Sherlock Holmes has been an obsession of mine since adolescence. When I came across this relatively expensive set of books in junior high school, I ran home and did every chore in the world in my entire neighborhood for three straight days --and added up the dimes and quarters people would give me until I had enough to buy these two volumes. They have been with me ever since. For the first time, I understood what all those words were that I couldn't find in a dictionary, with illustrations and explanations. Even more amazing, I learned that Sherlock Holmes was a real person -- or at least, the editors of these books believed so! The product of a great generation of Holmes fanatics, this collection is full of the arguments over what each story means, what has been included by Dr. Watson, and what must have been left out to protect the innocent. The one truly indispensable volume for Holmes fans, "The Annotated Sherlock Holmes" is an unadulterated joy!

If you ever wanted to read the entire Sherlock Holmes canon, this is the best book to buy. Also, if you are one of those Sherlock fans, you will certainly appreciate this book. Apart from Conan Doyle's original text, this book presents lots of interesting information about Victorian England, linking it with the text. If Holmes spends a crown on something, Baring-Gould will not only calculate its value today but will also show you a picture of the coins at that time. If Holmes and Dr. Watson have to take a transportation to go somewhere, Baring-Gould will show a picture and description of the exact transportation they used. Finally, if the two inseparable friends have to investigate something in a specific address, the book shows a map or picture of the site. However, the book most interesting quality is an extensive research the editor made in order to sort the stories chronologically, not in the order Conan Doyle wrote them but in the order they in fact happened. All those details make the book so real that after you finish this book, you will get a strange feeling that the most famous fictitious detective in the world really lived at 221b Baker Street or a strange feeling that Holmes was not simply a delusion of Dr. Watson, himself the alter ego of Conan Doyle.

the knowledge of when to stop." Thus remarks Holmes to Lestrade about the villainous Jonas Oldacre

( By the bye giving an excellent piece of advice to all artists, villainous or not. Truly the stage, as Watson keeps reminding us, lost a great actor when Holmes embarked upon the profession of consulting detective )

It would appear that Jonas, in his attempt to send the innocent John Hector Mc Farlane to the gallows, could not resist adding a final touch which brought his nefarious plans crashing down---he planted a stain of blood on the wall upon which Mc Farlane's fingerprint would be found!

Lestrade: "You are aware that no two thumb-marks are alike ? "
Holmes: "I have heard something of the kind. "

Whereupon Wiliaim S Baring-Gould, greatest of Holmseian addict/scholars treats us to a footnote on the margin regarding Galton's method of fingerprining, given to the British Association in 1899 and concludes that--

By my gold amethyst encrusted snuff-box, this is fun!

It's the best rendering of Conan Doyle's canon, complete with maps of London, illustrations from Collier's, vintage 1903; coats of arms, photographs, drawings--in brief, the world of S.H. made explicable, and vivid.

Naturally you knew that when Watson informs us that their long suffering landlady, Mrs.Hudson, lived on the first floor flat, he's using it in the English sense: what we Americans would call 'the second floor.' Or that a 'life preserver' was a short bludgeon, usually of flexible cane, whalebone, or the like loaded with lead at one end. Or that---

Hmm...now what was that about the supreme gift of the artist?

This little book is one of the most insightful books I have ever read. It makes a very convincing argument that Sherlock Holmes had a great understanding of the human spirit, and as a detective, brought both justice and mercy to bear in his cases. The author knows his Holmes literature very well and also pulls in a great deal of other literature from the mystery genre in a way that provokes a great deal of curiousity. I found myself reading and rereading a lot of mystery fiction after finishing this book.

This book will give you many insights into both Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle, along with other mystery literature. I have read the book through several times, and it has really deepened my appreciation of mystery literature and Holmes in general. I would put it into the "desert island" category of books.

A very entertaining way of looking at the questions of life, using the Sherlockian Canon as your guide.

I found this book a very pleasant surprise. Sherlock Holmes on religion? Surely this could not be a serious book. Then I read a paragraph at random and was fascinated--and immediately bought a copy. Of course Stephen Kendrick edits his quotes from Holmes to show the detective's nobler sentiments; there is none of the negativity here (no reference to drugs or other evidence of the character's darker nature.) The book is very inspirational and is a real pleasure to read. I feel that there is no coincidence that early religious plays were called "Mystery Plays"--Mr. Kendrick argues that we are all detectives investigating the greatest mystery of all.

One should also remember that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was committed to the Spiritualist cause at about the same time he started writing the Holmes stories, and these tales paid for and possibly helped propagandize his own religious views. Kendrick has simply uncovered the message that Doyle wrote in the stories a hundred years ago. He has done a very capable job.

The Heart of a Father, compiled by Wayne Holmes, is a book that can be quickly read and enjoyed, then set aside for a while and re-read and enjoyed all over again. With each reading, the reader will discover new insights, new ways to connect with God. The stories are told in short bitesize morsels that can be consumed by the eager reader in less time than it would take to inhale a candy bar. And though some of the stories are sprinkled with sugar that's where the similarities between this book and a candy bar and its quickly disappearing sugar-high end. The stories are filled with God's wisdom and tend to remain with the reader throughout the day, helping the reader to discover similarities between the way they teach their own children and the way God teaches us. Mr. Holmes has done a thorough job of making sure the reader puts on a thinking cap, and in doing so has managed to bring God and His ways more fully into their lives.

If you have a father, step-father, or grandfather in your life, or are about to be a father, you'll want to buy this book. Wayne Holmes has assembled a fine collection of inspirational stories on fatherhood that will serve as a model for all men. From the famous, such as Max Lucado, to the soon-to-be-famous, like Linda Knight, each writer has captured an attribute of our Father in Heaven's character in a unique way. This books will make a great present for any man.

Appreciating the varied roles of earthly fathers helps us understand our Heavenly Father. Through engaging stories and vignettes, The Heart of a Father nudges us toward that understanding. A good read -- and a valuable one.

"The Canonical Compendium" is the answer to a maiden's prayer! (provided, of course, that the maiden is a Sherlockian) With this book in hand, you will be able to answer any questions you might ever have about the Canon. Buy it!

If you want to find facts fast, this is the book. Indices of every story. Clarkson has done an admirable job!

There are many wonderful features to the Canonical Compendium, but four in particular set it apart from other index tools I have used. The first is its indexes to the indexes, which makes it easy to find the various categories and subcategories. The second is that the references are given in context, so that the researcher can find out immediately how the name or word is actually used in the story. This arrangement also spares the researcher from having to know the context in order to find the item in the first place. A third feature is the page layout and size of the book. The spacious two-column format allows the eye to scan the page quickly and accurately, and the book stays open to the page you are working on - no trivial matter on a crowded work table! The book's size also prevents concealment by any Gilchrists who might be tempted to use the Compendium to cheat on Sherlockian quizzes! But the greatest feature of the Compendium is Steve Clarkson's sense of humor. Take this reference item, for example: "Dog, Lady Brackenstall's, ignited by Sir Eustace. This is the only mention of a hot dog in the Canon." The Canonical Compendium is loaded with these little gems, making it the reference volume you will use with a grin on your face. How did I ever function as a Sherlockian without this book!

Eleanor Holmes Norton graduated from Yale Law School in 1964, when three percent of the nation's law students were women. Today, in the span of her professional life, that percentage has climbed above 50 percent. Her story is one of the women's movement and its interconnection with the larger civil rights struggle in the sixties and the seventies. Becoming lawyers and using the law as a tool for social change, is what activist women do, and it is a big part of her personal story: living proof that the personal is indeed political. The tremendous increase in the number of women lawyers, in such a short period of time (legal change is usually glacial)should make for other memoirs and biographies from women of Norton's generation. Another very interesting book in this new genre is Judith Richards Hope, Pinstripes and Pearls. She graduated from Harvard Law School in 1964.

The story of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton is one that not many outside of Washington, DC, may know, but it is one that needs to be heard and read. She is one of the great leaders of our time, and the author does a wonderful job of chronicling her life. The most poignant part of the book for me was the chapter about Eleanor Holmes Norton the mother, and how she has raised a daughter who is severely mentally and physically challenged. The daughter, now an adult, still lives with Holmes Norton, who is depicted as being committed to her family, city, and country. I loved the book! - Malcolm

A fantastic, inspiring book for these times. Civil Rights history comes alive in the Congresswoman's life story. The writing is diligent and refreshing, illustrating Norton's true integrity and commitment to the core values of the United States Constitution.Lester tells the story in a unique fashion. I couldn't put it down.

Rupert Holmes is a storyteller at heart. He's told stories through popular songs (love it or hate it, but "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" is a 3-minute story), television (the lovely "Remember WENN"), stage (the funny and suspenseful "Accomplice," as well as "The Mystery of Edwin Drood") and now tackles the novel.

"Where the Truth Lies" is a satisfying page-turner with terrific period detail and well-drawn characters. The main character, a young woman named O'Connor (she never shares her first name), is smart and competent, and if she's a little devious sometimes, it's well justified by the behavior of everyone around her.

It's hard to say much about the plot without giving away too much. Rupert Holmes is a master of sneaky plot twists, and it would be criminal to leak them to someone who hasn't read the book. ("Accomplice," his Edgar award-winning play, was similarly twisty.)

But in a nutshell, O'Connor is investigating Lanny Morris and Vince Collins, a former comedy duo (think Martin and Lewis) with a shared skeleton in the closet: twenty years earlier, a young woman was found dead in their hotel suite. The crime was never solved, and now O'Connor is writing a book about Collins with the promise that the truth will finally be exposed.

All of this takes place against the backdrop of the entertainment world in the 1970s, a rich environment that Holmes, as a young singer-songwriter, probably experienced for himself in much the same way as his heroine. O'Connor is the outsider, the guest, taken to wondrous places she could never go on her own.

Holmes' writing is funny and well-paced, and completely entertaining. He describes his settings so well, it feels as if we're there (especially the scenes that take place in Disneyland ... and could I be more jealous of O'Connor in those scenes?)

Songs, plays, TV shows, novels ... regardless of the form, I hope we'll see many more stories from Rupert Holmes.

Having long been a fan of Rupert Holmes' music (yes, I liked "Escape," but much preferred the musicality of "Second Saxophone" and "Times Square & The Old School") as well as his much-celebrated television show, "Remember Wenn" and his award-winning musicals, I waited, with great anticipation, for the late June 2003 release of his first novel, WHERE THE TRUTH LIES. I sincerely hoped that someone who was so incredibly diversified could enter and triumph in yet another literary genre. To say that I was not disappointed would be putting it mildly. Holmes' novel has such rich, round characters - characters who quickly become real people in the lives of interested readers.
I have to admit that, as an English teacher for thirty-four years, I often have to limit what I read for pleasure. As a result, I developed a system of passing up a book if I wasn't intrigued by the first sentence. In WHERE THE TRUTH LIES, my imagination was instantly captured by the introductory, "In the seventies, I had three unrelated lunches with three different men, each of whom might have done A Terrible Thing." Who could read that and not want to go further to learn about O'Connor, the young, female journalist who quickly becomes experienced, the comedy team of Vince and Lanny, whose humor soon becomes dark and ominous, and their connections with a lightly-veiled Mafia? And just what was this "terrible thing?"
I had to know!
The fascinating things about this novel, however, are the complicated twists the plot takes. One can read the first half and be convinced that one knows the outcome, only to go a little further and realize that nothing could be further from the truth. Only in the last thirty pages does the reader learn, "Where The Truth Lies."
Holmes is, indeed, a master story-teller. His mystery is ripe with rich humor that often had me laughing out loud. However, this writer does not depend on mystery and humor alone; he delves into the lives of even the minor characters so deeply that the reader can truly empathize with them. This work also contains one of the most beautiful, touching similies I have ever seen on paper.
What is, perhaps, the most amazing to me is how a male baby-boomer can write so effectively in the persona of a young female journalist and make this character so incredibly believable, touching, and enjoyable.
Hopefully, this is only the first of several Rupert Holmes' novels because having only one from such a gifted and talented author would be a tremendous loss to the world of readers.

As an established author in multiple medias, Rupert Holmes has honed his craft to a true cutting edge. He uses that craft to twist a tale most complex into one of the most enjoyable reads that I have had in several years. As one who has worked in and known Komedy (with a capital K), I find his portrayal of the dynamics of a comedy team spot-on. Congratulations, Rupert, on a well-told tale. And congratuations to anyone who has the good sense to read Mr. Holmes' entry into another medium.

The last of the four Sherlock Holmes novels, and one of the two best. It contains more detection in its first section than The Hound of the Baskervilles, with Holmes (off-stage for much of The Hound) actively investigating the murder at Birlstone, and drawing his ever-fascinating deductions from raincoats and dumb-bells; indeed it is the only pure detective story among the four, with the reader given every opportunity to solve the crime. Although the solution is justly famous, it is but a variation on "The Norwood Builder," at much greater length. The second half of the tale concerns the doings of the Pinkerton agent Birdy Edwardes in the eponymous Valley, terrorised by the Freemasons, a gripping and powerful account which is perhaps of greater interest than the detection.

'The Valley of Fear'. A real page turner but what makes it most memorable for me is not that Holmes is at his best, but Conan Doyle is. After reading this book I recommend you to read this book because it was a suspense story. The whole story moves around Mcginty who was a big criminal in the valley of vermisa also called the valley of fear. There was only one person who could face to that criminal and his name was Jack McMurdo. He behaved as a gangster and he had taken many risks in his life and he was not afraid to take more risks. Don't miss 'The Valley of Fear'. It's terrifying, exciting, and best of all, real.

I have read all of the Holmes tales many times, and I think this one reigns supreme. I believe that was also Doyle's opinion. It is the finest detective story I have ever read, masterfully composed. The Vermissa Valley section builds to the most shocking moment I've ever experienced in literature.

After I quit smoking, while learning how to live without cigarettes, this book saved me!!! I carried it with me all the time and I'd open it randomly whenever I had a craving. No matter what page I read, it was about me and what I was experiencing. It's been 8 years since I quit smoking and I recommend this book to everyone in the smoking cessation classes I now facilitate.

This book wasn't quite what I expected, but it's still great! It's like a book of daily motivational or inspirational messages. Not every message applied to me, but most did big time. I've seen lots of books out there to help people BEFORE they quit smoking, but this is the first one I've seen to help people AFTER they quit smoking. And I figure I can use all the help I can get if I want to remain an ex-smoker the rest of my life!

This is an excellent resource for folks who have stopped smoking or are planning to stop. There are absolutely no do's and don'ts (no nagging). This is a portable book that can be taken with you everywhere for excellent motivational tips. I take it to work, school, and read a couple pages before bed. This is not a preachy type book thats what makes it so nice, it's written by two people who have stopped smoking for today. I highly recommend this book!

Sherlock Holmes, the great consulting detective, hardly needs an introduction, nor do his stories need a synopsis. This hardcover edition of "The Complete Sherlock Holmes" contains all the original Sherlock Holmes short stories and novels published by Conan Doyle.

As such, this book is the perfect compilation of a timeless classic, for both those re-reading these wonderful stories or those discovering them for the first time. In addition to this, I loved the cover art of this particular edition - it gives just the right impression and captures the ambience of the tales.

The only negative comment I had (hence the 4 star rating) was with the actual presentation of the book. Unfortunately, the publishers have attempted to cram all the stories into a 480-page book. This has resulted in an oversized hardcover, with rather small font, and worst of all, newspaper-style columns on each page. Perhaps the intention was to emulate the original format of the stories as they appeared in The Strand in the late 1800s. Regardless, the book format is therefore slightly unwieldy because of its size and is a little hard to read.

Despite this shortcoming, I'd recommend this classic collection to anyone and this edition is definitely worth the price.

This book, a compilation of every original, published Sherlock Holmes story written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is a joy for all fans of classic mysteries. Although many other detective stories are also excellent, there is nothing quite like the original Holmes stories. As we read through the many adventures of Holmes and his ever faithful companion Dr. Watson, we are also led through their colorful, albeit enigmatic, lives including Dr. Watson's two marriages and the time in between them (lodging at 221B Baker Street, naturally). Holmes' life includes his opium addiction, and subsequent recovery, his encounter with Irene Adler and finally, his retirement to the English Channel coast as a beekeeper.

Whether already a fan for years or a new Holmes reader, this collection is perfect. My copy is one of the most treasured volumes in my library.

I discovered Sherlock Holmes via a couple of short stories in anthologies in the late 1950's, when I was in 7th grade. These whetted my appetite for more, so I was tickled to discover a copy of this book (in an earlier printing) at the house of a friend. I wish it had been available as a multi-volume edition -- this one was mighty hard to sneak under the covers for post-bedtime reading by flashlight. And it's highly unsuited for summertime use: it'll sink your canoe or cause your hammock to sag to ground level! Still, it's a good, reasonably priced, solidly bound, and well-printed volume that should be in the library of any lover of classic mystery stories.
As for the stories themselves, they're not only THE best mysteries in the English language, but fun to read as a picture of life in the Victorian era. There are some clinkers, and some of the situations and characters are rather absurd (Doyle shares with most of his fellow-countrymen an ineptitude for writing convincing American English!), but in general I'm still amazed at Doyle's ingenuity and his convincing portrayal of life in many different sectors of society. This is one of the few favorite books from my childhood that I still enjoy -- not as an exercise in nostalgia but as a Good Read.