The reading order across the whole Sherlock Holmes universe.
Read the complete Sherlock Holmes canon exactly as Arthur Conan Doyle published it, from A Study in Scarlet in 1887 through to The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes in 1927. This is the most authentic way to experience the stories - following Holmes and Watson as Doyle's original readers did, watching the detective's reputation grow across four decades of cases. The publication order captures the full arc of Doyle's relationship with his creation, from the fresh invention of the early work through to the more uneven but historically significant final collection.
A Study in Scarlet
1887
The Sign of Four
1890
The Hound of the Baskervilles
1902
Written and published after a ten-year gap in Holmes's published adventures, but set earlier in his career. The most celebrated and self-contained novel in the canon - it can be read at any point without affecting your understanding of the wider story.
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The Valley of Fear
1914
Although published in 1914, the events of this novel take place earlier in Holmes's career than its publication date suggests. Readers who prefer internal chronology may wish to read it before The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, but it works equally well here in publication sequence.
