Holmes has changed since his "resurrection" in "The Adventure of the Empty House" in 1903. He is as keenly observant and nimble of mind as ever, but his patience with British justice is wearing thin and at times he takes the law into his own hands and knowingly breaks the law. What can have happened to produce such uncharacteristic behavior in the world's greatest detective?

Included in this volume are the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel, The Valley of Fear, and the thirty-three stories comprising The Return of Sherlock Holmes, His Last Bow, and The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes.