I have long treasured my 1938 edition of The Complete Sherlock Holmes, which belonged to my grandfather and which I devoured well over 40 years ago as a child recovering from the measles. However, its tome-like bulk and aging thin pages have deterred me from rereading it. So how could I pass up this collection, originally selected by the author for a 1927 issue of the Strand Magazine as his twelve favorites?

Of course I was happy that the story I remember most vividly, "The Speckled Band," was number one in the list, followed by one I remember almost as well, "The Red-Headed League," and then by others, including the famous story in which Conan Doyle tried to get rid of Sherlock Holmes, as well as the one he wrote when popular protest encouraged him to bring Holmes back. Some came back to me as I read them and there were a few that I had completely forgotten. But the happiest surprise was that I enjoyed these stories just as much as I did when I first read them, perhaps more because I could appreciate the writing, characterization, and portrait of a time gone by as much as the plots and detective work. A fun read.