The Return of Sherlock Holmes

Conan Doyle's 1905 collection brings Sherlock Holmes back after his apparent death, with thirteen new cases narrated by Dr Watson.

Author

Arthur Conan Doyle

First published

1905

Setting

Edwardian London

Genre

Detective fiction

Read it if you like

Classic detective cases, with Holmes's famous comeback.

On screen and stage

Granada TV series (1984–94), BBC's Sherlock (2010)

Overview

After Conan Doyle sent Holmes over the Reichenbach Falls in 1893, public demand led him to revive the detective. The Return of Sherlock Holmes opens with The Adventure of the Empty House, in which Holmes reappears and explains how he survived, and continues with cases such as The Dancing Men and The Six Napoleons.

Themes

• Return and revival
• Deduction and disguise
• Loyalty between Holmes and Watson

Background

Holmes's death in The Final Problem (1893) was meant to end the series. Readers protested, and Conan Doyle revived him first in the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, which is set before his death, and then with these stories from 1903.

Why it endures

The collection shows the character's second life and contains some of the most famous cases. The reappearance in the Empty House is a well-known moment in crime fiction.

Quotes