Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was a Scottish physician and writer known around the world for his stories about detective Sherlock Holmes, which all but created the literary field of crime fiction and made the name Sherlock Holmes synonymous with detectives. Aside from the Sherlock Holmes stories, he was a prolific writer whose other works include science fiction stories, historical novels, plays and romances, poetry, and non-fiction.
Conan Doyle wrote four full length Sherlock Holmes novels: A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and The Valley of Death. But the famous detective was so popular that Conan Doyle also wrote dozens of short stories. The Return of Sherlock Holmes was first published in 1905 by Georges Newnes, Ltd and in a Colonial edition by Longmans. This was the first Holmes collection since 1893, when Holmes had "died" in "The Adventure of the Final Problem". Having published The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1901–1902 (although setting it before Holmes' death) Doyle came under intense pressure to revive his famous character.
This collection contains stories set from 1894, giving Holmes the period from 1891-94 to explain "The Great Hiatus." Also of note is Watson's statement at the end of the cycle that Holmes has retired, and forbids him to publish any more stories.
• "The Adventure of the Empty House" (the return of Holmes)
• "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder"
• "The Adventure of the Dancing Men"
• "The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist"
• "The Adventure of the Priory School"
• "The Adventure of Black Peter"
• "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton"
• "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons"
• "The Adventure of the Three Students"
• "The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez"
• "The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter"
• "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange"
• "The Adventure of the Second Stain
This edition of The Return of Sherlock Holmes is specially formatted with a Table of Contents and includes images of Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, and scenes from the stories.
