The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes gathers together the first twelve short stories of Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle's famous private investigator, all of which appeared in The Strand magazine following the success of two earlier Holmes novels, A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of the Four. With the Adventures, Holmes' persona of infallible detective slips somewhat, and Conan-Doyle occasionally allows the villain to escape or fail to get his just desserts. In the first encounter, A Scandal in Bohemia, the arch-sleuth is even bested by a woman - a shocking put-down for any self-respecting Victorian male, and doubly so for Holmes! With 13 of Sidney Paget's original illustrations, and written by a master of his art, these are tales you will come back to again and again.