RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, THE

Ten years after the supposed death of Sherlock Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls, Arthur Conan Doyle was to bow to popular pressure and the large fees offered by publishers to revive the detective's career. To the astonishment of Dr Watson and the delight of his readers Holmes returns to Baker Street, explains how he escaped death at the Falls and is ready to commence detective work once more. Doyle provided a rich and fascinating set of mysteries to challenge his sleuth in this collection. As before, Watson is the superb narrator and his magic remains unchanged and undimmed. In His Last Bow, the final story of this collection, we are told how Sherlock Holmes is brought out of retirement to help the Government fight the German threat at the approach of the First World War. It is the last time that Holmes and Watson work together. As well as his witty and illuminating Afterword to this edition, David Stuart Davies, the illustrious editor of Sherlock magazine, has provided a fascinating chronology of the Sherlock Holmes Stories.