The Best of Sherlock Holmes (Macmillan Collector's Library) Hardcover – August 23, 2016 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Author)(Macmillan Collector's Library)

A hard-to-fault selection of Sherlock Holmes mysteries. 12 of the stories were selected by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as the best from the 44 stories that had appeared by then. David Stuart Davies adds a further 8 to the mix, which include such classics as The Man With the Twisted Lip, The Blue Carbuncle, and Charles Augustus Milverton. The mysteries seem to lose little of their charm and appeal more than a century after their writing. Short introduction by Davies is a useful bonus that reveals interesting tidbits.

In the March 1927 issue of The Strand Magazine, a competition was held to choose the twelve best Sherlock Holmes stories from the forty-four already published in book form. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had made his choice and placed the titles in a sealed envelope and readers were invited to match the great man's selection. ... It is fascinating to note that not one entrant chose the exact same titles. The winner, a Mr R.T. Norman, managed ten

These are the twelve stories selected by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

1. The Speckled Band - a personal favorite of mine
2. The Red-Headed League
3. The Dancing Men - fascinating
4. The Final Problem - a must-read for every Sherlock Holmes, where the detective meets his end, almost, at the hands of his nemesis, Prof Moriarty.
5. A Scandal in Bohemia
6. The Empty House - aka the Return of Sherlock Holmes.
7. The Five Orange Pips
8. The Second Stain
9. The Devil's Foot
10. The Priory School
11. The Musgrave Ritual
12. The Reigate Squires

and the 8 additional stories selected for this collection are:

1. The Man With the Twisted Lip
2. The Blue Carbuncle
3. The Copper Beeches
4. Silver Blaze
5. The Greek Interpreter
6. The Solitary Cyclist
7. Charles Augustus Milverton
8. The Illustrious Client