1007. The Valley of Fear (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Dust jacket illustration -- not sure if this is for the first edition

Synopsis:
The Valley of Fear is the final Sherlock Holmes novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The story was first published in the Strand Magazine between September 1914 and May 1915. The first book edition was published in New York on February 27, 1915.

The plot of the novel is based very loosely on the real-life activities of the Molly Maguires and, particularly, of Pinkerton agent James McParland. The novel is divided into two parts: in the first, Holmes investigates an apparent murder and discovers that the body belongs to another man; and in the second, the story of the man originally thought to have been the victim is told.

My rating: 4 stars

Publication information:

• Publisher: George H. Doran Company (UK)
  
• Publication date: 1915

707. The Sign of Four (Arthur Conan Doyle)

Synopsis from Amazon UK:
As a dense yellow fog swirls through the streets of London, a deep melancholy has descended on Sherlock Holmes, who sits in a cocaine-induced haze at 221B Baker Street. His mood is only lifted by a visit from a beautiful but distressed young woman Mary Morstan, whose father vanished ten years before. Four years later she began to receive an exquisite gift every year: a large, lustrous pearl. Now she has had an intriguing invitation to meet her unknown benefactor and urges Holmes and Watson to accompany her. And in the ensuing investigation which involves a wronged woman, a stolen hoard of Indian treasure, a wooden-legged ruffian, a helpful dog and a love affair even the jaded Holmes is moved to exclaim, "Isn't it gorgeous!"

My rating: 4 stars

Publication information:

• 1890
• Spenser Blackett
• London
  
• Red cloth with black lettering & designs
  
• Black endpapers
  
• Issue points:
• Contents page reads '13' instead of '138'
• 'wished' shows as 'w shed' on page 56

686. The Lost World (Arthur Conan Doyle)

Cover of first edition

Synopsis from Amazon UK:
Headed by the larger than life figure of Professor Challenger, a scientific expedition sets out to explore a plateau in South America that remains frozen in time from the days when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Seemingly impossible to penetrate, this lost word holds great danger for the four men, whether from fiendish ape-men or terrifying prehistoric creatures.

My rating: 5 stars

Publication information:

• 1912
• London
• Hodder & Stoughton
  

483. A Study in Scarlet (Arthur Conan Doyle)

Cover of first edition

Synopsis from Amazon UK:
Convalescing in London after a disastrous experience of war in Afghanistan, Dr John Watson finds himself sharing rooms with his enigmatic new acquaintance, Sherlock Holmes. But their quiet bachelor life at 221B Baker Street is soon interrupted by the grisly discovery of a dead man in a grimy ill-omened' house in south-east London, his face contorted by an expression of horror and hatred such as Watson has never seen before. On the wall, the word rache German for revenge' is written in blood, yet there are no wounds on the victim or signs of a struggle. Watson's head is in a whirl, but the formidable Holmes relishes this challenge to his deductive powers, and so begins their famous investigative partnership.

My rating: 4 stars

Publication information:

• 1887
• Beeton's Christmas Annual
• Paper wrappers - priced at 1 shilling
  

467. The Hound of the Baskervilles (Arthur Conan Doyle)

Cover of first edition

Synopsis from Amazon:
We owe 1902's The Hound of the Baskervilles to Arthur Conan Doyle's good friend Fletcher "Bobbles" Robinson, who took him to visit some scary English moors and prehistoric ruins, and told him marvelous local legends about escaped prisoners and a 17th-century aristocrat who fell afoul of the family dog. Doyle transmogrified the legend: generations ago, a hound of hell tore out the throat of devilish Hugo Baskerville on the moonlit moor. Poor, accursed Baskerville Hall now has another mysterious death: that of Sir Charles Baskerville. Could the culprit somehow be mixed up with secretive servant Barrymore, history-obsessed Dr. Frankland, butterfly-chasing Stapleton, or Selden, the Notting Hill murderer at large? Someone's been signaling with candles from the mansion's windows. Nor can supernatural forces be ruled out. Can Dr. Watson -- left alone by Sherlock Holmes to sleuth in fear for much of the novel -- save the next Baskerville, Sir Henry, from the hound's fangs?

My rating: 4 stars

Publication information:

• 1902
• George Newnes in London
• 243 pp