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  • Published: 27 November 2009
  • ISBN: 9780141040288
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 1136
  • RRP: $49.99

The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes

Including A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Valley of Fear and fifty-six short stories




On the release of Guy Ritchie's film, a stunning reissue of the much-loved complete stories with a new foreword from Ruth Rendell

Sherlock Holmes is not only the most famous character in crime fiction, but arguably the most famous character in all fiction. In sixty adventures that pit his extraordinary wits and courage against foreign spies, blackmailers, cultists, petty thieves, murderers, swindlers, policemen (both stupid and clever), and his arch-nemesis Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes, together with his faithful sidekick Doctor John H. Watson, proves himself to be not only the quintessential detective but also the most engaging and entertaining company any reader could ask for. This beautiful new edition contains a new foreword by Ruth Rendell

  • Published: 27 November 2009
  • ISBN: 9780141040288
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 1136
  • RRP: $49.99

About the author

Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 in Edinburgh. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and began to write stories while he was a student.Over his life he produced more than thirty books, 150 short stories, poems, plays and essays across a wide range of genres. His most famous creation is the detective Sherlock Holmes, who he introduced in his first novel A Study in Scarlet (1887). This was followed in 1889 by an historical novel, Micah Clarke. In 1893 Conan Doyle published 'The Final Problem' in which he killed off his famous detective so that he could turn his attention more towards historical fiction. However Holmes was so popular that Conan Doyle eventually relented and published The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1901. The events of the The Hound of the Baskervilles are set before those of 'The Final Problem' but in 1903 new Sherlock Holmes stories began to appear that revealed that the detective had not died after all. He was finally retired in 1927. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died on 7 July 1930.

Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 in Edinburgh into a prosperous Irish family. He trained as a doctor, gaining his degree from Edinburgh University in 1881. He worked as a surgeon on a whaling boat and also as a medical officer on a steamer travelling between Liverpool and West Africa. He then settled in Portsmouth on the English south coast and divided his time between medicine and writing.

Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance in A Study of Scarlet, published in 'Beeton's Christmas Annual' in 1887. Its success encouraged Conan Doyle to write more stories involving Holmes but, in 1893, Conan Doyle killed off Holmes, hoping to concentrate on more serious writing. A public outcry later made him resurrect Holmes. In addition, Conan Doyle wrote a number of other novels, including The Lost World and various non-fictional works. These included a pamphlet justifying Britain's involvement in the Boer War, for which he was knighted and histories of the Boer War and World War One, in which his son, brother and two of his nephews were killed. Conan Doyle also twice ran unsuccessfully for parliament. In later life he became very interested in spiritualism.

Conan Doyle died of a heart attack on 7 July 1930.

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Praise for The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes

Holmes is a mesmerising creation and Conan Doyle a master storyteller

The Times

The immense talent, passion and literary brilliance that Conan Doyle brought to his work gives him a unique place in English letters... Personally, I'd walk a million in tight boots just to read his letters to the milkman.

Stephen Fry

Why do people still read Sherlock Holmes in an age of DNA testing and electron microscopes? It's elementary. Holmes has a timeless intelligence that puts him head, shoulders and deer-stalker above all other detectives

Alexander McCall Smith

I read every Sherlock Holmes story...they have certainly found a permanent place in English literature

Winston Churchill

The world's most famous detective

Ruth Rendell

The brilliance of the stories lies in the relationship between Holmes and Watson, which is both funny and touching

Jonathan Coe

Now, as in his lifetime, cab drivers, statesmen, academics, and raggedy-arsed children sit spellbound at his feet... No wonder, then, if the pairing of Holmes and Watson has triggered more imitators than any other duo in literature

John Le Carre