The most famous detective in fiction, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, keeps turning up on television, in movies, and in new stories reworking the classic character who uses his keen powers of observation and deduction to solve the most puzzling cases. This volume features five of Doyle’s stories, including “The Speckled Band,” “The Red-Headed League,” and “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.”

The Core Classics® series presents stories loved for generations in abridged versions for young readers, illustrated and annotated, and faithful to the style, plot, and themes of the originals. This volume includes a brief biography of the author and an introduction by E. D. Hirsch, Jr.

In the upper elementary grades, Core Classics are suitable for strong readers or reading aloud; in middle school and up, the texts are appropriate for independent reading.