Favourite Sherlock Holmes Stories

When this competition was first mooted I went into it in a most light-hearted way, thinking that it would be the easiest thing in the world to pick out the twelve best of the Holmes stories. In practice I found that I had engaged myself in a serious task... In 1927, Strand magazine challenged its readers to guess which of his Sherlock Holmes stories Arthur Conan Doyle himself rated as his very best. (Mr R. T. Newman of Spring Hill, Wellingborough, won £100 for successfully guessing ten of the twelve stories correctly.) Doyle revealed his choice and, in his own inimitable way, explained his reasoning in an article for the magazine. The stories included 'The Speckled Band', 'The Final Problem' and 'The Dancing Men'. Arthur Conan Doyle's favourite twelve Sherlock Holmes stories are now published together for the first time, with his original Strand article to introduce his own selection.

Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh in 1859. He trained to become a doctor at Edinburgh, and eventually set up his own practice in Southsea. During the quiet periods between patients, he turned his hand to writing. And so Sherlock Holmes, his greatest creation, was born. Towards the end of his life he devoted much of his time to his belief in Spiritualism, using writing as a means of providing funds to support his activities in the field. He died in 1930. Robert Giddings is an established literary critic who regularly writes for many publications including the Sunday Times, the Guardian and the New Statesman.