Here's a book that would make a perfect stocking stuffer gift, particularly for a kid who might become a mystery fan someday: it's a small and inexpensive collection of Sherlock Holmes stories, published by Dover.
The stories in "Six Great Sherlock Holmes Stories
" are among Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's best. Four are from the first short story collection, "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." They include "A Scandal in Bohemia," where Sherlock Holmes runs into the woman he will always call The Woman - one of the very few people who ever got the better of him. "The Red-Headed League" is a fine story about a most peculiar criminal operation. "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" is my personal favorite Holmes story, as he moves to prevent murder in the countryside. And "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb" is a rather gruesome but fascinating crime story. These are rounded out by "The Final Problem," where Holmes takes on the arch-criminal Moriarty, and "The Adventure of the Empty House," which serves as a sequel to "The Final Problem."
I was introduced to mysteries when I was about ten years old. My parents gave me a copy of the complete novels and short stories - and were then horrified when, on a long-planned cross-country auto trip, I ignored the scenery completely, preferring to ride in the back seat and read Holmes stories. If you know someone who should be introduced to classic mysteries, I can't think of a better - or less expensive - way than by giving them this small collection.
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