The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

Mystery and thriller

First published: 1927
Print length: 302 pagesPenguin Books, 2019

Description

Arthur Conan Doyle's The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes is the author's final collection of twelve Sherlock Holmes short stories. The volume gathers cases involving strange clients and a notably varied set of mysteries. Among them are a blanched soldier, a Sussex vampire, a creeping man, and a retired colourman. These unusual figures and problems provide the collection's clearest distinguishing details, while its place as Doyle's final Holmes story collection gives it a definite position within the series. Readers looking for several Sherlock Holmes cases in one volume will find twelve stories assembled here.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Atmospheric · Descriptive · Direct

Pace

Brisk

Tone

Atmospheric · Cerebral · Eerie · Suspenseful

Structure

Anthology · Episodic

Focus

Character · Mystery · Plot

Emotional intensity

2 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 3 / 5
Ideas: 2 / 5
Structure: 2 / 5
Background knowledge: 1 / 5

Themes

Crime and punishmentJusticeKnowledge and truthMoralityObsession

About Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle was a British physician and prolific writer whose fiction ranges from detective stories and historical novels to scientific adventure. His characteristic method begins with a disturbance that seems baffling or uncanny, then advances through physical clues, competing explanations, and brisk disclosure. In the Sherlock Holmes stories, Watson’s first-person accounts make deduction legible without reducing each case to a diagram. His admiration, curiosity, and concern for clients place Holmes’s analytical detachment within a durable human partnership. The compact cases in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes turn photographs, jobs, letters, identities, and ordinary objects into evidence, moving quickly from a visitor’s account to inquiry and solution. Doyle could also stretch this method into atmosphere. The Hound of the Baskervilles sets rational investigation against a family legend, using the isolation of Dartmoor, delayed information, and Watson’s limited vantage to sustain uncertainty. Beyond Holmes, The Lost World transfers his interest in testing extraordinary claims to an expedition narrative, where professional rivalry, field observation, and survival propel the plot.