The Red-Headed League is about Jabez Wilson who is a pawnbroker and whose store is located on Coburg Square next to a bank. He consults Holmes about the "League of Red-Headed Men." He had been told by his employee, Vincent Spaulding, that it is a group established by a red-headed American millionaire, now dead, who had left a large amount of money for men with such hair colour. Spaulding introduces him to Duncan Ross who is also redheaded and the head of the operation. All Wilson needs to do to earn the money is to spend four hours a day at an office, copying out the Encyclopaedia Britannica. He does so for eight weeks, after which he finds the office locked. Holmes becomes excited at Wilson's description of Spaulding. In the evening after the League was disbanded, Homes gathers Watson, Inspector Lestrade, and Mr. Merryweather, the Director of the bank, to descend into its vault beneath the bank. They lay in wait in the dark. Soon Spaulding is seen descending into the vault. At his capture it is revealed that his actual name is John Clay, a criminal of whom Holmes is well aware. He and his compatriot, Archie, alias Duncan Ross, are arrested. Like all of Doyle’s stories "The Red-Headed League" presents a detailed portrait of turn-of-the-century London and gives readers glimpses of a society undergoing rapid change. Among these changes are alterations in the class structure, Britain's rise as a world economic power, and urban growth—along with a rising crime rate. Its style and structure make it a nearly perfect example of the modern detective story, first devised by Edgar Allan Poe fifty years previously.
The Speckled Band was one of Doyle's favourite Sherlock Holmes stories. Indeed, he adapted it and produced a stage version. Doyle uses an image of snakes, pokers and abusive, bad-tempered stepfathers, but much is left to the imagination, and some scholars have suggested that there are some dark sexual undertones to this tale. Certainly the addition of elements such as gypsies, a cheetah and baboon add to a tense, gothic atmosphere. This is Holmes at his very best. We have a memorable villain, Dr Grimsby Roylott, whose terrible temper and abuse and murder of his stepdaughter leaves no room for sympathy or pity. We have the vaguely threatening presence of gypsies and the real threat of exotic wild beasts. Roylott is truly ghastly, a larger than life pantomime villain who tries to intimidate Holmes with his physical strength and overbearing manner. We hope that he will come to a sticky end, and he does, right on cue. Whereas Holmes' actions in previous stories may have been questionable, the despatch of Roylott at the hands of his poisonous snake is an occasion for cheers.
A Scandal in Bohemia is about the king of Bohemia who is about to enter an advantageous marriage, but he visits Holmes for help because an actress with whom he once had an affair, Irene Adler, has love letters and a photo with the two of them in her possession, and the king fears the damage that could be done with them. With the help of Watson and a gang of hired performers, and one of his disguises, Holmes stages a mini-crisis at Adler's home to discover the hiding place of the goods. Adler, however, manages to turn the tables on the detective, both in the disguise and strategy departments. This tale has been a favourite with Holmes readers, for there is no crime, no murder, and yet a woman bests the great detective for once.
The Sherlock Holmes collection is till popular today because, firstly it is what most modern crime stories are based on, all crime writers try to get that recipe for brilliance that Sir Arthur got when writing the novels. He manages to make readers so involved that they try matching their wits against Sherlock Holmes, to see if they can solve the mystery along with him. This is usually a task doomed to failure because of the first-person narrative style, in which the detective's less-intelligent friend Watson tells the story and is as amazed as any reader when the detective reveals his solution. Not only does the solution amaze, so does the clinical ruthlessness and simplicity with which Holmes reaches it. Any author today would be filled with pride if he/she managed to achieve this with their readers. Doyle manages to encapsulate the reader, make them think of what is unfolding in front of them and forbid them from putting the story until they have finished. That makes a great story and a great author.
