The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle · 1892
This book is rated Ages 10+. It isn't available on your library card.
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson take on London's strangest cases: a king's stolen photograph and the one woman who outwitted Holmes, a league that pays men for red hair, a Christmas goose with a jewel inside, and a deadly whistle in the night.
Characters
Sherlock Holmes
The brilliant, cool-headed consulting detective of Baker Street, who reads a person's history in a cuff, a hat or a callus.
Dr. Watson
Holmes's loyal friend and chronicler, a steady former army doctor who is always ready to follow him into danger.
Irene Adler
A beautiful, quick-witted former opera singer whose photograph with a king makes her the most talked-about woman in Europe.
the King of Bohemia
A towering, masked royal visitor who comes to Baker Street desperate to recover a compromising photograph before his wedding.
Jabez Wilson
A stout, fiery-haired pawnbroker whose lucky place in the curious Red-Headed League brings him to Holmes, deeply puzzled.
Vincent Spaulding
Wilson's clever, eager young assistant, who works for half wages and spends a surprising amount of time in the cellar.
Duncan Ross
The flame-haired little manager of the Red-Headed League, who hires Wilson for a strangely easy and well-paid job.
Helen Stoner
A frightened young woman, grey before her time, who comes to Holmes about eerie whistles in the night at her country home.
Dr. Grimesby Roylott
Helen's huge, violent-tempered stepfather, a doctor back from India who keeps a baboon and a cheetah loose on his estate.
Peterson
An honest commissionaire who brings Holmes a battered hat and a Christmas goose, which turns out to hold a startling surprise.
Henry Baker
A shabby but dignified scholar of fallen fortunes, who lost his hat and his Christmas goose in a street scuffle.
James Ryder
A small, nervous hotel attendant who takes a very keen interest in what happened to a certain goose.
About the story
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes collects twelve short mysteries first published in The Strand Magazine and gathered into a book in 1892. Dr. John Watson tells each one as he watches his friend Sherlock Holmes work from their rooms at 221B Baker Street. Holmes can read a stranger's life from a scuffed shoe, a tattoo or a worn coat sleeve. His clients range from a foreign king worried about an old photograph, to a pawnbroker hired by an odd society of red-headed men, to a man whose lost hat and Christmas goose lead to something far more valuable.
The stories are set in late-Victorian London, among gas-lit streets, hansom cabs, fog, grand houses and shabby back squares. Their themes include reason against appearances, the gap between respectable surfaces and hidden motives, and the friendship between a brilliant, restless mind and a loyal companion.
These tales did more than any other work to shape the modern detective story. Holmes's method of close observation and logical deduction became the model for countless fictional detectives. The stories are short and witty, full of vivid characters, and they still read quickly and with pleasure more than a century later.
This is a condensed picture-book retelling in 294 illustrated pages, with about 76 minutes of synthetic-voice narration and AI illustrations drawn for this edition. Arthur Conan Doyle's full original text is free in the public domain and well worth reading too.
Adapted from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (1892), public domain.
Questions
What is The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes about?
It is a collection of twelve short mysteries in which the detective Sherlock Holmes, with his friend Dr. Watson, solves puzzling cases brought to him in Victorian London. Each story stands on its own, and together they show off Holmes's famous powers of observation and deduction.
Who is the main character?
Sherlock Holmes, a brilliant consulting detective who lives at 221B Baker Street. The stories are told by his friend and companion, Dr. John Watson.
Is this book suitable for children?
This edition is rated 10+. The stories involve crimes, deception and occasional danger, including guns and tense confrontations, but there is little graphic violence. Older children and teens who enjoy puzzles usually find them a good fit.
How long does this edition take to read or listen to?
This illustrated edition has 294 pages and about 76 minutes of narration, so it can be enjoyed in one long sitting or a few shorter ones.
Is this the complete book?
No. This is a condensed retelling of the stories that keeps the main events and many of the original lines. The complete original text is in the public domain and freely available to read.
Stories
- A Scandal in Bohemia70 pp · 17 min
- The Red-headed League76 pp · 22 min
- The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle64 pp · 15 min
- The Adventure of the Speckled Band84 pp · 21 min
Read the text version: every page's caption, with its picture, on one page.
