Volume I of The Complete Sherlock Holmes starts with Holmes's first appearance. A Study in Scarlet, a chilling murder novel complete with bloodstained walls and cryptic clues, followed by the baffling The Sign of Four, which introduces Holmes's cocain problem and Watson's future wife. The story collections The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes feature such renowned tales as "A Scandal in Bohemia", "The Red-Headed League", and "The Musgrave Ritual. Tired of writing stories about Holmes, his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, killed him off at the end of "The Final Problem", the last tale in The Memoirs. But the public outcry was so great that eight years later he published the masterful The Hound of the Baskervilles, which supposedly takes place before Holmes's death.

The world of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes -- General introduction / by Kyle Freeman -- Introduction to volume I / by Kyle Freeman -- A note on conveyances -- A study in scarlet -- The sign of four -- Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. A scandal in Bohemia ; The Red-headed League ; A case of identity ; The Boscombe Valley mystery ; The five orange pips ; The man with the twisted lip ; The adventure of the blue carbuncle ; The adventure of the speckled band ; The adventure of the engineer's thumb ; The adventure of the noble bachelor ; The adventure of the beryl coronet ; The adventure of the copper beeches -- Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Silver blaze ; The yellow face ; The stock-broker's clerk ; The "Gloria Scott" ; The musgrave ritual ; The reigate puzzle ; The crooked man ; The resident patient ; The Greek interpreter ; The naval treaty ; The final problem -- The hound of the baskervilles -- Endnotes -- Comments & questions -- For further reading.