. I thought it was a problem with my download, but that is the way the book is. After going through a story that seems to be totally unrelated to the mystery the explanation of the connection comes. The change was very jarring.

[bookappeal · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This introduction to the legendary Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson is fun to read, especially after all of the adaptations that have followed Arthur Conan Doyle's creation. The first case of murder with the word "Rache" written in blood on the wall provides an entertaining look at how Holmes works. The insertion of the second story is a bit jarring as it's connection to the first case is seemingly so far removed. The setting switches from London to the American West and the roots of Mormonism, depicted by Conan Doyle as a murderous, kidnapping, and enslaving community. The culmination of the stories is satisfactory and puts the focus of the narrative back on Holmes and his investigative skills.