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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this ebook

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a collection of twelve short stories by Scottish author Arthur Conan Doyle, is considered a milestone in the genre of detective fiction. With Sherlock Holmes’s clever disguises and ability to solve even the most elusive mysteries, as well as Holmes’s loyal friend and biographer, Dr. Watson, who narrates most of the stories, Doyle’s suspenseful stories and well-developed characters keep readers on the edges of their seats.

Lexile score: 1080L
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 1, 2012
ISBN9781607108313
Author

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.

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Reviews for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Rating: 4.115272060284983 out of 5 stars
4/5

2,737 ratings101 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This collection of a dozen short stories recorded by Dr. Watson showcases the deductive skills of Sherlock Holmes. The crimes range from murder to blackmail, robbery, and missing persons. They’re not in chronological order. Watson is married in some stories, and in others he is a bachelor sharing rooms with Holmes. The impression one gets is that Watson is writing up cases from his notes as something triggers his memory of a particular case. This time around I listened to the audio by Ralph Cosham. I prefer Edward Hardwicke’s narration of the Holmes stories, perhaps because he played Watson in the Granada TV series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet (Son is accused but daughter stole it, son got it back.)-The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle (Steals the jewel then loses it. Good.)-The Adventure of the Copper Beeches (Hired to impersonate, daughter because she's locked up.)-The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb (Not really a mystery. Just a tale. Bad guys got away too.)-The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor (Bride finds outher old husband is alive and disappears.)-The Boscombe Valley Mystery (Average, Holmes style mystery with killer who is not really a bad guy.)-The Five Orange Pips (Way to short. Cool that the KKK guys died but Holmes didn't get a chance to punish them.)-The Red-headed League (Too short but the red-headed league was very original.)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I've read this multiple times, having first come to Holmes as a teenager. This was the first time I've listened to them, and having Stephen Fry narrate is a stroke of genius. He has that patrician voice that seems to match nicely with the tone I can hear in Watson as he narrates the stories. The short stories make it easy to listen while commuting. That and the fact that as I listened to them I could remember what the puzzle or situation involved meant this was a bit like revisiting an old friend and finding them both changed and reliably the same.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    My first collection of Sherlock's shorts and they were super fun. Witty, varied, self-referential, Holmes is a much gentler fellow in these tales than he appears in recent incarnations. He fights for the underdog and cares about the wronged. Some of these stories seem to have been told and retold in every detective series ever imagined but they shine here in their original forms.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really liked this one, it had a number of interesting short stories in highlighting the skills of Sherlock Holmes. I much prefer longer novels to short stories but I did all these stories fully engaging. Onto the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes now.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Holmes and Watson come alive in short stories. Someone (who, I wish I'd recall) once said that if you only read Agatha Christie's short stories, and Conan Doyle's novels, you'd think both were terrible writers. It certainly seems true in Conan Doyle's case (from the two I've read thus far).

    Either way, of the twelve stories in this collection, all of them are quite enjoyable. They showcase a slightly more even relationship between the two heroes, as well as featurnig a varied array of guest characters, and mysteries which Conan Doyle easily shifts from political intrigue, to international conspiracy, to simple mistaken identity. In fact, the only story that I don't think really works anymore is "The Five Orange Pips" - and this is only because it has dated to the point where the killer's identity was something new and curious in the 1800s, but is now quite commonly known by most Westerners, meaning that most readers will probably catch on from about page three.

    After this, I have renewed vigour to move on to the 4th of Holmes' 9-book canon. We'll see!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A strong collection of Holmes stories, highlighted by the powerfully creepy “The Speckled Band,” the modesty gothic “The Copper Beeches,” and the delightful “A Scandal in Bohemia.”The only story that was substandard for me was “The Blue Carbuncle,” in which the plot was too fantastic to be believed. But even that story is full of the late Victorian atmosphere and Holmes at his best.We tend to forget how much mystery stories and novels owe to Conan Doyle. His ideas and plots are being used even today as inspiration for authors.If you long for gas-lit London, hansom cabs, fog, and excellent detecting, try this volume, either for the first or fifth time. You’ll be glad you did.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great little mystery stories, I had fun reading this!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Prior to this, the only Sherlock Holmes I had attempted to read was "The Hound of the Baskervilles" which I started at least twice but never finished. I've enjoyed the PBS series "Sherlock" and a friend mentioned that some of the events in that corresponded with what she'd read in the stories/novels. So when this one came up as free on Amazon, I downloaded it and decided I'd give it a try. I enjoyed the stories, but I don't follow the clues that Holmes sees/hears as he investigates--so his reveal is always a bit of a surprise to me.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was a quick read of short stories featuring the classic Sherlock Holmes. The stories were simple and fun to read. I enjoyed the personality and thought-process of Holmes more than the mysteries, but I think it was worth the read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Intussen al een eeuw klassieke detective verhalen. Wat opvalt is dat Holmes eigenlijk geen sympathieke held is, en zelf regelmatig in zijn hemd wordt gezet.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I think I prefer Sherlock Holmes stories one at a time. This many all at once just made them seem so similar. I can appreciate how Doyle was a pioneer in the mystery field, but the story that I liked the best was the most gothic, "The Adventure of the Copper Beaches".
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book started off pretty good, but then it sorta got more and more boring as it went along. But int he beginning, Sherlock Holmes was so cool! He would say something about someone, and I would be so suprised! Then he would explain how he got it, and it would seem so simple that even I could do it! He's really amazing! But his stories are slightly predictable. I think my favourite one of the short stories in here would be......the Bombsco Vally Mystery. That one was so cool! It involved a murder mystery, and all the evidence points to the murdered man's son, but Sherlock Holmes doesn't think it was the son. But the story was SO predictable. As soon as I heard Sherlock tell the mystery, I already knew who did it! But all in all, it was a pretty good book!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Either Holmes is better in a short story format or he's growing on me. I'll still take a good Agatha Christie any day (at least you can anticipate some of her clues), but Holmes character is more palatable in this format.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of twelve short stories centered about the famous detective Sherlock Holmes. There is no direct connection between any of the stories but some of them include references to earlier Sherlock Holmes cases. Being a collection of short stories, there is not much sense in summarizing the plot. What the stories have in common, though, is that the cases that are presented to the protagonist are seemingly trivial at first sight but soon complicate and become interesting.What I liked most about these Sherlock Holmes stories is how the cases are related through the eyes of John Watson, Sherlock Holmes' assistant. I especially like the way Doyle as an author uses Watson to narrate his stories and thereby raise their credibility. As a reader, I always find it easy to believe the stories as Doyle manages to give them a sense of being real events in late 20th century London. This technique is quite clever, to my mind, as it makes Holmes' deductions, which might otherwise seem quite far-fetched, more reasonable and credible. John Watson serves as a trustworthy reporter and additionally provides for some humorous sketches of an unsusual detective.As a collection of short stories, the book can easily be read in twelve instalments. As I see it, this does not take anything off the reading experience as I quite enjoyed reading the book on twelve separate nights with one story each. I would recommend The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes both to people who already like Sherlock Holmes stories as well as to people who have never read Holmes but always wanted to. Although chronologically not the first book, it can definitely serve as an introduction into the intriguing cases of Sherlock Holmes. 4 stars for this one.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book included 12 adventures titled:
    1. A Scandal in Bohemia
    2. The Red-Headed League
    3. A Case of Identity
    4. The Boscombe Valley Mystery
    5. The Five Orange Pips
    6. The Man with the Twisted Lip
    7. The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
    8. The Adventure of the Speckled Band
    9. The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb
    10. The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
    11. The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
    12. The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

    I loved these. It was awesome to read the mystery to which Sherlock needed to solve and see his mannerisms. Then out of absolutely nothing it seemed he had solved it! I loved how the story included through Sherlock on how he solved cases. Noticing the little things was mostly how he did it and I found myself trying to use those same tricks as best I could from reading to figure things out. It was a fun and awesome read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    After reading Hound of the Baskervilles, which is a full length novel about an adventure of Holmes, I was a little disappointed that this novel was ALL short stories. Short stories have their place, certainly, but it wasn't as engaging as a novel is.

    There was nothing spectacular about this book. Just dozens of stories of Holmes solving problems no one else could. It was fun to try to solve them first...but I'm not that good.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Review: This is a collection of mysteries from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Some are better than others, but all are interesting.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I remembered reading the Hound of the Baskervilles when I was younger, and remembered that I liked it. Also, Sherlock Holmes has been an interest of mine since childhood, despite not having read many of his stories. So when I found The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes as a free e-book, I downloaded it and read it. I must say that I have had some mixed opinions about the book. The fact that it, like many of the Sherlock Holmes stories, are told from the point of view of Watson instead of from the third person perspective diminishes the book to some degree. The author in essence took the easy way out of telling detective stories from the point of view from someone who doesn't know about solving mysteries--in other words, the author--Sir Conan Doyle--apparently did not know about what he was writing about. Mysteries were being solved sometimes as quickly as he was being given the facts--and there were quite a few facts that the reader is never given but yet what Sherlock Holmes apparently "knew." I'm someone who likes to try to solve the mystery along the way as I'm reading, and with most of the stories, that just isn't possible. With the exception of the last story in the book, which I would have to say is my favorite, which can be solved easily by reading it. Maybe that means it's too predictable or the plot has been overdone many times throughout the years, I don't know. In these stories, you will find the story of the women who was able to defeat Sherlock Holmes, the mention of his drug addiction, as well as his axom of "once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, most be the truth."
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Short stories that are about non-murder mysteries on the whole and are enjoyable to read if not for the pre-1900 descriptions, but for Sherlock's deductions. An Australian link to one of the stories as well.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Sherlock Holmes posses an uncanny knowledge of almost everything, which allows him to see through every case. My personal favorite of the short stories was A Scandal in Bohemian, featuring the only woman to ever outsmart Sherlock Holmes...while The Adventure of the Speckled Band kept me on the edge of my seat. This is a must read for any mystery fan.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    These are some fun and sometimes weird little stories that showcase not only Holmes' ability to solve mysteries, but also his relationship with Watson. The only down side that they do tend to be off the beaten track of Holmes actually catching a criminal and mostly around him figuring something out that doesn't result in anyone being brought to justice. Still fun reading though.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    For Christmas, I ordered an mp3 player (Library of Classics) that was pre-loaded with 100 works of classic literature in an audio format. Each work is in the public domain and is read by amateurs, so the quality of the presentation is hit or miss. This work contains twelve different Sherlock Holmes cases:1. A Scandal in Bohemia2. The Red-Headed League3. A Case of Identity4. The Boscombe Valley Mystery5. The Five Orange Pips6. The Man with the Twisted Lip7. The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle8. The Adventure of the Speckled Band9. The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb10. The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor11. The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet12. The Adventure of the Copper BeechesThey are all moderately entertaining, if not spectacular.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I read this ages ago...when I was but an egg. But Sherlock stands to time and Doyle has a very interesting way into a story. But you should read the Hound of the Baskervilles first. That first chapter is all you will ever need to know about critical thinking.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    These twelve adventures made for fun reading. The writing style is quaint, sometimes I found it amusing that the people who came to Sherlock with their problems told their tales as if they were novelists. Holmes is an intriguing character.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    These are the first Sherlock Holmes short stories--twelve of them--that first appeared in the magazine The Strand from 1891 to 1892. This presents Doyle at the top of his game with Holmes, and it was one of the short stories in this volume, "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" that was my introduction to Holmes when it was assigned in school. I'd definitely name that story as a standout, although I think my favorite might very well be the first story, "A Scandal in Bohemia" where the famously misogynistic Holmes is impressed by Irene Adler who manages to outwit him--not something you'd often see. I'd also call "The Red-Headed League" among the most memorable Sherlock Holmes story, although there's not one story in this volume I didn't love. Even more than the Holmes novels, its these short stories that made me fall in love with Holmes--and his "Boswell" Doctor James Watson--Holmes friend and our narrator and sharper and more insightful in these stories than the reputation he gained from the films.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the first volume of short stories, containing the stories written after the Sign of Four and published in the Strand. Doyle's style is enhanced, I think, by the abbreviated style - The Sign of Four and A Study in Scarlet both had the same problem with dragging and tedious narrative in the second act, while the short stories simply have no room for wandering digression. They still aren't at top form, though, I think, though they are fabulous. Doyle has an excellent turn for description; "All day the wind had screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like untamed beasts in a cage." Some of my favorites in this collection are The Adventure of the Red-Headed League (hilarious!), The Adventure of the Speckled Band, The Adventure of the Copper Beeches and The Boscombe Valley Mystery, which are all rife with an intriguing mystery and dramatic intent. We see the extent to which Holmes has come to depend on Watson, as well, and are introduced to more of the man's peculiar habits - cocaine, bending steel pokers, and loitering in opium dens which makes for a hilarious opening sequence (even in a rather lackluster story).
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is one of my most favorite re-reads. I enjoy picking up this tome and running through one of Sir Arthur's stories and being taken to a time past. The words bring me to London (or elsewhere) in a time before tech. I can see Holmes and Watson talking in the sitting room, looking at evidence. The twists and turns are enjoyable, as is the vast cast of characters we are introduced to. A great read for bedtime for young readers.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have read a few other Sherlock Holmes stories in school and was interested in reading more so this seemed like a good compendium. I like that the stories are short and you can pick them up on and off. I think they are most enjoyed once-and-a-while as opposed to straight-through, as they can became tedious and unexciting.I listened to this in audiobook format thanks to LibriVox. The reader was ok but obviously not a professional.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I enjoyed immensely the first few stories about Holmes however by the end of the book some of the themes were recurring and tedious. Holmes and Watson are a wonderful team and I do enjoy Holmes deductions. I did find some of Watson's preamble a little unnecessary but overall this book was an entertaining read.