A treasured collection--and with good reason. 
 This anthology encompasses twelve Sherlock Holmes mysteries; short-stories told as accounts given by his less astute but loyal and wondering friend, Watson. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle supplies all of the pithy dialogue and fierceness of intellect one would expect from such iconic detective tales. In all cases the prose is deftly balanced, the characterizations vivid, and the relational aspects sound. The word choices and flow make for a generally pleasant read, in this reviewer's opinion. 
 Holmes himself is as compelling a protagonist as any of his modern adaptations would suggest, and quite possibly more complex. The competent lengths he's willing to go to are touched on in the arenas of costuming, scheming, psychological manipulation, and of course, minute observation. I don't think Watson could have made a keener assessment: "The stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost an acute reasoner, when [Holmes] became a specialist in crime." 
 Sherlock Holmes is all about that data. 
 (I'm not even a little sorry for this.) 
 I'll admit to being ever-so-slightly disappointed with three of the twelve stories--mainly due to a lack of evident justice and/or satisfaction in the mode of closure. (The Five Orange Pips, A Case of Identity, and The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb.) I'd have to list these as my least favorite. While their handling is arguably realistic, they cast Holmes in a less tenacious and even somewhat inadequate light. 
 Yet, this reader found the instances where Sherlock doesn't produce a sweeping "win" were sometimes the most refreshing--lending credence to there being investment-worthy stakes and the potential for catastrophic failure. It also struck me how regularly a base faith in God seemed a part of Sherlock's thought process--as the more modern adaptations tend to eschew or remove this detail of his psyche altogether. Ultimately he came across as more believably human than legend. 
 Favorite quote: 
 "As a rule, the more bizarre a thing is the less mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the most difficult to identify."