The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
FictionMysteryClassicsShort Stories
15 chapters·11h 7m listening
4.27from 72,666 ratingson Goodreads
"The Return of Sherlock Holmes" by Arthur Conan Doyle is a collection of 13 stories published in 1905. After Holmes's apparent death in 1893, Doyle faced intense pressure to revive his famous detective. This collection marks the character's dramatic comeback, beginning with Holmes reappearing in London and explaining his mysterious absence from 1891 to 1894. The stories follow the detective and Watson through new cases of murder, blackmail, and cryptic mysteries across England.
Contains spoilers for the entire book
- Themes
- Atmosphere
About the book
Published in 1905, The Return of Sherlock Holmes collects thirteen stories that first appeared in The Strand Magazine in 1903 and 1904. In the first, “The Adventure of the Empty House”, Holmes reappears in London three years after he was believed to have died at the Reichenbach Falls, and resumes his partnership with Dr. Watson. The cases that follow include the coded stick figures of “The Dancing Men”, the busts smashed across London in “The Six Napoleons”, the blackmailer of “Charles Augustus Milverton” and the missing schoolboy of “The Priory School”. Arthur Conan Doyle’s return to his detective gave readers some of the best-loved stories in the canon.
Characters
Sherlock Holmes — Detective
The consulting detective returns to London and resumes a series of difficult investigations.
Dr. John Watson — Companion and narrator
Holmes's friend and chronicler, drawn back into their shared work after a long separation.
Inspector Lestrade — Police inspector
A Scotland Yard detective whose cases bring him repeatedly into partnership with Holmes.
Colonel Sebastian Moran — The Empty House
A former soldier and expert marksman connected with London's criminal underworld.
Charles Augustus Milverton — Blackmailer
A calculating dealer in private secrets whose threats place a client in Holmes's hands.
About the author
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was a Scottish physician who began writing Sherlock Holmes stories while waiting for patients who did not come. He modelled the detective on Joseph Bell, an Edinburgh surgeon who could name a stranger's trade and recent travels from the state of his hands and boots. Doyle thought his historical novels the serious work, killed Holmes off at the Reichenbach Falls in 1893, and was pushed into resurrecting him by public protest and a great deal of money. He spent his last decades campaigning for spiritualism, and twice for men he believed wrongly convicted.