After his plunge to oblivion over the Reichen- bach Falls, Sherlock Holmes's return was inevitable. However distracting the detective's popularity may have been to Conan Doyle in his pursuit of more 'serious' literary objectives, he found irresistible the flash of an idea that put the case of The Hound of the Baskervilles into Holmes's capable hands. Carefully setting the novel before Reichenbach, Conan Doyle never- theless laid himself open to persuasion to produce a resurrection. And the return was spectacular: Holmes coolly foiling 'the second most dangerous' criminal, and unquestionably the best shot, in London in the act of attempt- ing his own murder. 'You cunning, cunning fiend!' is all Colonel Sebastian Moran can fume as he is ignobly led off to Scotland Yard. Produced in rapid succession for periodical publication, but with the object of forming a complete book collection, these stories are set between 1894 and 1898 when Holmes is in magnificent form, certainly at the height of his reputation, and his partnership with Watson singularly effective.