Classic Detective

A Study in Scarlet is an 1887 detective novel by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Written in 1886, the story marks the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who would become two of the most famous characters in popular fiction. The book's title derives from a speech given by Holmes, an amateur detective, to his friend and chronicler Watson on the nature of his work, in which he describes the story's murder investigation as his "study in scarlet."

Thanks to Royal Jelly, Holmes is a fit 74-year-old, who has lost his interest in bees and returned to detecting, joining forces again with his colleague and friend, Dr. John Hamish Watson, a 75-year-old unfit twice-widower, who hankers after the good old days of derring-do. Together they explore the case of the Kew Gardens Gnomes and their fiery vengeance; the Portobello Pornographer and the reappearance of an old enemy; the Camden Counterfeiter and the theft of Doctor Watson's identity; the Kensington Kidnapper and the hefty price on Mrs Hudson's head; and the Undiscovered Country, in which a successful writer is haunted by his most famous character.

Miss Mary Morstan has been receiving pearls and she knows not why or from whom. Now she receives something else: a letter that promises to reveal the mystery and to "right the wrongs" against her. "If you distrust me," continued the correspondent, "bring two friends." She brings Sherlock Holmes and Watson.

Two American travelers have been killed—one with poison, the other with a knife through the heart—and the only clues at the scene are a woman’s wedding ring and the German word for “vengeance” written in blood. The military surgeon Dr. John Watson is brought in to investigate, along with his clever, arrogant new roommate, Sherlock Holmes.

An English gentleman is murdered with a uniquely American weapon: a sawed-off shotgun. Since the police are baffled, Sherlock Holmes is asked to solve the murder.

The story is similar in structure to "A Study in Scarlet", with the second half taking place in the United States and filling in the history of what led up to the first half. Toward the end, the story comes back to Holmes and Watson.

"The last red streaks had faded away in the west and night settled upon the moor. A few faint stars were gleaming in a violet sky. Watson and I gazed out over the shadowy moor, half silver and half gloom. A distant howl arose from the shadowy depths, menacing, almost musical, rising and falling like the low constant murmur of the sea, the hound!"

Inspector Gregson approaches Holmes to help him with a murder that has taken place at night at Number 3, Lauriston Gardens, near Brixton Road, London. The murder is weird, because nothing has been stolen from the dead man. And there are no marks to indicate a fight. To top all of this, the man lies murdered in a house that has been vacant for a long time. And yes..."RACHE" is written with blood on the wall near the man. Now, obviously there are many questions....

Sherlock Holmes is bored and case-less, and relieving his boredom by alternating morphine and cocaine. Enter the charming Miss Mary Morstan, with whom Watson is instantly smitten. She requests the assistance of Holmes and Watson to solve the mysterious disappearance of her father, and the subsequent invitation to "have justice" by an anonymous letter writer.

Dr. Mortimer looked strangely at us for an instant and his voice sank almost to a whisper as he answered, “Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound.”

When Sir Charles Baskerville dies in mysterious circumstances, his nephew and heir Sir Henry returns from South Africa. In the meanwhile, Dr. Mortimer, the local doctor, is concerned about Sir Henry's safety, so he consults Sherlock Holmes and recounts the tale of one Sir Hugo Baskerville, who several generations previously, had been killed by a huge hound and which now is believed to be a curse on the family.

At the Universal Advertising Agency in London a murder is being planned. Three men have been discovered taking bribes and face the grim prospect of the dole queue, unless they can get rid of the person who caught them. Their ringleader, thick-set and vicious Mr. Morris, soon discovers that killing is far easier than he thought - and that he even has a talent for it.

At Baskerville Hall on the grim moors of Devonshire, a legendary curse has apparently claimed one more victim. Sir Charles Baskerville has been found dead. There are no signs of violence, but his face is hideously distorted with terror. Years earlier, a houndlike beast with blazing eyes and dripping jaws was reported having torn out Hugo Baskerville's throat. Is Sir Henry Baskerville, younger heir to the estate, now in danger?

The author’s birth name was Alan Alexander Milne, but his pen name used only the initials A. A. Milne. He eventually won worldwide acclaim for his renowned youth-oriented stories about Winnie-the-Pooh. However, he tried something different a few years before that, a story based on parental devotion.

Meet the indomitable lady detective Loveday Brooke. Able to assume a multitude of disguises and possessed of analytical powers rivaling those of the great Sherlock Holmes, she masters every baffling situation and solves each perplexing crime in these seven atmospheric and entertaining Victorian mysteries.

"Horatio Leavenworth, Esq., a millionaire, is murdered in his library while he is engaged in reviewing a book he plans to publish. He was shot cleanly in the back of the head (with his own pistol), meaning that he did not turn his head when his assassin entered the room. This fact led detective Ebenezer Gryce to conclude that he recognized the footsteps of his assailant and felt he had nothing to fear from this person." Thus begins this first novel in the "Mr. Gryce" series.

Il mitico Shelock Holmes, con l'aiuto dell'inseparabile Dr. Watson, sono chiamati a risolvere l'omicidio dell'anziano sir Charles Baskerville. Morte di cui si ritiene responsabile una creatura diabolica sotto forma di cane.

When young Edwin Drood disappears, suspicion centers on John Jasper, a drug-addicted choirmaster who hungers after Drood's fiancé. So does Neville Landless, a Ceylonese who has previously quarreled violently with the missing man. The mystery if further enhanced because it was left unfinished at the author's death. Thus the book has challenged the imagination of generations of readers.

The plot involves the uncovering of secret German preparations for an invasion of the United Kingdom and is sited by Winston Churchill as one of the major reasons the Admiralty decided to establish naval bases at Invergordon, the Firth of Forth and Scapa Flow.

Horatio Leavenworth is a New York merchant whose material wealth is matched by his eminence in the communityand reputation for good works. He is also the guardian of two striking nieces who share his Fifth Avenue mansion. Mary, her uncle's favorite, is to inherit her uncle's fortune at his death. As this mystery opens, that lamentable event has just occurred. Leavenworth has been shot to death and circumstances point to one of his young wards.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of 12 stories by Arthur Conan Doyle that were originally published in Strand magazine from July 1891 to June 1892. This collection includes some of Holmes' most famous cases.