The Valley of Fear / His Last Bow / the Case-book of Sherlock Holmes

Book excerpt: Sherlock HolmesThe Valley of Fear His Last Bow The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (Three Novels)The Valley of Fear (1914)The novel starts when Sherlock Holmes receives a mysterious ciphered message from an agent to Professor Moriarty using the pseudonym Fred Porlock. Together Holmes and Watson decipher Porlock's message which relates that a man named John Douglas, residing at Birlstone, is in danger. Soon inspector Alec MacDonald of Scotland Yard ask Holmes to help in the case. Holmes tells MacDonald of Porlock warning, suggesting Professor Moriarty's involvement. However, MacDonald doesn't fully believe that the educated and well respected Moriarty is a criminal. His Last Bow (1917)His Last Bow: Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of previously published Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, including the titular short story, "His Last Bow. The War Service of Sherlock Holmes" (1917). The collection's first US edition adjusts the anthology's subtitle to Some Later Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes. All editions contain a brief preface, by "John H. Watson, M.D.", that assures readers that as of the date of publication (1917), Holmes is long retired from his profession of detective but is still alive and well, albeit suffering from a touch of rheumatism. The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1921- 1927)The first British edition and the first American edition of the collection were both published in June 1927. However, they had slightly different titles. The title of the British collection was The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (hyphenated "Case-Book"), whereas title of the American was The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes ("Case Book" as two words).Further confusing the issue of the title, some later publishers published the collection under the title The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes ("Casebook" as a single word).