From the curious clauses in a miser's will, to a sinister tradition in an old Tudor manor-house, these twelve cases, from the early years of Holmes's career in the 1880s, present a singular collection of mysteries for the world's first consulting detective to resolve.

What is the significance of the arrival in the post one morning of a cardboard packet of children's bricks? Who is the man found dying in a deserted warehouse in London's East End, and what is he doing there? Who is it that bangs on the front door of Mr Lidington's isolated cottage in the dead of night? Sherlock Holmes must find the answers to these and many other puzzling questions if he is to bring these cases to a successful conclusion.

In this new collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories, well-known author, Denis O. Smith, accurately recreates once more both the atmosphere and the excitement of Conan Doyle's well-loved original Holmes tales.