Arthur Conan Doyle is the author of the iconic Sherlock Holmes stories, which have become a cultural fixture in literature. They first appeared in print in 1887 with Conan Doyle’s novel A Study in Scarlet. Many will have read or considered picking up the London detective’s complete case files. However, with a canon of 56 short stories in total, it can be tricky to know where to start. Here, we have compiled recommendations from the author himself, who listed his five favourites in The Strand Magazine in 1927, where the character’s popularity first blew up. This is Conan Doyle’s top five Sherlock Holmes stories.
5. A Scandal in Bohemia
The book’s synopsis reads: “Holmes is hired by the King of Bohemia to recover blackmail evidence, held by the woman whom the king once promised to marry, but abandoned for a woman of noble birth. Can he do it? How will he do it?”
As it was the first short story in the series, “it opened the path for the others,” said Conan Doyle, adding “it has more female interest than is usual”.
4. The Final Problem
The blurb states: “Sherlock Holmes has determined that there is a diabolical mastermind behind the criminal activities in London. It’s Professor Moriarty. The two men of genius pursue each other towards a final showdown.
“The Final Problem is a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his detective character Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in ‘Strand Magazine’ in December 1893. It appears in book form as part of the collection The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle later ranked “The Final Problem” fourth on his personal list of the twelve best Holmes stories.”
On the choice Conan Doyle said: “We could hardly leave out the story which deals with the only foe who ever really extended Holmes, and which deceived the public (and Watson) into the erroneous inference of his death.”
3. The Adventure of the Dancing Men
“One of the more famous short stories in the Sherlock Holmes collection. A sensation when first published in 1903. It was Doyle’s third favourite of all his Holmes stories.
“Mr. Hilton Cubitt of Norfolk visits Holmes and Watson about little drawings looking like dancing men which have been appearing in letters and at his home. He’s anxious but is new wife Elsie is terrified. Can the famous detective be of assistance?”
2. The Redheaded League
The story follows: “Pawnshop owner Jabez Wilson who hires Holmes to investigate the abrupt dissolution of the Red-Headed League, a peculiar organization that paid him handsomely for copying the Encyclopedia Britannica. Holmes realizes Wilson’s assistant, Vincent Spaulding, is actually the criminal John Clay, and the League was a ruse to get Wilson out of his shop while Clay and his accomplices dug a tunnel from the pawnshop’s basement to a nearby bank to steal its French gold. Holmes, Watson, and Inspector Jones stop the thieves in the bank’s cellar, preventing the robbery.”
Conan Doyle put his second and third options on the list due to “the originality of the plot” in both cases.
1. The Adventure of the Speckled Band
The story’s synopsis reads: “A classic adventure from the casebook of Sherlock Holmes, the world’s most famous private detective.
“When Helen Stoner hears the same low whistle and strange metallic clang that heralded the death of her twin sister Julia, she knows of only one man who can unravel the mystery and prevent a second death in the family – the great Sherlock Holmes.”
Conan Doyle described his first choice as “a grim story” that “I am sure will be on every list”.