THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

"Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" was the fourth Holmes book and the second collection of short stories. Originally published in the Strand Magazine as "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," it took the name "Memoirs" when published in book form, because the first collection had pre-empted the title "Adventures.""Memoirs" consists of eleven short stories, none of which are as good as the stories in the first collection. In fact, several stories appear to be reworkings of stories from the original "Adventures." "The Stockbroker's Clerk" is a rehash of the plot of "The Red Headed League." "The Gloria Scott" seems to borrow heavily from "The Boscombe Valley Mystery." "The Greek Interpreter" replays "The Engineer's Thumb." "The Yellow Face" harks back to "A Scandal in Bohemia." In "Bohemia," Holmes was stymied, and in "Yellow Face" he again goes badly astray.Obviously Doyle was growing weary of Holmes. So weary, in fact, that he killed Holmes off in "The Final Problem." Holmes fans everywhere would rejoice when Doyle resurrected their hero in "The Return of Sherlock Holmes," and Holmes went on to further, and better adventures. Mediocre Holmes is still far better than most detective fiction. Holmes fans everywhere should also rejoice at the BDD publication of the BBC radio plays starring Clive Merrison and Michael Williams. Merrison and Williams make the best Holmes-Watson team since the Rathbone-Bruce collaboration. The production values for the BBC plays are excellent, far better than the production values of the 30's and 40's, when Rathbone and Bruce portrayed the crimefighting duo.The BDD publication consists of three volumes, each volume containing two cassettes, and each cassette containing two plays. The eleven short stories of "Memoirs" does not quite fill the twelve play capacity of the cassettes. BDD solves the problem by borrowing "The Second Stain" from "The Return of Sherlock Holmes."

It is hard to write about classics . They are also hard to choose, specially because since most of them are in public domain, several publishing companies publish them.In the case of Sherlock Holmes adventures,this is also true. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is the collection of stories which its author intended to be the last, where the great detective plunges to apparent death with his arch-enemy, Professor Moriarty. Roughly ten years later the sleuth was resurrected. The first time I purchased a Sherlock Holmes collection it was the Wordsworth edition. Very amusing, since they are the facsimile of the original Strand Magazine editions. On the other hand, the print is terribly small and difficult to read. I was preparing my thesis when I found this edition of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. It was edited by Christopher Roden,a specialist in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It has a very comprehensive introduction and liner notes which make the book very understandable, specially if you are not British.This edition is a very helpful one not only for the student, but also to the reader who is not familiar with Victorian times. Bottom line: If you are a serious reader of Sherlock Holmes, this book should be part of your collection.

These Sherlock Holmes' are part of a 10 year project by the BBC to dramatize all Sherlock Holmes novels and stories. Starring Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael William as Dr. Watson, they are enjoyable listening for Sherlock Holmes fans! Volume 2 features The Musgrave Ritual, The Relgate Squires, The Crooked Man and The Resident Patient.