I found Holmes as a really obnoxious character. I read The Hound of the Baskervilles which is supposedly one of the greatest mysteries ever written but I really found no mystery to it. I don't think I'll be reading any Doyle anytime soon.

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hehe, berhubung gak ketemu versi Indo nya, langsung yg 4 seri ini aja deh!
I love Study in Scarlet!when Sherlock and Dr. Watson met for d first time.=D

Wonderful collection of all the short stories in the Sherlock Holmes canon. Nicely illustrated and annotated.

I actually read these in a different, older collection, and will write only about The Valley of Fear, which is the one I just finished. The first three novels are classic Holmes stories. The Valley of Fear has a first part done in the classic tradition and a second part that fills in the back story of one of the characters. It's notable for two reasons. The solution to the mystery in the first part was used in a famous mystery published nearly 30 years later (and subsequently made into a great film); you have to wonder if the second author was aware of Doyle's story. And the second part of Valley of Fear features more bloodshed and mayhem than I would ever have expected from Doyle. It's still a mystery done at Doyle's high (if now somewhat dated) standard, but it doesn't match the general atmosphere of other Holmes stories, in which the crimes are more neatly contained and less gruesome. Maybe Doyle was reacting to the horrors of the First World War?