Sherlock Holmes

[LetUsPrey]

There have been some very helpful suggestions and advice over on the Sherlock thread in Telly Addicts as to which Sherlock Holmes books are good to start with and then where to go from there.

Obviously though the posts are dotted all over the thread and I'm too lazy to make notes from it. Could some kind Sherlock Holmes fans please give their opinions as to where to start, etc.

I have read some Sherlock books but I'm sure it was when I was at school which was a very very long time ago.

Thanks very much.

My favourites are, 'A Scandal In Bohemia' and, 'The Speckled Band.' The first is interesting in that it has a clever twist at the end and goes against convention. The second is a real, 'Bad guy gets his comeuppance' sort of tale.

Thanks Remus - love the name by the way!

The short stories mainly come in collections. If you want to start from the beginning then start with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes which is a collection of 12 stories. The two stories Remus recommended are included and they also contain some of my favourites.

The novels can be hard going, A Study in Scarlet was Doyle's first Holmes story but it's also a bit of a historical novel with a large section of it being devoted to the background of events, in Utah with the Mormon community. It's an interesting book as it details how Sherlock and Watson first met and gives us Watson's medical and army background.

The only novel that focuses almost entirely on the crime is The Hound of the Baskervilles which is set on Dartmoor and is very atmospheric, dark and broody. I suppose it's also the only whodunnit novel as most of the stories aren't really concerned with who but how. This novel features both.

After The Adventures of are The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - which features The Final Problem. Then there is The Return of, The Reminiscences of and The Case-Book of.
Each story can be read within an hour which makes them ideal lunchtime readig material. Have fun!

I've geeked out on the other thread, but I'll add some more here! TheRhubarb has given some excellent advice so I'll just contribute a few of my particular faves:

A Scandal In Bohemia is exellent as Remus says above - and if you enjoyed the Belgravia take in the BBC series then it might shock you how differently Irene Adler is portrayed in the original work! (probably-not-a-spoiler; she's not a dominatrix...)

Silver Blaze is my number one short story - a brilliant twisty mystery about a stolen racehorse with red herrings galore.

The Red-Headed League - a bizarre set of circumstances related by a man with shocking red hair leads Holmes to suspect that foul play is afoot. The initial setup sounds quite bizarre today but again it is a lovely self-contained little mystery.

The Adventure of the Dying Detective - from Sir ACD's post hiatus work and maybe not his best writing, but I do have a fondness for the setup of Watson's emotions being toyed with a dying Holmes for purposes that would spoil the ending if I were to mention them.

The Three Students is also very good as it has all the Sherlockians frantically guessing at which Uni Holmes might have studied at.
And The Blue Carbuncle as well as being Christmassy also shows that brand of justice that Holmes like to dish out himself - he has a heart after all!
Oh and the Copper Beeches for revealing that Watson had hopes of Holmes staying in touch with the heroine.

Oooh thanks so much for all those suggestions. I'll print the list off and start shopping. I still have some Christmas money.

FFS just read that back. "Christmas money" makes me sound about 9 years old. I'm not.

Are you sure it's real money and not those chocolate coins?

TheRhubarb it's over three weeks since Christmas. There is no Christmas chocolate left!

You've done well then. The kids are still getting through theirs. dd hoardes hers in her room and will still be munching on it by Easter.

I hate chocolate. No-one gives multi-crisp packs at Christmas

Ooh yes to the Red Headed League.

Oh and The Engineer's Thumb - that one gave me nightmares!

Remembered the offer in the Radio Times for three ACD books: "A Scandal in Bohemia and Other Stories"; "The Hound of the Baskervilles"; and "The Final Problem and Other Stories".

Luckily my mum still had enough issues of the RT for me to get the tokens.

Yes!

BTW there are loads of Sherlock Holmes books free to download on iTunes

I have only read Hound of the Baskervilles so far, but thoroughly enjoyed it and I am not really into detective novels.