This novel introduces readers to the original, late-Victorian Sherlock and Watson it’s the first time the two characters meet, and the book cleverly establishes the dynamic between the duo (partly through masterful dialogue), with Watson, as narrator, standing in for the reader as he tries to understand Sherlock’s superior mind.

and, well, we hate to say it, but Benedict Cumberbatch will have to go too. A Study in Scarlet was the first Sherlock Holmes book to be published, in 1887! So if you’re here because of BBC’s Sherlock, take a second to mentally lose the smartphones, cars, GPS systems. We’ll explain our reasoning below, but without further ado, here’s the order of Sherlock Holmes books we recommend: So if you’re new to the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, we’re here to suggest a reasonable order to read them in that should keep things from getting too confusing!

The books were also not written in chronological order in terms of plot, and reading them in the order of publication doesn’t help much either. The fact that there’s so many Sherlock Holmes books (novels as well as short story collections) can be confusing, with newcomers wondering which order they should read them in. The Essential Guide to Reading the Sherlock Holmes BooksĮveryone’s heard of the famous British detective, many have seen one of the thrilling TV/movie adaptations, but not everyone’s read the original Sherlock Holmes books.

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