Should i read the Sherlock Holmes mystery's in a certain order ?

Question

i have one book, and it talks about previous mystery's . Is there an order to read them ? If there is , i want to read them that way.

Answer 1

You don't have to, but if you like the stories YOU SHOULD.
It is interesting to watch the changes for both Watson and Holmes, how their relationship develops, Watson's personal life, references to previous stories, etc. as you read THROUGH the series. Did you know that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wanted to do other kinds of writing and tired of the fame from the Sherlock Holmes stories, so believe it or not, he tried to kill Sherlock Holmes off (kind of like Rowling wrestling with the death of H Potter, perhaps) to finish the series? You will have to read through the stories to find out what happens ... But, while you can read a few of the stories separately and still enjoy them, and not probably need previous stories to understand what is happening, it is my recommendation, and I'm a big fan although not a fanatic, to get a complete collection from your favorite bookstore (and probably at your library, too) and read them all IN ORDER.

Here is a list of the stories (56 plus 4 novels) in order (someone else only listed the published collections).

A Study in Scarlet (novel)
The Sign of Four (novel)

ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
A Scandal in Bohemia
The Red-headed League
A Case of Identity
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
The Five Orange Pips
The Man with the Twisted Lip
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb
The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

From THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
Silver Blaze
The Yellow Face
The Stock-broker's Clerk
The "Gloria Scott"
The Musgrave Ritual
The Resident Patient
The Greek Interpreter
The Naval Treaty
The Final Problem

THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
The Adventure of the Empty House
The Adventure of the Norwood Builder
The Adventure of the Dancing Men
The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist
The Adventure of the Priory School
The Adventure of Black Peter
The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
The Adventure of the Six Napoleons
The Adventure of the Three Students
The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez
The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter
The Adventure of the Abbey Grange
The Adventure of the Second Stain

The Hound of the Baskervilles (novel)
The Valley of Fear (novel)

HIS LAST BOW
The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge
1. The Singular Experience of Mr. John Scott Eccles
2. The Tiger of San Pedro
The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
The Adventure of the Red Circle
The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans
The Adventure of the Dying Detective
The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
The Adventure of the Devil's Foot
His Last Bow

Check 'em out! (Bolded titles indicate collections)

Answer 2

Some of these are from female perspectives, some may be a little "girly girl" for your liking but others should be okay. I've left both genre on and you can decide. Meryll of the Stone (Brian Caswell) Picnic at Hanging Rock (Joan Lindsay) Stranger with my face (Lois Duncan) Playing Beattie Bow (Ruth Parks) My Sister Sif (Ruth Parks) Hitch hikers guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) Holes (Louis Sachar) Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit Eragorn trilogy Narnia The Golden Compass Interview with a Vampire (Anne Rice) Requiem for a Princess (Ruth M Arthur) Looking for Alibrandi (Melina Marchetta) Angels Gate (Gary Crew) Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants Pelican's Creek (Maureen Pople) The Diary of Anne Frank To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) The Shiralee (Dárcy Niland) Into the Wild (John Krakauer) Chocolat (Joanne Harris) Harp in the South; Poor Man's Orange; Missus (Trilogy by Ruth Parks) Where the Heart is (Billie Letts) My Place (Sally Morgan) Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) Rebecca (Daphne De Maurier) The 3 Muskateers (Alexandre Dumas) Anything by the Bronte sisters or Jane Austen Whatever you do don’t run The December Boys (Robert Noonan)

Answer 3

It really won't make much of a difference; they're all "stand-alone" stories. But if you want the order, here it is:

"Sherlock Holmes books
Main article: Canon of Sherlock Holmes
A Study in Scarlet (1887)
The Sign of Four (1890)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892)
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)
The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1904)
The Valley of Fear (1914)
His Last Bow (1917)
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927)

You can buy all the works - in order - at Amazon. See the second link, please

The Complete Sherlock Holmes: All 4 Novels and 56 Short Stories (Paperback)
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Author) "IN THE YEAR 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through the..." (more)
Key Phrases: yew alley, stable lane, light upon the matter, Sherlock Holmes, Sir Henry, Baker Street (more...)
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Happy reading - I'm a lover of the stories myself, have read and reread them.

Answer 4

It really doesn't matter. The Sign of Four is an interesting starting point, because it explains how Holmes and Watson met. But you can really start anywhere. Events in one story almost never rely on something that happened previously.

Incidentally, most of the cases which Watson refers to off hand in his stories (i.e. "the shocking affair of the Dutch steamship FRIESLAND, which so nearly cost us both our lives", or, "the giant rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared") don't actually refer to stories published by Conan Doyle. However, in many cases, others have come along to make up the lack - Conan Doyle never wrote the story of the giant rat, but at least two people have.

Answer 5

I have the complete sherlock holmes collection and it doesn't seem to matter what order you read them in.

Answer 6

I don't think it makes a difference. Some of the mysteries talked about were never made into stories.

I included wiki so you could try the published order.