I read the first volume of "The Complete Sherlock Holmes" and got halfway through the second volume until I got about three chapters into "The Valley Of Fear", at which point it became obvious that Doyle had lost interest in Holmes and had consequently failed to hold mine. As far as I am concerned, the first volume is the complete work; the second was just Doyle trying to keep the customer satisfied rather than writing anything he believed in. Holmes did not live to an old age and retire to bee-keeping in the south of England, he died with Moriarty at the Reichenbach Fall. books conference Main Menu