What are your favorite Sherlock Holmes short stories?

[elegantlion]

I'd like to read about 5 individual stories for next year, but not sure if we should just proceed through them in order to pick a few good ones.

 

What are your favorites? We've been watching BBC's Sherlock (love!) if that matters.

[Jen in PA]

Silver Blaze is one of my favorites, plus it has the famous "dog barking in the night" exchange. It is hard to narrow down other favorites, but The Speckled Band is a great closed room mystery, and I think The Yellow Face is good for showing the human side of Holmes.

[Lori D.]

Since you're enjoying the BBC series, you might enjoy reading the Doyle stories on which some of the TV stories are based:

 

- "A Study in Scarlet"

(Sherlock! season 1 story "A Study in Pink"). This was Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes tale, in which we are introduced to the characters of Holmes and Watson. This is a short NOVEL, rather than a short story.

 

- "A Scandal in Bohemia"

(Sherlock! season 2 story "A Scandal in Belgravia"). We meet the infamous Irene Adler in this short story.

 

- "The Hound of the Baskervilles"

(Sherlock! season 2 story "Hounds of Baskerville"). Again, this is a novella, rather than a short story.

 

- "The Final Problem"

(Sherlock! season 2 story "The Reichenbach Fall"). A short story.

 

Other of the Sherlock! episodes tend to just reference several short stories by Doyle.

 

 

Jen in PA listed some great short stories to get you started. They are in these collections: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In addition to the ones Jen mentioned, I also enjoyed the stories of "The Red-Headed League" and "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle".

 

And for a fun extra, after reading a number of Sherlock Holmes stories, you might enjoy reading some Father Brown mysteries by G.K. Chesterton, to see Chesterton's love of paradox. (I recommend the first 6 stories in The Innocence of Father Brown, as you are introduced to the characters in these. They are all quite short, so you may even have time to enjoy the whole collection.) And then read Chesterton's collection of 6 short stories, The Club of Queer Trades, which gently parodies Holmes and Watson and are quite fun stories.

 

Chesterton was quite the champion for mystery writing, and for insisting on internal coherence the ability to solve them from clues provided; his thoughts on the structure for mystery stories set a standard for the mystery writers who followed him. His short mysteries were published about a decade after the last of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, and so Chesterton is also credited with helping to keep the genre alive and kicking. :)

 

Happy mystery reading! Warmly, Lori D.

[Ellie]

The Speckled Band. That was creepy and exciting altogether, lol.

[Jane in NC]

All of them?

 

If you are going to limit yourself, I think Lori's idea of reading the ones that were updated in the recent BBC series might be fun. For us though Sherlock Holmes stories provide a pleasant distraction. If you or your son feel bogged down by some heavy duty ready, a Sherlock short story (even read aloud) can offer some enjoyable entertainment.

[elegantlion]

Silver Blaze is one of my favorites, plus it has the famous "dog barking in the night" exchange. It is hard to narrow down other favorites, but The Speckled Band is a great closed room mystery, and I think The Yellow Face is good for showing the human side of Holmes.

 

 

Thank you. I'll start my reading with these :D

Since you're enjoying the BBC series, you might enjoy reading the Doyle stories on which some of the TV stories are based:

 

- "A Study in Scarlet"

(Sherlock! season 1 story "A Study in Pink"). This was Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes tale, in which we are introduced to the characters of Holmes and Watson. This is a short NOVEL, rather than a short story.

 

- "A Scandal in Bohemia"

(Sherlock! season 2 story "A Scandal in Belgravia"). We meet the infamous Irene Adler in this short story.

 

- "The Hound of the Baskervilles"

(Sherlock! season 2 story "Hounds of Baskerville"). Again, this is a novella, rather than a short story.

 

- "The Final Problem"

(Sherlock! season 2 story "The Reichenbach Fall"). A short story.

 

Other of the Sherlock! episodes tend to just reference several short stories by Doyle.

 

 

Jen in PA listed some great short stories to get you started. They are in these collections: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In addition to the ones Jen mentioned, I also enjoyed the stories of "The Red-Headed League" and "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle".

 

And for a fun extra, after reading a number of Sherlock Holmes stories, you might enjoy reading some Father Brown mysteries by G.K. Chesterton, to see Chesterton's love of paradox. (I recommend the first 6 stories in The Innocence of Father Brown, as you are introduced to the characters in these. They are all quite short, so you may even have time to enjoy the whole collection.) And then read Chesterton's collection of 6 short stories, The Club of Queer Trades, which gently parodies Holmes and Watson and are quite fun stories.

 

Chesterton was quite the champion for mystery writing, and for insisting on internal coherence the ability to solve them from clues provided; his thoughts on the structure for mystery stories set a standard for the mystery writers who followed him. His short mysteries were published about a decade after the last of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, and so Chesterton is also credited with helping to keep the genre alive and kicking. :)

 

Happy mystery reading! Warmly, Lori D.

 

 

Thank you, Lori. We read A Study in Scarlet last year, great fun, loved the modern Study in Pink.

 

The Speckled Band. That was creepy and exciting altogether, lol.

 

 

Two votes! We love creepy and exciting.

 

All of them?

 

If you are going to limit yourself, I think Lori's idea of reading the ones that were updated in the recent BBC series might be fun. For us though Sherlock Holmes stories provide a pleasant distraction. If you or your son feel bogged down by some heavy duty ready, a Sherlock short story (even read aloud) can offer some enjoyable entertainment.

 

 

My hope is that we'll do a few together and he'll take off with the book on his own. We will do them as read aloud, the few we do together. I may make him read Holmes and I'll be Watson, which is pretty much the real life dynamic as well.

[BarbecueMom]

Series 3 of BBC Sherlock is supposedly starting off with an adaptation of The Adventure of the Empty House, if you wanted to read that before the episode airs.

[Ellie]

I'd like to read about 5 individual stories for next year, but not sure if we should just proceed through them in order to pick a few good ones.

 

What are your favorites? We've been watching BBC's Sherlock (love!) if that matters.

 

Although they're not truly chronological, still it isn't a bad idea to start at the beginning, with a Study in Scarlet. Then at least you'll know how Holmes and Watson meet in the first place. :-)

[elegantlion]

Series 3 of BBC Sherlock is supposedly starting off with an adaptation of The Adventure of the Empty House, if you wanted to read that before the episode airs.

 

Thank you. I'm already going through withdrawal of the show and I've seen each episode twice.

 

 

 

Although they're not truly chronological, still it isn't a bad idea to start at the beginning, with a Study in Scarlet. Then at least you'll know how Holmes and Watson meet in the first place. :-)

 

We did read that one last year, quite enjoyable.

[Ellie]

We did read that one last year, quite enjoyable.

 

 

Kewl.

 

Then I'd just read them in order: A Study in Scarlet, then The Sign of the Four, then the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, then The Hound of the Baskervilles....and see what happens from there. :-)

 

Novels

 

• A Study in Scarlet (published 1887, in Beeton's Christmas Annual)

• The Sign of the Four (published 1890, Lippincott's Monthly Magazine)

• The Hound of the Baskervilles (serialised 1901–1902 in The Strand)

• The Valley of Fear (serialised 1914–1915 in The Strand)

 

Short stories

 

The short stories, originally published in periodicals, were later gathered into five anthologies:

• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (contains stories published 1891–1892 in The Strand)

• The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (contains stories published 1892–1893 in The Strand as further episodes of the Adventures)

• The Return of Sherlock Holmes (contains stories published 1903–1904 in The Strand)

• The Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes (including His Last Bow) (contains stories published 1908–1913 and 1917)

• The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (contains stories published 1921–1927)

 

[Lori D.]

Thank you. I'm already going through withdrawal of the show and I've seen each episode twice.

 

 

I know. My family can hardly stand it, having to wait so long again...

 

Thankfully, we have Doctor Who in there to distract. ;) However, we've almost finished the most recent season... :ohmy:

[elegantlion]

 

 

I know. My family can hardly stand it, having to wait so long again...

 

Thankfully, we have Doctor Who in there to distract. ;) However, we've almost finished the most recent season... :ohmy:

 

 

We're through part 1 of series 7, I'm waiting until it's over to buy part 2. I'm trying to avoid spoilers.

[BarbecueMom]

 

 

We're through part 1 of series 7, I'm waiting until it's over to buy part 2. I'm trying to avoid spoilers.

 

Careful if you're on Pinterest or anything. Some copies of the S7 Part 2 DVDs were accidentally shipped early. So far, those people seem to be keeping their mouths shut as far as finale spoilers. We'll see if they make it to Saturday. BBC promised a video after the episode airs from the 50th anniversary filming if finale spoilers stay off the internetz.