The story opens with the murder of Ronald Adair.
(1905) The Return of Sherlock Holmes London: Georges Newnes, Ltd Chapter I: “The Adventure of the Empty House” Also of note is Watson's statement in the last story of the cycle that Holmes has retired, and forbids him to publish any more stories.ĭoyle, A.C. The first story is set in 1894 and has Holmes returning in London and explaining the period from 1891–1894, a period called "The Great Hiatus" by Sherlockian enthusiasts. Having published The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1901–1902, which was set before Holmes' "death", Doyle came under intense pressure to revive his famous character. I listened to Derek Jacobi narrating them this time, and he really is the perfect Watson, as well as creating a full range of voices and personalities for all the other many characters who cross the pages.The book was first published in 1905 and was the first Holmes collection since 1893, when Holmes had "died" in "The Final Problem". And the relationship between Holmes and his admiring friend Watson is always a joy. That rather negative introduction shouldn’t put new readers off though – even the weaker Holmes stories are always well worth reading, simply for ACD’s easy, flowing writing style which makes anything he writes a pleasure to read. In the later volumes I feel he got back into his stride and came up with more imaginative and dramatic scenarios – some so imaginative, admittedly, that they test credibility to the breaking point, but more exciting on the whole. Forced by popular sentiment and commercial realities to resuscitate Holmes after the unfortunate drowning incident at the Reichenbach Falls, I always have the feeling that Conan Doyle’s heart wasn’t really in it at this stage – some of these are a bit bland in terms of plot.
This is the third volume of Holmes short stories, and in my opinion the weakest overall, although it still has several good stories in it.
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