The Return of Sherlock Holmes (Doyle Arthur Conan); Arcturus, 2017

Sherlock Holmes was the most popular character in Victorian fiction, but when arch-enemy Moriarty bumped him off at the Reichenbach Falls in 'The Final Problem' (1893), many readers were angry and dismayed. Some even cancelled their subscriptions to The Strand magazine where Holmes was the star turn.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes, published in 1903-4, was Arthur Conan Doyle's belated but brilliant response. What you get for your money here is a selection of hugely enjoyable detective stories written in the author's elegant but spare prose, and the chance to test your wits against 13 classic plot set-ups before the enigmatic sleuth beats you to the punch with his astonishing powers of deduction. This volume shows exactly why, more than a hundred years on, Holmes remains the world's number one detective.