The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

I admit it: I'm a superfan of Mark Gatiss' brilliant interpretation of these stories—I can watch episodes of "Sherlock" an infinite number of times. (OK: I can also do this with "House MD," and for exactly the same reasons.) Part of that is the amazing chemistry between Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman (or Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard), but more of it is the obvious references to "deep cuts" buried in the source material, which until this year I had never read. My eldest uncle died not long ago and I became the curator of his utterly massive collection… show more.

Although not historical fiction per se, Sherlock Holmes is a strong product of his time. He embodies the revolutionary modernism of the late Victorian period and for this reason alone the famous fictional detective has become a real character himself embedded in history. The fact his home address half-exists in London makes him even more real. His stories were one of the sources to inspire me for the Wynnman. This idea of creating real characters in a real setting that share their way of thinking, their passions, their curious attitudes, without having to answer to the hard, crude boundaries of… show more.

What an atmospheric set of stories. When I first read these as a boy, I remember I never wanted the book to end. There are several Sherlock Holmes collections but this was the first I read. At the start of the book I couldn’t quite relate to "A Scandal in Bohemia," but some of his more famous stories such as "The Red-Headed League" and "The Five Orange Pips" are contained within this collection. Some of the film adaptations are only loosely based on these stories so they are well worth the read. The character of Holmes… show more.